Indra Thomas Recital at the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church

On April 26, 2008 I went to see the recital of Indra Thomas presented by The Metropolitan Atlanta Musicians Association at Ebenezer Baptist Church. 

The concert began with four French songs.  In diction we are continually told that French is a language of long vowels.  As the performance continued I noticed that I hardly heard any consonants at all in the French section.  The only consonant I can recall hearing are the r’s in rose as compared to German in her performance of Zigeunerlider Opus 10 by Johannes Brahms.  In German I heard both vowels and consonants.  In some words it appeared as if they were said wrong but had to be pronounced in that manner as a result of the word that followed.  Indra’s stage presence was wonderful.  She became each character or emotion that was to sing.  A prime example of this was in Zigeunerlieder Opus 103 by Johannes Brahms.  I the set of songs she had to quickly become each character or emotion whether it was happy or sad and so, on.

In the Negro spiritual section of the program it was clear that she was enjoying herself.  She told each story yet again as if it were her own.

My voice instructor always speaks of my tone and how I should sound.  As I listened to Indra Thomas sing I realized the sound that I should have when I sing.  Now my goal is to work on developing that sound with my voice.  The concert was very beneficial to me personally because it helped me to see and have a real life example of what people are expecting of me vocally.