“The guidance, mentorship, and support I received were inspiring and transformative: they fueled my artistic and musical growth in some of the most encouraging and motivating ways.”- Daisy Dalit Sigal, CLA France 2026
Daisy Dalit Sigal
Ma douce France… ma plus belle histoire d’amour, c’est toi.
Another year, another summer spent with my CLA family in Europe!
In the quiet and serene countryside of Lougratte in southern France, surrounded only by green fields and horse farms, lies La Ferme d’Hermance, the home that hosted our musical group. It felt so magical to walk out on the terrace with a cup of coffee early in the morning, and enjoying the breeze while listening to the peaceful, most beautiful sounds of nature… which were also often mixed with our vocal warm-ups.
This year was my second time participating as an artist with Classic Lyric Arts, so I already knew exactly what to expect of these three weeks. If I had to use two words to describe a residency with CLA they would be “intensive” and “rewarding”. Intensive in the sense that there was always musical material to work on, whether it was personal practice, a coaching, or a staging and musical rehearsal to prepare for our concerts. Rewarding in the sense that after every coaching or rehearsal, we all walked out feeling inspired, supported and confident in our abilities. Classic Lyric Arts fosters a safe environment for artistic growth: this program encourages musicians, singers AND pianists, to experiment freely, take risks, try new ideas, make mistakes and embrace them for the sake of developing our craft.
CLA France 2026 Artists post-concert
All four coaches, Hélène Blanic, Raphaël Treiner, Gaspard Brecourt, and of course, Glenn Morton, brought invaluable knowledge that complemented and built upon one another, even though every coaching session focused on different aspects of discovering the beauty of French repertoire. “You must always think of singing legato! French music is also bel canto, in many ways,” Hélène would say in my coachings.
Gaspard is a true master when it comes to in-depth analysis on how to feel the music and read the cues left by composers in the scores, thus finding the right expressions and creating a complete story even in a short art song. He was also very insistent on preventing some of the habits singers develop, such as adding portamenti where they are not indicated, “It’s not part of the style. Unless it’s written in the score, NO portamenti in French repertoire!”
“If you can read the text autonomously, making very minimal or no mistakes, I’ve done my job,” Raphaël Treiner said. Even though French is one of my native languages, it was very interesting for me to sit in on the French classes because I discovered a whole new way of teaching a language and approaching a language that often seems very difficult to understand. Raphaël made these classes very productive while keeping them fun, warm, and memorable.
The streets of a local town
And Glenn, well, I think that everyone can agree on the fact that he is a true wizard in any language he coaches when it comes to the art of singing pure and resonant vowels. I never thought that an empty room with only four walls, a floor and a ceiling could already be an incredible tool to build healthy habits in order to find comfortable (and correct!) ways to produce full, consistent and professional sound. “Singing is as simple as that!” Glenn would say.
Each individual coaching was filled with personal revelations and unexpected discoveries about my voice and my artistic abilities. The guidance, mentorship, and support I received were inspiring and transformative: they fueled my artistic and musical growth in some of the most encouraging and motivating ways.
The beauty of this program also consists of the fact that for three consecutive weeks, everyone is always together. It was so nice to gather up with everyone at the table for every meal, talk about our days and discoveries, and enjoy delicious gastronomic delicacies prepared by Caroline, the chef during the program. At the table, we shared many laughs and created some of the most beautiful memories! It was definitely hard to say goodbye to everyone at the end of the program, but I am truly eager to see what amazing adventures await us all in the future! It was a true pleasure to share the stage with such a strong and dedicated group of artists, with whom I can now call my colleagues and friends.
Daisy outside of La Ferme d’Hermance
Besides the hard work that everybody has put in throughout the program, we also had the chance to spend time among nature, enjoy beautiful sunset walks, visit local markets, stargaze, and soak in the warmth of the sun while sitting by the pool.
Merci à toute l’équipe de CLA France, pour ce magnifique et inoubliable voyage au paradis.
The three weeks I spent in the beautiful Nouvelle-Aquitaine were full of artistic growth, music-making, laughter, sun, wine, gastronomic surprises and great company. It really created the true recipe of La belle vie!
Allez, bisous!