Approaching the Wonderment of Bel Canto

Because it is passed from teacher to student in such intimate and personal disciplines, Bel Canto is and always will be a mysterious, almost secret art. Many attempts have been made to explain the greatness of Bel Canto, and none have been truly adequate.

I liken it to the old parable about the group of blind men who were introduced to an elephant for the first time, and then they were asked to explain to others what an elephant was. The first blind man approached the elephant from its side and touched the animal’s large body with tough skin. He reported that an elephant is like a house. The second blind man felt one of the elephant’s legs and said: "It is a tree." The third blind man found the elephant’s tail and claimed that an elephant was a rope. The fourth blind man ran his hands up and down the elephants tusks– a spear! And the last blind man caught hold of the animal’s trunk and proclaimed that an elephant is a hosepipe. All of the men had good reason for their explanations, but none of them could fully comprehend all there was to know about an elephant.

So it is with the wonderment of Bel Canto. Various teachers and even accomplished Bel Canto singers have written about their understanding of Bel Canto as an art. In each book or article it is fairly easy to see that every person has managed to find something of themselves inside the art of Bel Canto, and they share that part of themselves as part and parcel of their respective definitions of "Bel Canto."

It was the same for me when I was a young lad studying Bel Canto with my teacher Julian Miller. I meditated continually about the work we were doing to clear away my vocal difficulties. I strove for consistency to be able to sing with the ease and clarity and well-pronounced phrases I was learning. I wanted to find a way to keep hold of those skills throughout my career without ever straying from the true meaning of Bel Canto.

And finally I found my answer within myself. I discovered I could get hold of all of the phrasing, inflection and precision inherent in Bel Canto singing and integrate them with ease as soon as I realized that singing Bel Canto was all about telling the story.

BEL CANTO- A Human Touch, A Living, Evolving Art:

It’s not often that someone can say that they have made a real contribution to the art that he or she serves. I am both proud and humbled to add my own human touch to the enduring and ever-evolving art of Bel Canto singing, as my teacher did before me and his teachers did before him. My gift to the art of Bel Canto is the message of storytelling.

Bel Canto is a singing art that can only be imparted from teacher to student over time and intensive study. There has never been a book or an instruction manual that could adequately describe the necessary steps to sing with VOCAL FREEDOM the Bel Canto way, and there never will be.

In the historical manner of study, the Bel Canto instructor would have the student sing an aria or other song until he or she brought forth a particularly beautiful phrase sung with crystal clarity. At that point the student was instructed to repeat that word or short phrase over and over exactly as he or she had just done it, in order for the student to become accustomed to singing so clearly. Intensive work was also done with regards to pronunciation of words, particularly the vowels in the words. The teacher continued to guide the student with these disciplines until the student finally achieved the ability to sing clearly and consistently without vocal difficulties every time– until he or she had reached VOCAL FREEDOM.

Edwin Williamson

Edwin Williamson came to the Bel Canto House School of Singing  in 1987. It was obvious even then that he had a tremendous gift for singing and a facility for learning that was quite rare. He adapted quite quickly to the way of Bel Canto Storytelling and after studying in the school for some time he worked his way to VOCAL FREEDOM.

Edwin has performed extensively in Ireland, Europe and the United States. His talent and skill as a singer have been recognized in his success at international singing competitions and other venues:
• 1st Prize– 2nd International Cairo Song Festival; Cairo, Egypt; August, 1996.
• 3rd Prize– International Pamukkale Festival; Pamukkale, Turkey; June, 1997.
• 1st Prize– 3rd International Cairo Song Festival; Cairo, Egypt; August, 1997.
• 1st Prize– Benelux International Song & Culture Festival; Holland; August, 1998.
• 3rd Prize– 3rd International Music Festival UniverseTalent Prague; Prague, Czech Republic; November, 2001.

“When I am working with a performer for the first time, I get started right away and say ‘Okay, sing me a song,’ and we start moving them towards vocal freedom immediately,” says Edwin. “They are always amazed with the results they can achieve even in the first session.  When they are done they feel like they could sing hanging from a tree or standing on their head! And it’s because they finally got the right approach.”

Edwin has made me very proud of the way he has been able to bring his own insights to build on my innovation of Bel Canto Storytelling without compromising one iota of the authentic teaching tradition of my Bel Canto House School of Singing. He has helped many singers to achieve remarkable results, and he does much of the training and coaching of the advanced singers and commercially successful performers who come to the school.

Edwin Williamson will carry the banner of Bel Canto Storytelling forward after me and build up future teachers that will spread the wonderful message of Bel Canto to the world for years to come.