Yes, I have aged, grateful for that but, along with other symptom of aging so go my vocal cords. They have atrophied, right in line with the aging process. No part of the body is exempt from loosing flexibility, strength, and tonality. The old cords do not vibrate as strongly or as rapidly as in my “youth.” My breathing is compromised as well, but I get along. I am not alone in this change in my life. I still want to sing. I have sung most of my life, starting as a toddler. I was known on our street-(#31) Edgerton Street in Rochester, NY, as the cute little girl who likes to perform and was invited every warm summer night to sing for the neighbors on their porches, most especially, the Starrs, Shubeners and Luries. Neighborhood pet kitty cats and dogs being walked, their mistresses or masters would stop by to listen along with my beloved mom and dad in tow. I sang lullabies, requests, a song called “Country Gardens” and other tunes and on request I whistled some tunes as well. I loved the applause and bowed deeply, raising hurrahs from the audience and pinches on my pudgy cheeks.
I continued singing for the rest of my life to date, studied voice and joined choirs, Brighton High School, and The Brightonaires (a 12 person chorale selected from many at the audition), University of Buffalo, the Rochester Oratorio Society, Temple B’rith Kodesh choir and the Rochester Jewish Chorale, performing solos or duos, quartets for events. I continued for years including joining our annual July Sing-along in the beautiful and acoustically rich Kilbourn hall, located in the Rochester Kodak hall-Eastman Theatre building. Every Tuesday night in July, we meet in Kilbourn Hall, a beautiful 750 seat theatre with wonderful acoustics. Upon arrival, we would pay our $5.00 fee to rent the libretto, (Cantatas, Requiems, short operas) and then find a seat in the appropriate section (alto for me) and greet our seatmates. What company we are in; surrounded by great singers, some professional performers, teachers, lovers of music and song, of all ages.
But on these evenings we are all equal. The conductors are guests or. faculty members of the Eastman School of Music. They are so talented, guiding us through the read-through rehearsal, after a wonderful warm up, stretching our bodies and vocalizing to wake up our voices, then a break followed by a full performance. My seat mates would share their stories as professionals and vocal cord trouble or demise. We would commiserate with each other, give it our all or mouth the words when encountering difficulty.
Many famous singers have have suffered from deficiencies in their vocal abilities. I recalled news reports and (auto)biographies of well known singers with aging voices or long lasting bouts of laryngitis and other dreaded ailments. They include; Adele. She has experienced a few vocal disorders including a “vocal fold hemorrhage and a benign polyp on her vocal cords.” Celine Dion has “stiff-person syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder that affects the vocal cords and makes it difficult to sing.” Julie Andrews, “underwent surgery in 1997 to remove noncancerous nodules on her vocal cords and ended up losing her singing voice.” Whitney Houston‘s voice “was damaged by years of drug use, smoking, and her demanding performance schedule, only recovering 75 % of her vocal ability after long years of coaching.” Luciano Pavarotti “had nodules that caused him to cease singing for a long while.” Keith Urban (Polyps; “had surgery to remove vocal polyps. Elton John “underwent surgery that permanently lowered his vocal range.” So, I dare not complain. In the words of Whitney Houston, “God gave me a voice to sing with and when you have that, what other gimmick is there?” When in trouble, I just try to vocalize and raise above the difficulty, singing from the diaphragm as I have for years. On bad days, I do not sing for fear of more difficulty with my voice. Life is too short to dwell on our shortcomings. There are too many other parts of living that give us peace of mind and heart. Family and friends are on top of the list.
Note; enjoy your feedback. My blogging has been dormant for a long time busy just living. Our lives are about to change. In a few days, we will drive west toward our RV community in Jojoba Hills, California, and in the spring, sell our motor home and drive back to Rochester to stay. We are excited, When the right time comes, change is good.