Performing alone on stage is not for some but 12-year-old Alexandra Fisher believes it’s where she belongs.
“I love acting and signing but I tried show choir once but it wasn’t my thing,” she said. “I am a soloist so it’s kind of hard to sing in a group.”
Fisher may not enjoy performing as part of a company but she does belong to one special collection of local voices. Fisher is one of six vocal students under the tutelage of Naomi Koch heading to Edmonton for the Provincial Solo, Ensemble and Choral Speech Festival May 25 -May 28.
For Fisher it’s a return visit. She recalled her reaction to being at provincials last year.
“It was bit scary in some ways but it was also sort of cool,” she said.
This year Fisher will perform at the festival in both the classical and musical theatre categories in her age group. This is not a simple thing to pull off her because they are two different yet equally exacting signing disciplines, Koch said.
“Classical voice is about creating a beautiful sound,” she explained. “Text is important but it is secondary, whereas musical theatre is text driven. Each song is a piece of drama that needs to be acted.
Fisher landed her upcoming spot in Edmonton with a provincial recommendation at the High River and District Lions Music Festival in late March. Provincial nods also went to Koch students Daniella Vaniersel, Alecia Pagnotta, Breighanne Brandford, Evangeline Mably and Alexandra Enman. At provincials Enman also will be in both musical theatre and classical voice competition in her 16 and under age group.
While Fisher is the youngest of Koch’s pupils going north, Mably is the oldest. The 22 year-old will perform in the senior classical voice category as well as senior piano. She extended much of the credit for her polish as a singer to Koch.
“Naomi is amazing,” Mably said. “She’s always looking for new ideas. She’s very innovative and she’s always reading up on the latest techniques. She wants us to do well and she really puts a lot of effort into her teaching. It’s wonderful to work with her.”
Koch has had an impressive track record of producing provincial champions. She has had students take home top honours in the Senior and 16 and under musical theatre categories the past four years. Even with those accolades it’s important to her that her singing protégés do not weigh their sense of accomplishment solely on competition results.
“What I really hope for my students in term of provincials is they come back feeling they’ve given their very best performance,” she said. “Winning first or second is great but it is most important they feel they’ve given their personal best.”
Koch has been teaching in the Foothills for the past 10 years since moving from Saskatoon. She said her student come to her based on an individual desire to perform and not parental pressure.
“Voice is a little bit different than piano,” she explained. “A lot of time you have parents wanting to give their kids piano lessons. It’s sort of a mandate. With voice I find it’s usually a child or a younger teenager saying they’d like to take singing lessons. Every once in a while I get a sibling in for lessons but it hasn’t happened often.”
With talent from 35 individual Alberta music festivals headed to Edmonton, Koch knows her students will benefit from being against top competition. With six singers at provincials, she also knows her teaching methods will be well represented at the event.
