Last week I was accompanying a vocalist at the Renfrew Rotary Music Festival. The order of performance in a competition is usually chosen by draw. As luck would have it, two performers were singing the same piece – back to back.
That is a difficult order to draw, and everyone reading the program felt the pressure of comparison. But this situation does happen from time to time. What to do? Last-minute adjustments are risky and ill-advised. The better choice is to stick with your prepared performance as you have been coached by your teacher.
The basic musical details of notes, rhythm, dynamics, and phrasing must certainly be handled. What was interesting for me was each performer’s artistic interpretation of the same details. Each was beautifully different and unique.