Bel Canto Vocal Studio - K E Querns Langley

www.KEQuernsLangley.com

Master of Arts in Humanities - Music, Opera & Language
Bachelor of Arts in Language - Music & Voice Performance

Bel Canto Technique
Garcia / Marchesi Tradition
Breath Support / Appoggio
Placement in Maschera
Teaching Demonstration
Language Diction
Vocal Coaching
Master Classes & Recitals
Language & Style

Bel Canto Workshops - London, NYC & Philadelphia: We are now forming week-long workshop courses in Bel Canto Technique, Style, Interpretation and Performance. Each student will have individual voice lessons & coachings with the master teachers, Voice Class, Italian Diction, Ensemble Class & Repertoire Class. We will cover differences in the three great Bel Canto Composes form, style and ornamentation. The course will culminate with a masterclass and recital. Please register as a student with the studio through the link to the right, and indicate that you would like further information about the Bell Canto Workshops. A background in classical voice is preferred, however non-classical singers may participate or audit the course.

Voice Lessons: I help students free the natural voice through use of Bel Canto technique handed down through my teachers directly from both the 'Garcia / Marchesi' and 'Lamperti' traditions. I help the student understand how their physical and emotional states affect the singing voice, and rectify any negative impact.

I explain the use of legato, support / appoggio and placement 'in maschera' through demonstration and technical / physiological / anatomical explanations. This allows the student to produce a free and clear tone, placed correctly in maschera for proper tone projection and teaches correct breath usage / control, without forcing or 'pushing'.

Ken has just returned from the USA Where he has a successful vocal studio. He lived, taught and sang in Philadelphia, London and Italy. He studied with great teachers at The Royal College of Music in London and coaches from La Fenice in Venice and La Scala in Milan. The vocal timber of tenor K.E. Querns~Langley closely resembles that of the great Swedish tenor Jussi Bjoerling. Ken has a full round Heroic voice with brilliant solid high-notes to a sustainable top `F` (F5) and a top `F#` for Coloratura! His teacher once lovingly exclaimed that the squillo in his voice `could peel the paint off the walls.` Ken's repertoire is primarily 19th Century Bel Canto & Romantic Repertoire, and he sings comfortably in: Italian, French, German, Spanish, English and Neapolitan.

THE BEL CANTO TRADITION

Generally understood, Bel Canto refers to the Italian vocal style of the 18th and early 19th centuries of which the qualities include perfect legato production throughout the range, the use of a beautiful tone in the higher registers and agile and flexible delivery. Bel Canto or literally beautiful singing is a term that came to be widely used in the 19th century, but as a tradition has its origins as far back as the 16th century. Prominent vocal pedagogues from the Bel Canto era include: Manuel García I & II, Mathilde Marchesi & Julius Stockhausen (both students of Garcia II ), Francesco Lamperti, and his son Giovanni Battista Lamperti. The Bel Canto tradition is passed on from both the Garcia and the Lamperti traditions to Mr. Querns-Langley.


Mathilde Marchesi studied voice with Manuel Garcia II in Paris and became one of his most famous students. She taught at conservatories in Cologne and Vienna and in 1881 opened her own school in Paris. Ultimately Marchesi is remembered first and foremost as the teacher of a surprising number of great singers, and also as the person who carried the Bel Canto technique into the 20th century. Her ideas are still studied and applied by singers all over the world. The most famous of her students was perhaps Nellie Melba, but she also trained such illustrious singers as Frances Alda, Emma Calvé, Selma Kurz and Emma Eames. Frances A;da passed the Bel Canto tradition to Rose Bampton, She in turn taught Georgyn Geetlein for 18 years. K E Querns Langley studied with Ms. Geetlein for 15 years.