Liberatory Praxis in Operatic Rehearsal Processes

Abstract

As a young operatic performer-scholar, I have observed issues in the industry that I believe stem from opera’s complex, authoritative power structure and many of its leaders’ refusals to change this structure. In working towards rectifying these issues, I ask: How can the operatic rehearsal process, specifically, embrace measures of liberatory praxis and power disruption? Drawing on secondary literature regarding historical practices, philosophies of power, and liberatory praxis in music education, and a roundtable discussion I facilitated among opera practitioners on leadership and power structures, I developed a workshop in which I aimed to enable singers’ agency using alternative rehearsal methods. This workshop used a collaborative, democratic structure which honoured each participant’s expertise and prioritized discussions of the goals of the workshop and of each individual participant. Although some singers seemed uneasy with a collaborative structure of rehearsal as opposed to one with a central authoritative figure, my personal observations and a survey completed by workshop participants showed that singers gained agency through the employment of democratic, liberatory rehearsal praxis. Based on these results, I recommend that opera companies adopt a structure of democracy and collaborative discussion of personal and social praxis to expand singers’ agency. These results also suggest that continued study in singers’ praxis, agency, and power in operatic processes is needed.

Keywords

• opera
• liberatory praxis
• performance practice
• rehearsal processes
• collaborative approach