Musicianship above all? New perspectives on training towards integrated bel canto performance

Abstract

In this chapter I address the implications of mono-disciplinary or disciplinary-bound approaches for the training of opera singers. Rather than fully unpacking details of technique or proposing specific exercises and regimes, my interest here lies in the discursive domains within which operatic pedagogies operate. I will focus on the example of the Experience Vocal Dance Company in order to problematise the contexts and critical frameworks that dictate predominant approaches to the pedagogy of bel canto.