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July 11, 2005
Sing Like a Man
This is old news by blog standards but an editorial in this morning's Los Angeles Times led me to a CNN report from July 1. It seems that 17 year old Mikhael Rawls will not be allowed to sing in the Texas All-State Choir. Before I tell you why, let me tell you about Rawls singing skills. First, he has been singing in school choirs since he was in the sixth grade. Second, he has won first place awards for his singing two years in a row from University Interscholastic League's competition.
Now here's Rawls problem, his natural voice is countertenor, approximately the male equivalent of soprano. And that is against the rules for a boy who wants to sing in the All-State Choir. The Texas Music Educators Association denied his request to audition for the choir because boys shouldn't be singing soprano.
The association, however, does not allow boys to sing soprano or alto, or girls to sing tenor or bass. [CNN]
Countertenors are, rare, well respected in the music industry and eagerly sought after. They even used to castrate boys to insure a supply for church choirs, particularly when girls couldn't sing in choirs at all. The Texas Music Educators Association claims that wrong gender (my words) singing will hurt the singer's voices. But according to Rawl's,
He can sing the lower parts, but it makes his throat hurt. He's worried it also could hinder his ability to hit higher notes later."I could do the music just fine and I could sound good on it. But I couldn't practice it enough to where I could make state, because I was too worried about my countertenor voice and the effects it would have on it," said Rawls, who's the only male in his school's female a capella choir. [CNN]
The Los Angeles Times hits just the right note,
But then, Texas educators can be a touchy lot on gender issues. In its eagerness to keep middle-schoolers from thinking gay marriage might be OK, that state's Board of Education required textbooks to define marriage as the "lifelong union between a husband and wife." Apparently, the close to 50% of Texas marriages that end in divorce don't count. [ LA Times ]
Posted by Duane Smith at July 11, 2005 11:39 AM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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