Acting : Maintaining vocal health during stressful times by Minka Wiltz

(Revised post...editing is so important. ) Happy Apocalypse Everyone! It has been a very long while since I have posted anything on Stage32 but, the very cool Karen E. Ross has inspired me with her "why not" spirit!! Thank you Karen!!! (not all Karens are suspect...TEEHEE). I am, like so many of us artists, a multi-hyphenate but I started as a singer. At 6 years old I started training as a Western Classical singer with a young singers group in Atlanta, Georgia. My training with the group lasted until the cutoff age of 14 years old; but I have never stopped using those valuable techniques throughout my life from singing Operatic arias to developing characters onstage in "straight" plays and musicals. At 16 years old I began singing as a staff singer with various church choirs for consistent supplemental income. When the pandemic hit, my most recent church engagement slowed to a stop and, like so many other artists, I didn't quite know what I was going to do to maintain the financial and vocal consistency. Singing is like any other discipline except for one thing...the singer's voice ages with the body...if the body is deficient or atrophies, the voice becomes less capable to achieve smooth lines, highs and lows. In essence, the viability of a singer dwindles faster without use. The good news for me was that I had developed a decent enough reputation with artists in Atlanta that I was called upon to be a part of developing projects. The first gig was LAG: The Zoomsical by Haddon Kime. You can see it free online at www.zoomsical.com. It's a micro-musical but the entire preparation was lenghty with all rehearsals and filming happening entirely on Zoom. In fact, it was the first musical created entirely on Zoom; now that micro-musical has been nominated for several awards around the country and has licensing available through StageRights.com. This opportunity along with some new play readings have been great but I still found that I needed and wanted to sing more. My solution was to post on my IG as I took walks through the woods with my family or sang in my little makeshift studio at home. The healthiest way for me to keep my voice from feeling tired, though, was to hum and explore my voice throughout the day. Yep, that's it. Not only does it keep me feeling less stressed but it helps me to find pitches and deeper breathing while I sit at the computer or drive through traffic. I even created a breathing course based on some of the discoveries I have found with my humming. I think EVERYONE should try it. Just get a safe distance from people, take off your mask and inhale deeply through your nose, feel your back and belly expand and, breathe out with your lips together and your teeth apart and let a hum begin. Yes, it is like a walking or mindful meditation and you can experiment with the pitches or keeping your lips apart and making vowel sounds. Your lips and nasal passages may start vibrating but that's all a part of the fun! Okay y'all! I hope you and yours are staying well and finding ways to have fun while you love one another more and more each day!!! Peace and love and strength, Minka Wiltz