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(Singing)

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(Singing ends)

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(Applause)

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Pep Rosenfeld: Folks,
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.

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Her celebrated operatic roles
are numerous and varied.

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In August 2007, Claron was awarded
the Amsterdam Prize for the Arts,

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winning praise for her brilliance,

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her amazing and extensively
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
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
a meditation retreat in Thailand.

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I wanted a place

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where I would have total silence
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
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
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
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
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."

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And in that moment I understood

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that everything I had gone
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
called Cathy Berberian.

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And the thing about this piece
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
to be creative, spontaneous.

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For example,

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there are different colors

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and each color gets
a different type of singing --

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pop, country and western, opera, jazz --

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and you just have
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
in your own way

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to follow the line,

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but you must respect it,

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more or less.

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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,

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it could be coughing, animals --

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(Audience member coughs)

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Exactly. (Laughter)

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Clapping, whatever.

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And there's different text.

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There's Armenian, Russian,
French, English, Italian.

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So within this structure, one is free.

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To me, this piece is an ode to the voice,

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because it's mysterious, as we can see.

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It's quite spontaneous.

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And it's primal.

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So I would like to share
this piece with you,

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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

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(Sneezes)

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(Laughs)

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Shh!

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(Singing)

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Gloobinoí più chiara

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Si ceci est cela cela est ceci

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Totalmente soi whom they sought to slay

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To have the fruits gloire

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J’écoute ...

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À la vie…

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Leggermente snédznoi

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Coo coo

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P k t d

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Banalité

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K o e

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(Makes the sound of a kiss)

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(Singing)

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In armonia

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(Applause)