Aug. 2 Tribute Concert Set To Feature Vocalise Pieces

ABINGDON, Va. – An Aug. 2 concert will feature a unique vocal performance. As part of a tribute to French coloratura soprano Lily Pons, Dr. Sun-Joo Oh of the East Tennessee State University music department will sing several vocalise pieces.
Oh explains that vocalise are songs without words.
“They treat the voice as an instrument,” she said of vocalise composers.
The songs mostly consist of vowel sounds. Oh added that the music is “very, very expressive. You find it in a lot of French repertoires and German.”
Popular among Romantic composers, Oh said it is the expressiveness of vocalise that draws her to the genre.
“It explores the maximum beauty of the song. When we have words, we communicate to the audience through words. But when we have no words, to communicate with the audience we have to totally depend on vocal technique and expression,” she said.
This presents a challenge to vocalists and is one of the reasons why vocalise is an important part of their repertoire. “There are a couple vocalises that are so beautiful and so well known, by composers like Rachmaninoff and Ravel, that they are very important and very well known to singers,” Oh said.
Lily Pons was one such singer. Born in 1898 in Draguignan, France, Pons was a coloratura soprano who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most dynamic performers on the world opera stage. Pons often included vocalise in her performances, and Oh intends the concert to be a tribute to her work.
“Some of the pieces were part of her work,” she said. “But others are included because I think she would have performed them if they had been around for her to perform.”
She added that the concert will not be totally comprised of vocalise. Instead, vocalise is included with other songs to reflect the diversity of Pons’ work.
She repeated that concert-goers should consider the human voice as an instrument.
“They just have to be open,” Oh said. “Just like any piano concert or any symphony concert. You are listening to the beauty of the song, and the melodies and harmonies.”
IF YOU GO
The concert, which is part of the Virginia Highlands Festival, will be held at the Abingdon United Methodist Church at 3 p.m. Aug. 2 and will feature pianists Anne Jones and Zack Hughes, in addition to flutist Rebecca Paluzzi and clarinetist Eugene Jones. Admission is $5.

SARAH JONES is a freelance writer. Contact her at .