Recently I attended, as an observer, the Souliloquy Masterclass for Singers, conducted by Simone de Haas.

As a professional Opera Singer of many years and now a voice teacher to singing and acting students, I was very impressed by the way in which she employed a range of approaches to improve and develop the core capabilities of the participants both as singers and actors. She presented them with valuable resources to effectively use emotional energy to enhance their performances. This was achieved in the course of the day with an emphasis on connection to both text and emotions, and an awareness that ‘expectations are burdensome and a significant source of anxiety.’

In the process of a very well constructed format Simone took the singers through a series of steps designed to explore mindfulness and emotional intelligence, the awareness of feelings and how they affect performance.

As a result of this process I observed very significant breakthroughs in all of the participants both vocally, and in self-confidence. They had more of an understanding of truthful presentation of spoken text and this in turn was reflected in the quality of the singing. The text of a song was connected to a centered relaxed vocal delivery and the singers were no longer just singing a series of musical notes. I could see and hear the total package – a more confident performer bringing together music and text in their chosen song and greater communication with the audience.    

I have no hesitation in recommending Simone’s workshops or private sessions to my singing students. I have seen first hand the excellent results of her work and I consider this an important part of my multidisciplinary approach to vocal teaching.  Students will be better equipped to engage more fully in their vocal training when they have the tangible strategies, devised by Simone, to overcome performance anxiety and facilitate the creative process.

Judith Henley