Martina Bretous/Entertainment Director
With Valentine’s Day right on our heels, the FIU Music Series: Broadway of Love hopes to offer a concert that will allow the audience to escape and go to another place, says Kathryn Longo, assistant professor at the School of Music.
“I’m biased but I think we always need music in the world and that art is really important. Getting the chance to say something you can’t say with words is invaluable and so, I feel that way about our whole series,” she said.
The FIU Music Series is a combination of students, faculty and guest ensembles performing concerts throughout the year. It’s a chance for students to perform live and work on their classical techniques and various singing styles, says Vindhya Khare, professor of voice at the University.
“We want to give the best opportunities to our singers … help them learn music that will not only, be academically stimulating [and] challenging but also, our goal is that they’re going to get hired to sing post-graduation or even while they’re in their studies,” said Khare.
On Monday, Feb. 13, 14 singers will take the stage at the Miami Beach Urban Studios and perform love songs from the “Golden Age” of broadway, a time between to ‘30s and ‘50s, and a few pieces from contemporary music. The numbers will include music from “Guys and Dolls,” “South Pacific,” “West Side story” and a few contemporary pieces, namely from “Aladdin” and “Into The Woods.”
“This style suits very much the classical voice. It utilizes the same vocal technique and our singers are able to use their beautiful classical singing technique and bring that to this repertoire,” said Khare.
Khare says the only challenge in preparing the concert was figuring out what songs to leave out but she assures concert goers will enjoy many songs that are “popular for the season.”
Longo and Khare both note that while the music is an essential part of the performance, singers also have to work on entertaining their audience and making it feel “as real as possible.”
“I tell singers ‘Yes, you have to have a beautiful voice, of course, but that’s not enough. Your audience is not going to relate to you if just stand up and all you do is sing. You really have to be … an entertainer,” Khare said. “If you’re not entertaining, if you don’t have that spark or desire to do that, then this might not be for you.”
To achieve that, students are ask to personalize the pieces and apply them to their own lives. They also work on their facial expressions and body language to accurately portray the emotion of the song they are performing.
“We have studio classes where the students get together and sing for each other and it’s kind of a way to workshop the piece in front of an audience,” said Longo.
Singers are then paired together to see how figure out the flow of the concert, and that is where “Dr. Khare is awesome,” says Longo. While there isn’t a specific storyline because each song comes from a different musical, Khare works to ensure there is a sense of continuity throughout the concert.
The students also rehearse with Maria Paulina Garcia, pianist and vocal coach at the University, to work on the collaboration between the pianist and the singer and then, the stage presentation.
Longo and Khare invite members of the FIU community to attend the event and say the University’s diversity enriches the quality of performance given by students.
“What I think is really great about FIU is that we have such an interesting and diverse group of students. In the Golden Age of Broadway, you don’t always think of Hispanic singers or black singers but we have that in our program and we bring a richness to it …, a young and modern voice to that tradition,” said Longo.
The free event will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13 at the Miami Beach Urban Studios on Miami Beach. For more information on the music series and upcoming events, visit music.fiu.edu.
Photo retrieved from Flickr
About Post Author
