The voice:
the most honest expression of a person. Every subtle change in the voice
will be perceived and gives essential information. Every one of us, both
expert and non expert understands in a direct or indirect manner what is
being said by the intonation of the voice.
When I
started to study classical singing it was purely out of a musical and
intellectual interest. Singing for me was, and is, the most beautiful human
expression. I travelled a lot to accomplish my studies because I fanatically
looked for an honest way of expressing myself, avoiding any kind of
artificiality. I looked for a technique that was both aesthetically refined
and emotionally simple; a kind of singing which would be open to all kinds
of public. This search in the end guided me to Rodolfo Celletti, Italian
singing teacher, musicologist and writer, who made me feel at home in his
school of Belcanto. His work and the inspiration and support of the late
Bernard Kruysen, a Dutch-French baritone, helped me to develop my own style
in singing and teaching.
Other
fields of interest which had a strong influence on my teaching were the
investigations on the voice of professor
Harm K. Schutte at the University of Groningen and the latest techniques
for mental coaching like NLP and Systemic thinking (Lucas
Derks and
Jan Ardui). Therefore biofeedback (on-line bio-feedback) and a systemic
approach are always clearly present in my work.
Who works
with me meets a classical singer that offers his tools to any user of the
human voice. I work with singers, actors, directing managers and teachers.
They all want a reliable technique and an extended range of means of
expression to help them to sing or say clearly what they mean.
I work with
both musical and non-musical methods. I develop posture, attack,
respiration, resonance, diction, interpretation and presentation. At the end
of our work the client is able to prepare and execute every vocal task.
I teach
voice since my early years in conservatory (1985). Amongst my students were
many famous opera singers and company directors, but also enthusiastic
amateur singers and actors.
A
Creative Voice
There is
not the creative and the non-creative: there is only with or without
techniques to be creative.
Years of
developing theatrical concepts and events taught me to develop techniques to
open doorways to creativity. I started working these concepts in groups and
found out that you can achieve wonderful results in a short time.
Creativity
is a very interesting domain for the investigators of the human psyche. The
basis of my work can be found in the works of Lateral Thinking (Edward de
Bono), Flow (Csikszentmihalyi) and the NLP modelling of creative genius in
the 80’s and 90’s.
There are
three arts in creative development; the art of putting a team together, the
art of leading the process and the art of putting the results into practice.
Coaching creativity is coaching the three. My specialty is to guide the
vocal approach of creativity.
A modern
enterprise needs swift results and for this often repeats the use of
external experts. This is not necessary; once installed the techniques
should become common practice which is only updated once in a while.
Our work
begins by doing it; analysis of the goal, forming the team, making the
planning, and executing the work. In a maximum of 5 sessions the creative
team will be ready with their first task and for all next that follow.
A
International Voice
Clearly and
simply. If you want to do business abroad you need to be able to express
yourself. Grammar, theory and culture don’t mean a thing when you don’t
speak and understand.
Coaching
languages (English, German, French, Italian and Dutch) is a matter of
speaking. I will help you with vocal technique and diction and techniques to
overcome fright and stage fear.
The
Inner voice
Since
Lucas
Derks developed his Social Panorama in the early nineties I became
fascinated by the idea of using his insights in the work with the voice. The
inner voice is a presence we all know very well by talking in ourselves. Its
common presence never forces us to listen to it in a more detailed manner.
Where does it come from, what quality does it have? Which quality is linked
to what kind of emotions?
Playing with
your inner representations and comparing them with the outer result will
have enormous effect on your daily functioning. Becoming congruent in your
vocal expression is born on the inside. I dare to say that every great
interpreter is aware of what is going to be heard before it can be heard.
Training the
interior voice and the connection with the outer expression is the most
profound part of my work and if you really ask me it is my work.
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