Irene Bartlett has always had one mission in life — to see contemporary singers recognised in the same way as classical singers.
To her it does not matter what style a performer may sing, they all use the same thing — their voice. And she should know. Bartlett has been a "gig" singer, with a fondness for jazz, for more than 50 years, and 25 of those were prior to her joining academia.
"I brought the stage to education rather than the other way around."
The move into academia at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Brisbane, was "serendipitous", she says.
She had been working as professional singer doing corporate and other gigs to pay the bills, and jazz gigs when opportunity allowed, when a television talent show asked her to teach their contestants.
While she did not have teaching qualifications they had heard of her skills and her love of children. What started out as a morning’s work turned into four weeks and then the university came calling. It was about to start a new bachelor’s degree in jazz voice and the next thing she knew she was leading the jazz voice programme. However, she was determined not to give up "gigging" so did both, studying to get her higher degrees after her four children had gone to bed.
"I adore performing. The minute I get on stage I come alive," Bartlett says.
She soon realised teaching is just performing of another nature but with the same goal — engaging people.
"It’s a really transferable skill."
It was only three years ago, that Bartlett, now an associate professor, decided late-night gigs were getting a bit much and decided to stop performing regularly.
"I’ve got a husband of 55 years, four children and seven grandchildren — my other passion is my family. Luckily I’ve never needed a lot of sleep."
At the start there was not much information about how the voice worked so she made it her mission to find out, attending medical conferences and seeking out experts in their fields to find out what she could.
"It was all-embracing. I had my mum and dad to look after my kids when I disappeared off for a week. Voice science has opened a whole new world up."
She was determined to change the "non-classical" terminology which she felt was quite a pejorative term. Her view is that one style is not better than the other, they are just different.
"We work with a singer on what they want to achieve and what they need to achieve to make a living. All voices are different. We train the voice then train in the style of singing."
Back then that approach was seen as innovative, although Bartlett did not realise it at the time.
"It just made good sense to me."
It has also been successful. Bartlett’s students have gone on to success — Dami Im, Katie Noonan, Kristin Berardi and Elly Hoyt to name a few. She also worked with Austin Butler, the star of Baz Lurhmann’s latest biopic Elvis.
"I love it."
"If teachers understand that they are much better at diagnosing and remediating any of their students’ problems. It’s the foundation of teaching.
"A singing teacher’s job in my view is as a voice builder, to build the voice of their student to be strong enough to do whatever they need to, to have good strong technique. It’s imperative to teaching."
Students can then go on and work independently, checking in occasionally for a tune-up like you would do with any other instrument."
It also means the perception of contemporary singing is changing and Bartlett has found like minds in other parts of the world who have been on parallel paths in England and the United States.
"It’s a changing field. It is not us and them"
It is also something on which she and colleague Dr Ron Morris, who works in the classical voice programme as a senior lecturer in voice health and is visiting Dunedin with her for the New Zealand Association of Teachers of Singing conference, agree.
A speech therapist and audiologist, Morris went on to study classical voice so comes at singing teaching from a different background than Bartlett but with a similar mindset.
As a speech therapist he was regularly dealing with singers who had voice problems and was really curious as to why those problems were happening as well as how he could help them prevent those problems from emerging in the first place.
"It happened almost by accident."
Singers, he feels, always grasped that science could help them. They turn to surgeons and therapists to help fix their problems. But it is only in the past 20 years singing teachers have started to incorporate it in their work.
"It means the technique is more reliable, they can build technique more quickly and solidly."
Teachers can then even diagnose over the phone a problem if a student is overseas and seeks out help. Having a shared scientific language around voice means there is less confusion for teachers and students, he says.
As teaching becomes more efficient and effective more students are able to perform better and for longer.
"Unfortunately there are some teachers out there that are almost ... jealous of a student’s ability to perform and sing but we have taught them how to do that and teachers should be really thrilled with themselves for doing that.
"That is the difference between a performer and a teacher, you have to take the joy in them doing so well. It’s no longer about you singing."
The most challenging issue facing teachers these days is being able to offer constructive criticism in a way students can appreciate, Morris believes.
"Music is a business, it is not a democracy. You have to work hard. You can foster talent but it only takes you so far."
Singing students need to listen to their teachers, do what they suggest and not try to run before they can walk.
Being in the music business requires a huge commitment not only to the craft but to everything else that goes with it.
"It’s brutal out there. They get so much help from teachers, really effectively and efficiently, they need to grab it with both hands."
Bartlett says a business head is almost — if not more — important than talent these days as there are so many different platforms singers need to be across as well as the need for them to promote themselves. The days of being plucked from obscurity are no longer. She was just 16 when a professional agent took her under their wing.
"That does not happen any more, you have to develop yourself. You have to have a huge following before you get picked up."
Her approach has seen her invited to New Zealand many times over the years, as a visiting lecturer at the University of Otago and Massey University and also to teach at the New Zealand Singing School in Hawke’s Bay.
"I feel like it is my second home."
To see:
New Zealand Association of Teachers of Singing 27th biennial conference, ‘‘Good Singing is Good Singing: Getting to the Heart of the Voice Studio’’, July 5-7, University of Otago College of Education.
