Opera and Hockey...how Canadian is that, eh?

I dont' know the last time I found an article in the sports section of major paper that cited the advice of an opera singer...oh wait...never!  But this week, the Toronto Star (and the CBC for that matter) dedicated a column to singing the national anthem at our beloved game.  Apparently the Maple Leafs are holding "try outs" for national anthem singers tomorrow, Saturday, September 17 and they solicited the advice of current COC soloist bass-baritone Mark Doss:

“It shouldn’t be about the singing so much as it is about what you’re representing,” says Doss, who confines his signature trills to the anthem’s end.

 Doss says stadium anthem singers should also key on the songs’ nouns, which hold the most significant meanings.  “The nouns are what we live for,” says the bass baritone, who will star in the company’s upcoming production of Goethe’s Iphigenia in Tauris.  

“You can’t do anything without the mountains (nouns) being there, and if you start thinking about the adjectives it gets you moving in other directions,” says Doss.  Especially in a national anthem, the nouns are where the heart of the ballad dwells and should draw the singer’s vocal emphasis, he says.  

Think about the nouns in “O Canada,” for example — “Canada,” “land,” “hearts” — those should be the song’s lyrical focal points, according to Doss.   “When I start up ‘O Canada,’ that’s pretty strong and big in my brain,” he says.

Wise words from a pro!  Read the whole article here and let me know if YOU went to try outs!