Classical Voice

The Associate of the Royal Schools of Music Diploma at Level 4 Vocal Performance (ARSM) is a singing exam at 1st Year conservatoire level in opera, oratorio and art song consists of a 30 minute self chosen recital to be sung and played by an accompanist live on video.

The exam board the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music or AB or ABRSM for short is the world standard for school graded exams in Music (Grades 1-8). They are affiliated to the two best conservatoires in the world right now the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in London along with the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and The Royal Scottish Conservatoire in Glasgow. It is worth 90 CATS points at Level 4 or 3/4 of a year of a singing degree first year in terms of academic achievement in singing.

Many conductors of choral music with an academic degree do it and have successful careers. It stands as a good entry level diploma at professional level in Classical Voice.

I've always had talent at classical voice since childhood when I was an accomplished chorister and first year conservatoire student in my youthful days as a male alto or countertenor. I never completed my degree as a male alto because there were problems with my voice but I was advised as a young singer to try Baritone as early as 1996 as a tip that I might be one rather than an alto from a very prominent teacher. So, in order to save face for non completion of my countertenor degree and as part of my ongoing studies in music with Triagon Academy a distance learning institution in Malta where I'm about to start my final year as a BA in Music, I have decided to take the ABRSM diploma to count towards part of my course along with with my audio engineering diploma for the other half of years 1 and 2. 

The diploma repertoire music must be no shorter than 20 minutes and no longer than a half hour long roughly the length of a standard lunchtime recital. 20 minutes of that repertoire must be selected from the standard list of given works and 10 minutes can be of your own or own choice repertoire. I've selected the following pieces from the standard list and there is a further stipulation that you must sing in a minimum of three modern languages, in my case I have selected English my native tongue, German in which I've had received pronunciation from a German speech and voice coach called Dörte Bald, and Italian as I had 2 years Italian classes at my conservatoire in Wuppertal also from Mr Leo Belardo of the Institute of Italian Culture at Cologne University from 2002-2005. I was going to sing in French as well, but I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew and unnecessarily endanger the performance. So, from the standard repertoire and own choice repertoire I'm singing the following pieces:

Selection of the Standard Repertoire consisting of 7 of the 11 numbers.

1. Up to 6 songs from the Cycle A Poet's Love (Dichterliebe) by the composer Robert Schumann of which I've selected 4.
2. Now Phoebus Sinketh in the West from the Masque of Comus by Dr Thomas Arne the composer of Rule Britannia.
3. Ga'il Sole dal Gange (Already the Sun from the Ganges) from Honestà negli amori (The Honesty of Love Affairs), an Early Neapolitan and Antique Italian Opera by Alessandro Scarlatti
4. In diesen Heiligen Hallen (Within these Hallowed Halls) from the Magic Flute an opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 

Selection of own choice pieces

1. Come Away, Come Sweet Love! by John Dowland
2. Halt! from The Beautiful Millers Wife (Die Schöne Müllerin) by Franz Schubert
3. Ideal Match! a song by me Hugh Gregory Waldock
4. If Music Be the Food of Love Second Setting by Henry Purcell

So bearing that in mind this is the final programme I chose myself:

1. Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai (In the Beautiful Month of May) from Dichterliebe by Schumann 
2. Wenn Ich in deine Augen seh' (As I look into your eyes) from Dichterliebe by Schumann
3. Come Away, Come Sweet Love by Dowland
4. Now Phoebus Sinketh in the West from The Masque of Comus by Arne
5. Ga'il sole Dal Gange (Already the Sun from the Ganges... ) from L'honestà negli amori by Scarlatti
6. In diesen Heiligen Hallen from The Magic Flute by Mozart
7. Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen (On a glowing summer morning) from Dichterliebe by Schumann
8. Die alte bösen Lieder (The old and angry Songs) from Dichterliebe by Schumann
9. Halt! from Die Schöne Müllerin (The beautiful Millers Wife) by Schubert
10. Ideal Match! by Waldock
11. If Music Be the Food of Love 2nd Setting by Purcell.

It's very balanced and includes music from the following eras and genres to provide variety:

19th Century German Art Song
British Renaissance Lute Song
British Pre Classical Opera and Oratorio
Early Italian Baroque Opera or so called Antique Opera
High Classical German Opera
Modern 21st Century British Art Song
English Mid Baroque Song

The above videos are our recent practises towards our goal of recording a final performance by the end of June for the ABRSM board to mark.

My Accompanist 

My accompanist is Dr Sasha Valeri Millwood who is a graduate of Cambridge University and a postgraduate accompanist form the Guildhall School of Music and Drama of which I'm also an alumnus and a doctor of Glasgow University. He was a childhood prodigy and practices various other things as well as an established polymath. We are both members of Classical Music's Professional Governing Body the Independent Society of Musicians or ISM from short Sasha is an MISM or full member and I am an SMISM or student member still.