I was delighted to cross paths with Classical singer and teacher Bo Chang when we were both in Mysore, India, to practice Ashtanga Yoga at The SK Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute. Highly disciplined, Bo, who usually calls Harlem home, practiced singing each day amid her Sanskrit and yoga studies, and definitely showed me a thing or two about proper vocal technique. As she readied for teaching a master class and performing at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore, Bo discussed her life in singing.
Q: How did you start singing? And what led you to classical?
BC: I didn’t start singing in front of other people until high school choir. All started from there. It was a very good a capella group. I was totally hooked. I sang show tunes and pop songs for fun until college when I had to make a decision about what to do with my voice. Classical technique is very specific and belting out show tunes wasn’t exactly helping with technical consistency in my case. I’ve always loved classical music since I was a kid. Choosing it was not even a question. No one in my immediate family even listens to classical music. I’m the odd one.
Q: Who were/are your teachers? And/or do you have a mentor? If there’s one thing you could tell a beginning singer what would it be?
Q: What are some of your performance highlights? What’s your favorite kind of gig?
Q: Can you say if being in/practicing India has affected your singing? Do you relate your yoga practice to your singing practice in any way?
BC: You keep playing music for the love of it. If you look for a reward or some sort of result, it’s hard to keep going because it’s such a difficult and unstable business. Most musicians, unless superstars, teach or take other jobs to keep playing. It’s the same in yoga. As instructed in the Bhagavad Gita, you practice with devotion without looking for any rewards. That’s what really drew me to study yoga, reading the scriptures and realizing the similarities. Whether the asana and pranayama practice changes one’s musical performance or technique is almost irrelevant, I think.
Q Tell us a bit about the Ravel song cycle, Histoires naturelles (song cycle) and how you chose it, and what you love about it?
BC I didn’t choose the song cycle; it chose me. A very talented young director, Michael Rau, and a fabulous pianist, Jessica Chow were looking for a mezzo-soprano who knew André Caplet’s Trois Fables de la Fontaine. I had performed it at the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival. They asked me to join a theater project where they take a traditional song recital and stage it like a play with singers singing and acting different parts. I was assigned the Caplet songs and Ravel’s Histoires Naturelles. It turns out the Ravel songs fit my voice perfectly! Since then, I’ve been singing them at every opportunity. The narrator observes five birds in five songs, and describes what he/she imagines to be the bird’s motives in colorful and poignant detail. The 4th song, Martin-Pêcheur, is different and perhaps the most moving. A fisherman describes an encounter with the bird and how he felt truly one with nature. When I started working on that song, I used to cry every time I practiced it. They are all GREAT songs!
Q: Where can audiences find you in 2011
BC: Most likely in New York. I came to India without scheduling my 2011-2012 season. I just packed up and left! I have some recital projects in the works, but until everyone signs the contract, I can’t really say …;)
Bo performs at noon 2/16 at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore. Her masterclass is on 2/15. Please contact the Academy for more information.
Deborah Crooks (www.DeborahCrooks.com) is a writer, performing songwriter and recording artist based in San Francisco whose lyric driven and soul-wise music has drawn comparison to Lucinda Williams, Chrissie Hynde and Natalie Merchant.
Singing about faith, love and loss, her lyrics are honed by a lifetime of writing and world travel while her music draws on folk, rock, Americana and the blues. She released her first EP “5 Acres” in 2003 produced by Roberta Donnay, which caught the attention of Rocker Girl Magazine, selecting it for the RockerGirl Discoveries Cd. In 2007, she teamed up with local producer Ben Bernstein to complete “Turn It All Red” Ep, followed by 2008’s “Adding Water to the Ashes” CD, and a second full-length CD “2010. She’s currently working on a third CD to be released in 2013.
Deborah’s many performance credits include an appearance at the 2006 Millennium Music Conference, the RockerGirl Magazine Music Convention, IndieGrrl, at several of the Annual Invasion of the GoGirls at SXSW in Austin, TX, the Harmony Festival and 2009’s California Music Fest, MacWorld 2010, Far West Fest and many other venues and events. She toured the Northwest as part “Indie Abundance Music, Money & Mindfulness” (2009) with two other Bay Area artists, and followed up with “The Great Idea Tour of the Southwest in March 2010 with Jean Mazzei.
