“I left every single coaching having learned something fundamentally necessary to the art of singing.”
Sebastian Harris performing in the Périgord region
“Always legatissimo, always with the breath,” Hélène’s voice calls out in a dream. I am awakened by the sounds of Caroline preparing tonight’s supper in the kitchen. I draw the bedroom curtain to reveal the large expanse of land, the near-forty horses upon rolling French fields. I choose one of the horses, a chestnut mare of over six feet, and decide she will be the perfect audience for this morning’s warm-up session.
CLA France lacked nothing. There was an abundance of everything: instruction, support, friendship. When I first arrived, I was prepared to rid myself of all that I was in order to become what I believed the opera world needed me to be. Over the next three weeks, I would learn that I truly was enough.
Sebastian Harris and Loella Grahn having fun with flowers at the CLA France home
The coaches, Hélène, Raphaël, and Gaspard, led by Glenn Morton, all revealed to us the magic of song and the beautiful responsibility thereof. It isn’t just about notes and rhythms - these are human lives and stories and memories upheld in ink and vibration.
I made it a point to attend as many French lessons as possible during the program. Raphaël is a rare master of French diction - fluent in both English and French, and able to effectively express the subtleties hidden in the French language, with a joke to boot. His goal for us was “not to be perfect, but to be autonomous”. The mark of a most humble instructor - one whose goal is for his student to one day not need him.
Hélène saved my career (and life) in week two when she employed her patented tactics to train my abdominal and pelvic support. My instrument, so used to holding tension in the neck and throat, was nearly always relaxed in the abdominal region. Hélène taught me to discover and then rely on the musculature of the breath. She taught that legato is about engaging perpetually with breath support, and that this support is the gateway to musicality.
Jin-Hee Lee and Sebastian Harris before a concert in the Périgord region
Gaspard expanded on this fundamental concept of legato and sought to eradicate what we began calling my “sausage singing”. In the way that sausage links are pinched together at regular intervals, so too was my legato. Against my wishes, Gaspard discovered my unhealthy shortcuts for a “powerful” sound and taught me that true musical power comes not from being the loudest in the room, but from connecting with both the line and the text.
It is no secret that Glenn Morton is a wizard. With Glenn, I left every single coaching having learned something so fundamentally necessary to the art of singing. We were blessed with the most acoustically resonant room in the world as our studio, and Glenn utilized this feature to showcase the pure science behind legato. Legato, in Glenn’s words, is the consistency of resonance. We were able to hear in real-time the ways different vocal resonance placements would resound in the room - either off the floor, the walls, or, ideally, the ceiling. Ultimately, I would learn from Glenn that mastery of vocal resonance is the cornerstone of singing in the French language.
Sebastian Harris with the household cat at La Ferme d’Hermance
Post-program, I am eager to share what I have learned with my Hunter colleagues this fall. I’ll, of course, tell them of the round and open schwas, the ten-syllable poetic line, and the likes of Régine Crespin and Camille Maurane. But I will also tell them of preparing for opera lessons by the pool, the never-ending baguettes, and the lifelong friendships that blossomed in those three weeks.
CLA France absolutely changed my life, and I can’t wait for what’s in store for the CLA family!