Masterclass with Soile Isokoski

Ms. Isokoski looking less down to earth than this morning

Ms. Isokoski looking less down to earth than this morning

This was a really interesting morning.  The TSMF runs a “fellow” program for singers and collaborative pianists and this morning, as part of that program, there was a masterclass with Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski.  There were eight singers and four pianists with seven German songs (Strauss, Schubert and Wolff) and one in Finnish prepared (and preparing a Finnish piece for an Isokoski masterclass reminds me of that Youtube thing of the kitten walking down a line of Alsatian guard dogs).  It was classic masterclass format.  Each singer sang their piece and then went over fine points; diction, legato, phrasing, breathing, emotion, colour, at Ms. Isokoski’s direction.  It was fascinating.

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