Diction is Important – Unless it’s Not

country-mouseWhen I was attending the University of North Texas, I was dating a person, who, incidentally, is now my wife. She was an opera Master’s student at the time and there was to be a master class by a famous soprano from the Met. Being the good boyfriend, I went with her to watch the master class. Honestly, at the time, I was taking [as my elective in my Master’s in jazz performance degree] choral conducting – to broaden my knowledge, so the master class was academically relevant, but not exactly what I would choose to do in my spare time.

Anyway, the woman started the master class by telling a story that happened while traveling from the airport to her hotel which taught the importance of understanding language rules and diction. Her story (which happened to be true because the student who accompanied her verified it) started when she left the DFW airport and headed off for the La Quinta in Denton. This was back in the day when there was no GPS and Google Maps didn’t even exist, so you got verbal directions and hoped to get there without incident. And when you got lost, you stopped at a gas station for directions. As it turns out, this is what happened to these distinguished guests from the Met. Once in town, they got turned-around and had to stop for directions to the hotel.  They chose a gas station because that was usually the place to go for directions – back in the 20th century. The attendant was a nice, friendly local who was every so happy to give directions. This important opera “star” asked the attendant if he knew the location of the [diction is important] “Laah, Keentah” Inn.  He thought, then said, “The whuuut?” She answered, “Laah Keeeentahh,” to which he claimed didn’t exist – to his knowledge.  Mind you, Denton, Texas is a relatively small town, and the “Laah Keeeentah Inn” is a rather fancy-pants hotel for that particular area. So, she explained that she was from New York, which, by the way, carried no weight whatsoever in rural Texas, and that she was given these directions from a local university professor. As a matter of fact, it actually diminishes your credibility on a grand scale with the locals if you start throwing around big cities and education, as they really don’t care where you’re from or how smart you think you are – especially if it’s not Texas. After going back and forth on the “Laah Keeentah” thing for a while, she shows the station attendant the directions that she had gotten through the mail (yes, snail mail). He read through them, slowly, then got this look of enlightenment, put a serious look on his face, lowered his voice a bit and corrected her.  “You mean the “Luh Qwinnah!” Needless to say, the diction Gods were angry, as was the diva who was being corrected. I’m not sure, but I think she might have felt a bit faint.

Stupid out-of-towners, can’t even speak the language!!!

This story got the audience on their feet.  Although Denton, Texas is in the middle of nowhere, it houses the UNT School of Music, which, for reasons unknown to anyone, anywhere, is world-class!  I always guessed that it was because there was NOTHING to do there except to practice and study.  Who knows… All I can say is that when I was there, I practiced and studied because there was nothing do to otherwise.

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