Zoë Todd

 

An extremely versatile and intelligent singer, Zoë’s extensive theatre experience and linguistic skills make her a compelling performer on stage and concert platform alike. She is equally at home with contemporary pieces as with the standard repertoire, and enjoys performing unusual and forgotten works. As well as graduating with Distinction in the Professional Performance Diploma from the RNCM, Zoë has a degree in Italian and German from Oxford University. She is a consummate actress and has trained in various forms of dance, including ballet, jazz, tap and flamenco. Since moving to Suffolk in 2014 she has been building up her private teaching practice.

 

 

 

The Conundrum of Music and Language

 

Music is magic and not magic at all. It can transport you through time and space, turn you into someone else and expand your horizons. Yet the successful performance of music requires hours of lonely study, of repetition and practice - no magic, just a learnable skill. It is frequently said that music is an international language. Yet singing has an additional element - the text - which is made up not of a universal language, but of one specific (and frequently foreign) language. My passion is to help singers communicate clearly, using diction, pronunciation and comprehension as the tools to allow the text to enhance the music and the music to clarify the text.

My Approach

 

 

Babies can cry for hours. They are incredibly efficient at turning breath into sound. Yet when we are no longer babies we can sometimes find it difficult to sing at certain pitches or at certain volumes or we run out of breath. Following the example of my own teacher, Arwel Treharne Morgan, I use elements of yoga and pilates to help students relax and release the breath. We are aiming for a calm approach to singing, and one in which the sound is produced by the free passage of air over the vocal chords, not by muscular effort and tension in the neck and head area.

 

My Philosophy

 

I am interested in the sideways

movement between literature, music, dance and theatre. I believe that exploring how the different art forms inspire and evolve into varying interpretations is worthwhile not only in itself, but it also has practical uses. The process of learning about a song, including its literary provenance and its musical style, can encourage confidence in the performer and foster an ability to perform well under pressure.

http://www.percheno.co.uk