On Saturday March 29th at 7:30 pm, SVSU had their final Rhea Miller Concert for the year featuring vocalist Dr. Dorea Cook and pianist Dr. Chia-Ying Chan.
Cook is a Mezzo-Soprano who specializes in coloratura. Coloratura is a style of singing characterized by high and low leaps of vocals, which means that she can switch ranges very easily even when she is in the middle of a verse. She demonstrated this by including this method in all of the songs she performed.
The concert consisted of six songs and included some sung in foreign languages. The roster included works by George Fredrick Handel, Clara Wieck Shumann, Francis Poulenc, and Jake Heggie. While many may not know these performers, Jake Heggie has made many memorable songs for westerner televisions shows. This included a song for the former First Lady Barbara Bush’s radio show that featured her reading children’s books alongside the Muppets.
Cook’s vocal talent was something that she did not learn overnight. When asked how she achieved this range and how she continues to support it, she gave her thoughts on the topic.
“I am lucky that I had good teachers in high school and family and friends that encouraged me to continually get better. The external support and belief in my abilities has been so important to me, because let’s face it, we all have hard days!” Cook said. “Finding my musical family has really strengthened my confidence, and with it, my ability to sing in a wide range. Having said that, singing in a big range does take practice, perseverance, and dedication over a number of years. I also make sure that I warm up my singing voice before I teach or otherwise talk a lot. Think of it a bit as cross training or strength training for an athlete – singing is using muscles, both the tiny ones inside your larynx (voice box), and the larger ones helping you to breathe well. Working them out day by day builds long term strength and the ability to do a lot of different things vocally.”
Many students and faculty attended her concert. One student, Jackson Duby, a freshman Music Education major, gave his opinion on the event.
“I thought the concert was great,” Jackson said. “Her performance was entirely attention-grabbing, and her voice filled the entire room. I’d recommend anyone go see her when they get the chance.”Even though the Rhea Miller series is over, there are still plenty of concerts left in the year. For more information, visit https://www.svsu.edu/musicdepartment/ for the schedule.
