On February 6th, at 1:15pm, I was chasing my friend around the stage of Lang Concert Hall, singing an aria from The Magic Flute, egged on by one of the most famous British baritones in the world. And you may wonder, how exactly did I find myself in this situation? To answer that question, I have to go back to September 2024.
We work on a lot of awesome music in the Swarthmore Chorus. We’ve done performances with the college orchestra and worked on lots of student composed pieces. But this fall, we had a truly special piece we were working on: Cats in Airpumps, composed by Roderick Williams. The Cooper Series at Swarthmore brings artists and creatives to the college to share their expertise and present, perform, and work with students. Roderick Williams is one of the most famous living British baritones, performing on concert stages around the world, and he also happens to be a fantastic composer. Nathan Reiff, our choral director, brought us a brand-new piece by Roderick Williams. We spent the semester working on it and, it premiered at our concert at the end of the semester, where Roderick Williams performed Five Mystical Songs by Vaughn Williams. The piece was a setting of poems by Benjamin Franklin, and it was such a fun piece. It was silly and exciting and took so many twists and turns throughout. Working with Roderick Williams was also a wonderful experience. He was so kind and positive, helping us develop the piece for performance. Hearing him perform was also a transformative experience, and I was so excited after the concert to hear that he would be coming back next semester for a concert and masterclass.
I was incredibly excited when I received an email over winter break, inviting me to take part in the masterclass with Roderick Williams this semester. A masterclass gives a voice student the opportunity to perform a piece for a professional singer and receive feedback from them on their technique, theatricality, and overall performance. After performing the piece, the masterclass teacher takes some time to work with the student to help them develop their sound and performance in ways tailored to their personal challenges. It’s an opportunity to learn from a new perspective some ways to improve your craft. I wrote back immediately that I would love to perform – and then the nerves set in.
I decided with my voice teacher to sing “Ach, ich fühls,” an aria sung by Pamina in The Magic Flute by Mozart. I had worked on it for the last few months, and although I was still having some trouble with my German pronunciation, I felt reasonably confident with the piece. The day of the masterclass, though, I was horribly nervous. I was the only junior taking part, and I was going first. All the other singers were people I had worked with for years who were music majors that were incredibly experienced and talented performers, and I was so, so nervous. I kept thinking about the various things Mr. Williams could ask me to do, and feeling caught in the spotlight. I’ve never been very good at taking criticism, so to receive it in public and have to act on it immediately in front of an audience of the music faculty was a terrifying prospect.
The first sing through went pretty well – I didn’t mess up massively, and that helped calm my nerves. Roderick came down, beaming, and helped me realize how I keep time by tapping my leg. He talked to me about diction, and we discussed the dramatic context of the piece and how to ground my sound to my body. He kept me and the entire audience engaged and laughing the whole time. Finally, at the end of my session, he called down my friend to stand and play the man to whom I was singing the aria. I chased him around the stage, singing my song while Roderick egged me on, and I finally felt like I understood Pamina’s motivation in the piece. And when my friend sang at the end of the masterclass, I lay on the floor to play the woman to whom they were singing their song.
I came to Swarthmore knowing that I wanted to continue singing, developing my sound in group and solo contexts. I could not have been prepared, though, for how much the Swarthmore music department has helped me grow. The opportunities and support the department has given me has totally transformed my voice and given me a newfound confidence in my performing. So thank you, Roderick Williams, and thank you, Swarthmore music.
