0:00:02.000,0:00:04.968
(Singing)

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(Singing ends)

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(Applause)

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Pep Rosenfeld: Folks,[br]you've just met Claron McFadden.

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She is a world-class soprano singer

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who studied in Rochester, New York.

0:02:19.678,0:02:22.975
Her celebrated operatic roles[br]are numerous and varied.

0:02:23.389,0:02:28.960
In August 2007, Claron was awarded[br]the Amsterdam Prize for the Arts,

0:02:28.984,0:02:30.799
winning praise for her brilliance,

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her amazing and extensively[br]wide repertoire

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and her vivid stage personality.

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Please welcome Claron McFadden.

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(Applause)

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Claron McFadden: The human voice:

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mysterious, spontaneous, primal.

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For me, the human voice is the vessel[br]on which all emotions travel --

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except, perhaps, jealousy.

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And the breath,

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the breath is the captain of that vessel.

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A child is born,

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takes its first breath --

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(Inhales)

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Whah!

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And we behold the wondrous beauty

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of vocal expression --

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mysterious, spontaneous

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and primal.

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A few years ago, I did[br]a meditation retreat in Thailand.

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I wanted a place

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where I would have total silence[br]and total solitude.

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I spent two weeks at this retreat

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in my own little hut --

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no music, no nothing -- sounds of nature,

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trying to find the essence[br]of concentration,

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being in the moment.

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On my last day,

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the woman who looked after the place,

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she came and we spoke for a minute,

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and then she said to me,

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"Would you sing something for me?"

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And I thought, but this is a place[br]of total quiet and silence.

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I can't make noise.

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She said, "Please, sing for me."

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So I closed my eyes,

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I took breath

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and the first thing that came up and out

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was "Summertime,"

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Porgy and Bess.

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(Singing) Summertime[br]and the livin' is easy.

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Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high.

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Oh, your daddy's rich[br]and your ma is good-lookin'.

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So hush little baby,

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don't you cry.

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And I opened my eyes,

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and I saw that she had her eyes closed.

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And after a moment, she opened her eyes

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and she looked at me and she said,

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"It's like meditation."

0:05:08.505,0:05:10.727
And in that moment I understood

0:05:10.751,0:05:14.163
that everything I had gone[br]to Thailand to look for,

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to search for,

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I had it already in my singing --

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the calm, but alertness,

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the focus, but awareness,

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and being totally in the moment.

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When you're totally in the moment --

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when I'm totally in the moment,

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the vessel of expression is open.

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The emotions can flow from me

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to you

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and back.

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It's an extremely profound experience.

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There's a piece by a composer,

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an American composer called John Cage.

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It's called "Aria."

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It was written for an amazing singer[br]called Cathy Berberian.

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And the thing about this piece[br]that's so special --

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if you see it behind me --

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it's not notated in any way.

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No notes, no flats, no sharps.

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But it's a kind of structure.

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And the singer, within this structure,

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has total freedom[br]to be creative, spontaneous.

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For example,

0:06:22.572,0:06:24.119
there are different colors

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and each color gets[br]a different type of singing --

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pop, country and western, opera, jazz --

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and you just have[br]to be consistent with that color.

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You see there are different lines.

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You choose in your own tempo[br]in your own way

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to follow the line,

0:06:42.246,0:06:43.654
but you must respect it,

0:06:44.466,0:06:45.623
more or less.

0:06:46.131,0:06:47.615
And these little dots,

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these represent a sort of sound

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that's not a vocal, not a lyrical way

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of expressing the voice.

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Using the body -- it could be sneezing,

0:07:00.316,0:07:01.895
it could be coughing, animals --

0:07:01.919,0:07:03.514
(Audience member coughs)

0:07:03.538,0:07:04.830
Exactly. (Laughter)

0:07:04.854,0:07:06.507
Clapping, whatever.

0:07:07.878,0:07:09.845
And there's different text.

0:07:09.869,0:07:13.604
There's Armenian, Russian,[br]French, English, Italian.

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So within this structure, one is free.

0:07:17.685,0:07:20.288
To me, this piece is an ode to the voice,

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because it's mysterious, as we can see.

0:07:26.153,0:07:27.795
It's quite spontaneous.

0:07:30.551,0:07:31.894
And it's primal.

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So I would like to share[br]this piece with you,

0:07:34.719,0:07:36.669
It's "Aria," of John Cage.

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(Singing in various languages)

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Hampart-zoum

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Dirouhi

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Di questa Terra

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Naprasno

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Conscience et

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(Barks)

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(Singing) Arise

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Tsk, tsk, tsk.

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(Singing)

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Vidiel’a

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facilmente

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E io sono per te

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(Robotic voice) No other way

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Dans l'espace, so help

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(Singing)

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Si juste

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Dvidzénya bistri

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(Claps)

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(Singing)

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On pekrásen

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idyot a k u

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O a k ho a

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Sivayoot eternal loosin

0:09:01.477,0:09:04.421
(Sneezes)

0:09:06.540,0:09:07.818
(Laughs)

0:09:07.842,0:09:08.992
Shh!

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(Singing)

0:09:13.651,0:09:15.921
Gloobinoí più chiara

0:09:18.254,0:09:23.846
Si ceci est cela cela est ceci

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Totalmente soi whom they sought to slay

0:09:33.451,0:09:37.050
To have the fruits gloire

0:09:37.915,0:09:40.455
J’écoute ...

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À la vie…

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Leggermente snédznoi

0:09:50.113,0:09:51.263
Coo coo

0:09:52.033,0:09:55.454
P k t d

0:09:55.478,0:09:57.962
Banalité

0:09:57.986,0:10:01.051
K o e

0:10:02.083,0:10:03.883
(Makes the sound of a kiss)

0:10:05.734,0:10:06.885
(Singing)

0:10:06.909,0:10:13.897
In armonia

0:10:17.269,0:10:24.189
(Applause)