Now Hear This: an Interview with Ted Soluri, bassoon

Spotlight on Valerie Trujillo, piano Valerie is on the faculty at Florida State University, where she is professor of vocal coaching and accompanying, and the coordinator of the voice and opera programs. We wanted to get her perspective on what vocal coaching is, and how that relates to this program. She explains: A vocal coach is not a voice teacher. A coach is usually a pianist (not a singer!) who works with singers on language, style, and literature. That person usually serves as the singer’s accompanist as well. Most singers have both a teacher and a coach who work together to develop the singer into a complete performer. Vocal coaches receive training in the three main singing languages (Italian, French and German), song and operatic repertoire, as well as accompanying vocal music. It is, indeed, a specialized field! In the repertoire that Ted and I will be performing, Ted plays these arias the way a singer would sing them–minus the words, of course. He breathes where they breathe. He phrases the way they phrase. Even though he has no words to sing, it is clear he knows the meaning of what he is playing and where the arias occur within the context of each opera.