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Clark is on the cutting edge of voice training today. He possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of vocal technique and the rare ability to translate his scholarship into practical solutions for today's singers.
Connie Cloward - International opera diva - star of Los Angeles, Paris, Basel, Barcelona, and Toulouse Opera
The simplicity of his teaching still amazes me. For twenty years the knowledge I learned from Clark has served me well on the operatic stage.
Ron Naiditch - Lyric tenor - Bremen Opera, Sarasota Opera
The end of the nineteenth century marked the end of the Golden Age of Singing. Today's opera singers wonder what it was like to study with the great voice masters of the Golden Age — Garcia, Lamperti, Marchesi, Sbriglia, Cotogni, DeReszké, etc. To those unfamiliar with the history of vocal technique, this speculation remains a mystery.
To Clark Harris, the vocal wisdom of the Golden Age is clear and comprehensible. For twenty-five years he researched the true School of Bel Canto (bel canto meaning "beautiful singing"), enabling him to teach the same vocal technique that was taught to the greatest singers the world has ever known: Malibran, Patti, Caruso, Melba, Tetrazzini, Nordica, Ruffo, Pavarotti, etc.
What is distinctive about Clark's teaching is the use of clear language to convey correct laws of vocal production — Bel Canto principles long believed to be obscure or forgotten. His vocal concepts are especially useful because they conform to correct vocal sensations.
Today's opera singers yearn to emulate the legendary vocal skill of the Golden Age, but they are defeated in their efforts because modern training has diverged from vocal truth. The true School of Bel Canto is now lost. Consequently, there is a crisis in classical singing.
All voice teachers claim to be practitioners of Bel Canto, but few can answer the question: How did the true School of Bel Canto come into being - and what did it teach?
The Birth of Bel Canto
Around 1600, with the advent of opera, greater vocal demands were placed upon singers. Composers and singers then asked: "How can we advance the art of singing? Do laws of singing exist? If so, what are they?"
The earliest voice teachers noticed that occasionally nature produces a complete voice — a natural singer of superior skill without prior training. They reasoned that to understand the conditions that produce vocal excellence, they must first examine the superior models furnished by nature.
Soon they realized that all voices of great natural beauty exhibit the same functions. When these functions were taught to average singers, they improved dramatically. Later, when singers with great natural ability complied with every vocal law known to be true, they became technically perfect. Thus, the true School of Bel Canto was born.
The Core Principles of Bel Canto
The natural functions observed in all voices of great natural beauty became the core principles of Bel Canto. Briefly, they are:
• A beautiful light-dark tone quality
• A speech-level approach to singing
• A floating larynx
• Perfect vocal adjustments for every vowel on every pitch
• Flexibility and agility
• Expert breath control
• Silent breathing
• Skillful regulation of the breath
• A minimum use of breath for every vowel on every pitch
• Pure vowel formation
• Seamless unity throughout the voice
• Perfect vocal alignment and balance
• A spinning vibrato
• Impressive vocal stamina
• Large vocal range
• Vocal individualism
• Sparkling vocal resonance
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