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Voice student paves way for new collaboration
April 05, 2007
Junior Elizabeth Ford pioneered a new frontier for the study away program to China when she spent fall semester studying at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music.
The strong ties that allowed Ford to study at Sichuan will be showcased with an exchange concert that will bring music faculty from the conservatory to PLU on April 26.
PLU has been sending students to study in Sichuan Province for the past 25 years.
While past participants in the study away program have taken private lessons at the conservatory, Ford was the first PLU student to formally study there, said Greg Youtz, music professor and program director for the China semester-long study away program based in Chengdu.
Ford is a soprano voice student who has high aspirations to become a professional opera singer. After graduating from high school, Ford studied at a conservatory in France for a year and then transferred to PLU. The experience in France made her crave international travel and the intense focus conservatories place on learning, understanding and performing music. She immediately began searching for opportunities available through PLU.
“I was interested in being somewhere international and to be somewhere outside of Western Europe,” Ford said. “It was also important I go somewhere with music.”
After meeting with Youtz about the China program and the option to study at the conservatory, Ford decided it was the right fit for her. She would be able to “build character” by living in a foreign culture, and by studying at the conservatory, she was helping Youtz build a stronger relationship with it, she explained.
Youtz said Ford “blew their socks off,” at the conservatory, and her talent and willingness to tutor other students went a long way toward establishing even greater good will between the two schools.
While at the conservatory, Ford couldn’t take classes with Chinese students because she lacked the language skills. Instead, she took private lessons with Chinese teachers. Her classes included Western opera with an instructor who had studied in Australia; Chinese art song with the head of the conservatory’s vocal department who studied in Seattle; and German lieder with an instructor who spent 20 years in Germany.
Additionally, Ford joined the other 12 PLU students studying at Sichuan University for Chinese culture classes and participated in the group’s field trips. She was among a group of students who traveled to Mount Everest and Tibet. It was an “astonishing” experience, she said.
During her last month and half in China, Ford offered to tutor Chinese voice students in Western pronunciation and diction to fulfill the service-learning requirement of the study away program.
“The service learning program gets you to be more involved in the culture,” she said. “You are getting so much of their culture, you want to give back and teach them some of yours.”
Ford tutored 20 Chinese students once a week for half and hour. The lessons focused on correctly pronouncing words in Italian, English, French and German.
“It’s really hard when you are trained in Chinese sounds to make Western sounds,” she said. “The worst part was the language barrier.”
Some of her students knew a little English, but she had picked up only a smattering of Chinese while living in the country. To overcome the barrier, Ford said she relied heavily on body language.
Ford originally transferred to PLU to pursue both opera and another degree because she didn’t think opera would be fulfilling enough. However, after nearly two years at PLU, she’s realized her passion is opera and plans to transfer to an East Coast conservatory next fall.
“I want to go to a place focused on music,” she said. “PLU has a great music program, but a conservatory is about how a musician will pursue an ambitious career in music.”
Ford said her passion for opera grew after she delved deeper into it and realized it offered everything she was looking for in life. Opera will challenge her intellectually by requiring she learn a number of languages and opera roles require extensive research to understand the character and time period. Opera also has an emotional side.
“Opera commands deep emotions and connections to the heart and soul that I think lots of people are missing,” she said. “It opens hearts.”
Ford believes her experiences living internationally will make her a better opera singer because living out of her element was challenging and developed her character. To play the characters on stage, she believes she has to have a strong character herself.
While at PLU, Ford has participated in PLU’s annual Opera Workshops, and as a member of the Choir of the West and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. This summer, she will perform with Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, a professional operetta group.
The exchange concert featuring faculty of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music is slated for 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 26 in Lagerquist Concert Hall. It will feature contemporary Western chamber music played on Western instruments, Youtz said.
“The composers compose in Chinese and Western classical music style, and they decided to play our game this time,” Youtz said. “We hope to have another concert down the road that showcases Chinese classical music.”
Visit www.plu.edu/~music for more information.
PLU has been sending students to study in Sichuan Province for the past 25 years.
While past participants in the study away program have taken private lessons at the conservatory, Ford was the first PLU student to formally study there, said Greg Youtz, music professor and program director for the China semester-long study away program based in Chengdu.
Ford is a soprano voice student who has high aspirations to become a professional opera singer. After graduating from high school, Ford studied at a conservatory in France for a year and then transferred to PLU. The experience in France made her crave international travel and the intense focus conservatories place on learning, understanding and performing music. She immediately began searching for opportunities available through PLU.
“I was interested in being somewhere international and to be somewhere outside of Western Europe,” Ford said. “It was also important I go somewhere with music.”
After meeting with Youtz about the China program and the option to study at the conservatory, Ford decided it was the right fit for her. She would be able to “build character” by living in a foreign culture, and by studying at the conservatory, she was helping Youtz build a stronger relationship with it, she explained.
Youtz said Ford “blew their socks off,” at the conservatory, and her talent and willingness to tutor other students went a long way toward establishing even greater good will between the two schools.
While at the conservatory, Ford couldn’t take classes with Chinese students because she lacked the language skills. Instead, she took private lessons with Chinese teachers. Her classes included Western opera with an instructor who had studied in Australia; Chinese art song with the head of the conservatory’s vocal department who studied in Seattle; and German lieder with an instructor who spent 20 years in Germany.
Additionally, Ford joined the other 12 PLU students studying at Sichuan University for Chinese culture classes and participated in the group’s field trips. She was among a group of students who traveled to Mount Everest and Tibet. It was an “astonishing” experience, she said.
During her last month and half in China, Ford offered to tutor Chinese voice students in Western pronunciation and diction to fulfill the service-learning requirement of the study away program.
“The service learning program gets you to be more involved in the culture,” she said. “You are getting so much of their culture, you want to give back and teach them some of yours.”
Ford tutored 20 Chinese students once a week for half and hour. The lessons focused on correctly pronouncing words in Italian, English, French and German.
“It’s really hard when you are trained in Chinese sounds to make Western sounds,” she said. “The worst part was the language barrier.”
Some of her students knew a little English, but she had picked up only a smattering of Chinese while living in the country. To overcome the barrier, Ford said she relied heavily on body language.
Ford originally transferred to PLU to pursue both opera and another degree because she didn’t think opera would be fulfilling enough. However, after nearly two years at PLU, she’s realized her passion is opera and plans to transfer to an East Coast conservatory next fall.
“I want to go to a place focused on music,” she said. “PLU has a great music program, but a conservatory is about how a musician will pursue an ambitious career in music.”
Ford said her passion for opera grew after she delved deeper into it and realized it offered everything she was looking for in life. Opera will challenge her intellectually by requiring she learn a number of languages and opera roles require extensive research to understand the character and time period. Opera also has an emotional side.
“Opera commands deep emotions and connections to the heart and soul that I think lots of people are missing,” she said. “It opens hearts.”
Ford believes her experiences living internationally will make her a better opera singer because living out of her element was challenging and developed her character. To play the characters on stage, she believes she has to have a strong character herself.
While at PLU, Ford has participated in PLU’s annual Opera Workshops, and as a member of the Choir of the West and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. This summer, she will perform with Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, a professional operetta group.
The exchange concert featuring faculty of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music is slated for 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 26 in Lagerquist Concert Hall. It will feature contemporary Western chamber music played on Western instruments, Youtz said.
“The composers compose in Chinese and Western classical music style, and they decided to play our game this time,” Youtz said. “We hope to have another concert down the road that showcases Chinese classical music.”
Visit www.plu.edu/~music for more information.