Shirley Triumphs

The unstoppable force that is Shirley Beyah began working on her voice almost two years ago.

I can still remember her vibrant lower voice ringing out in Roger & Hammerstein’s Climb Every Mountain during her first lesson.

She told me she lived to sing, had twenty voice teachers, and had been singing as a mezzo-soprano for Kent Tritle’s Oratorio Society at St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights. But her teachers didn’t know what to do with her. Some thought her a mezzo. Others a soprano. As it was, her lower voice was paired with a thin upper range trained in coloratura fashion. Between them? A chasm that she didn’t know how to cross. So we got to work with Appoggio, Formation of tone, Singing Position, Impostazione, Portamento & Vowels.

The break healed, the middle voice began to flower, and is continuing to bloom and grow. This is remarkable for any person of a certain age. N’est-ce pas?

Last week, she made her debut as alto soloist with the Oratorio Society in Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, singing the role of the Mouse.

For the mouse is a creature of great personal valour!

Valour? I could not be more proud. My mouse stole the show with her rich, clear & beautiful voice.

What is to be learned from this, Dear Reader?

Effective practice trumps ambition; the tortoise wins even during a pandemic; and the voice will find its way when the right tools are used.

Shirley Triumphs!