Singer — LLMpedia

Singer
Owen Lucas from Bath, UK · Public domain · source
Name	Singer
Background	solo_singer
Occupation	Vocal performer
Instruments	Voice
Years active	Varies

Contents

Singer is a person who produces musical sounds using the human voice as an instrument within performance settings such as concerts, studios, theaters, and rituals. Singers participate in artistic traditions that intersect with institutions like Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, La Scala, and Sydney Opera House, and their work connects to events such as the Eurovision Song Contest, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, Brit Awards, and BET Awards. Their careers often involve collaboration with organizations like Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and EMI Records.

Definition and Vocal Techniques

A singer uses the larynx, vocal cords, and respiratory systems shaped by places of articulation recognized in techniques from the Bel Canto tradition, the Estill Voice Training model, and methods taught at institutions like the Juilliard School and the Royal Academy of Music; practitioners employ registers such as chest voice, head voice, and falsetto while using resonators in the pharynx, oral cavity, and nasal cavity to shape timbre. Technical approaches appear in texts associated with figures linked to the García family, the pedagogy of Manuel García II, and contemporary methods used by faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Royal College of Music. Breath management and phonation practices connect to exercises promoted by teachers associated with Montserrat Caballé, Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, and Beverly Sills.

Singing traditions trace to ancient centers like Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, and Mesopotamia with ritual and theatrical roles appearing in Greek tragedy, Roman theatre, and liturgical practices of institutions such as the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. Medieval developments involved the Notre-Dame School, Gregorian chant codified at Cluny Abbey, and later polyphony from composers associated with Guillaume de Machaut, Josquin des Prez, and the Ars Nova movement. The evolution continued through the Baroque era, the Classical period, the Romantic era, and into the 20th century, where recorded sound technologies from inventors at Emile Berliner's enterprises and companies such as Columbia Records altered performance contexts. Cross-cultural exchanges occurred via colonial networks involving British Empire, Spanish Empire, and Ottoman Empire connections, influencing genres in regions like West Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

Singers perform across genres including opera, art song, lieder, oratorio, musical theatre, jazz, blues, gospel music, country music, pop music, rock music, hip hop, R&B, reggae, salsa, bossa nova, flamenco, khayal, qawwali, throat singing, Tuvan music, and traditional folk music from regions such as Ireland, Scotland, Mexico, India, China, and Japan. Styles are associated with landmark works and composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Igor Stravinsky, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley, and with cultural movements including the Harlem Renaissance, the British Invasion, the Afrobeat movement led by figures tied to Fela Kuti, and the Nueva canción movement in Latin America.

Formal training occurs at conservatories such as the Conservatoire de Paris, Moscow Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and universities like University of Michigan and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Apprenticeship paths include young artist programs at institutions such as the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and festivals like the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Salzburg Festival. Certifications and competitions that shape careers include the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, the Operalia competition founded by Plácido Domingo, the Chopin Competition for art song interpretation, and scholarships from foundations like the Graham Nash Foundation and the Kleinhans Music Hall initiatives.

Singer careers involve roles as soloists, ensemble members in groups such as the Vienna Boys' Choir and The King's Singers, studio vocalists for producers at Motown Records and Sun Records, session work for film studios like Warner Bros. Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures, and commercial roles in advertising agencies and gaming companies such as Electronic Arts. Industry infrastructure includes talent agencies like Creative Artists Agency and William Morris Endeavor, unions and guilds such as the American Federation of Musicians and Equity (British trade union), and management from companies like Live Nation Entertainment and AEG Presents. Revenue streams derive from sources tracked by organizations like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, and distribution networks operated by platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

Notable historical and contemporary vocalists appear across traditions: classical figures associated with Maria Malibran, Jenny Lind, Fritz Wunderlich, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Kathleen Battle, and Bryn Terfel; jazz and popular artists linked to Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Prince (musician), Madonna (entertainer), Beyoncé Knowles, Adele (singer), and Frank Ocean. World-music and folk innovators include Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Cesária Évora, Youssou N'Dour, Mercedes Sosa, Chavela Vargas, Buika, and Oumou Sangaré. Their influence extends into pedagogy, repertoire, recording practices, and sociopolitical movements such as civil rights efforts involving Martin Luther King Jr. and cultural diplomacy exemplified by the Goodwill Tours of artists during the Cold War.

Category:Vocal music