Question 11

Dear Mrs. Lang,
is normal in Germany that singing professor does not teach technique and work like répétiteur, what not play piano well?
Greetings
P.W.*

Dear Mrs. W.,
thank you for your inquiry. I cannot imagine that your professor's approach is representative of teaching all voice teachers teaching at universities.
However, I can only speak for myself. As a voice instructor, I consider myself responsible for helping students develop their vocal technique. I do not necessarily need concert pianistic skills for this. Besides, there are repetiteurs at the universities for this purpose who play in the singing lessons and thus enable musical/interpretative work with the students.
I couldn't imagine why I would teach young singers to major in voice if I didn't enjoy and have the necessary knowledge in terms of vocal technique. After all, it is precisely technique that can help us singers answer these very questions and solve problems ourselves when we have questions or problems. Students should develop a technical basis that will quickly give them the greatest possible independence. In my experience, this can only be done if the teacher regularly "looks" at the student's technique.
I myself was always allowed to work with my teachers (until today) primarily on technique - this was helpful in singing for a long time in a healthy voice.

Sincerely
Yours
Petra Lang

*Initials changed