"Amy, may we have a word with you."
Posted on 07/01/2005 8:58:09 AM PDT by Millee
Singing soprano is for girls only in Texas' elite All-State Choir, eliminating a 17-year-old boy's chance to audition for a statewide honor and raising questions about gender discrimination.
The Texas Music Educators Association on June 15 denied a request from Mikhael Rawls to audition this fall as a soprano, a part traditionally sung by girls.
Rawls sings countertenor, a little known male voice part that has surged in popularity in classical and operatic circles. He can sing an octave and a half higher than most boys his age, and he feels most comfortable singing in that range.
He has even won first place as a soprano in the University Interscholastic League's competition two years in a row.
The association, however, does not allow boys to sing soprano or alto, or girls to sing tenor or bass.
Association spokeswoman Amy Lear said the group enacted the rule two years ago because of concerns that girls auditioning for tenor parts were hurting their voices by singing too low.
"If you make a rule one way it has to work both ways," Lear said, adding that the association does not hold auditions specifically for countertenors because the part is rarely included in the group's music.
In late May, Rawls asked the association to reverse its policy and let auditions be non-gender specific, or to create a new audition category specifically for countertenors. In his petition, Rawls said the countertenor is a legitimate voice part that should be recognized by music teachers, and he argued the policy amounts to gender discrimination.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I feel for the boy. My mom and I are both tenors.
"Amy, may we have a word with you."
Depends...is his voice a sissy high voice that sounds like a girl, or a good strong falsetto??
In my head, I sound exactly like the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra.
Just thought I'd share that.
LOL!
My first thought too.
I make my husband put his hand over one of his ears when he sings. It seems to help. :-)
I had my wife cover both my ears when she sang. It definitely helped. ;^)
You too?
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