We're just about to arrive at our 39th anniversary of what was originally called "The Royans School for the Musical Performing Arts" and sometime later, it had been renamed (more so to the point), "The Royans Professional Vocal School".
As time passed by, a new title was added, and it is now well-known as, "The Royans Professional Vocal School, Division of The Royans Institute for Non-Surgical Voice Repair."
Needless to say, at this present time, we are more concerned about people's mental state than their voices...
However, looking back and assessing our past, as the owner, president and master voice/vocal coach, as well as non-surgical voice repair specialist, I have to say that I'm proud of what we achieved over the last almost four decades. A fair amount of well-known singers today in Toronto and some other cities and provinces of Canada, US and Europe, have come through our school.
The estimated amount of students and clients who had come through our doors is estimated to be over 30,000
That is not to account for all group sessions, workshops, seminars and presentations - locally and around the world.
Nevertheless, the people back then (in the 80s and 90s) were much more conscious and definitely more present, much more alert, much more active and balanced - intellectually and physically - and thus, they were possessing more goals, aspirations and desires. Immigration in those years was pretty active, especially from countries like Russia, Italy, Greece and other civilized societies, where the present and future parents of immigrants who were arriving to this land with the agenda to give their children and grandchildren the best - and mainly and most importantly, the best of education. They worked really hard in construction, factories, plants and what have you and with all the money made, they directed it towards the betterment of their offspring.
They were picking up the phones, prior to looking us up in the Yellow Pages directory and various print publications, which, needless to say, today unfortunately are non-existent. No, they did not have any access to the internet yet, thus they did not waste their valuable time staring at the screen and also acquiring a fair amount of radiation for that matter. That is, not to mention, they were not bombarded by a billion choices, but rather they were relying on their intuition, their common sense and the word of mouth.
Respectively, their kids were given more love, care and attention. In fact, a lot of them also had a love for music (in a real, genuine understanding of that word) and thus, they strived to achieve the goal and the dream to become somebody in the music industry or maybe even become a pop or rock star. Their motives though were by far more authentic and genuine then, as they did not have one and only agenda to make "financial success" and "help their families"!!! There is nothing wrong with that per se, but in my opinion, the latter should not be the main goal. It should be the true calling for the love of music and a calling has to come from within their hearts and souls...
I personally loved those times and enjoyed my business of making stars far greater than today.
Needless to say: I'M PROUD OF WHAT I'VE DONE!
Since 1984...
39 Years and Counting...
The economy today also dictates that it is the market for the consumer. Don't you worry, they know about it and they interrogate me and my staff to the fullest. Finally, and with great difficulty, "the sale" is made. Now they or mainly their offspring are in our studios...
However, as it appears to be, a lot of our clients today have learning disabilities, speech impediments, lisp, ADD/ADHD, no attention span whatsoever, not to mention, that they can hardly read and definitely cannot write without spell-check. They refuse to speak on the phone, even to discuss their appointments. They have to text or e-mail with extremely incoherent language skills, which at times is impossible to make "heads or tails" of.
When we receive young children, and quite often with some musical talent, we assume that that's exactly what they want to do - TO SING! When we ask them that question, if singing is their passion and perhaps may become their future profession, we often get a rather unexpected answer, especially when it came from our 10-year-old quite talented student, "No, I never said that I want to become a professional singer, I just said that I like to sing". This little girl was sent to me by a very well-known platinum producer, who knew about me and the results I have been achieving with my students for many years.
Go figure! It must be parents who are trying to instill in their children's minds that music is not a profession and they will not be able to rely on it to make a living (I agree that there is some truth to it). However, a child/teenager with artistic tendencies should not be discouraged from their love, passion and talent, just because the parents might think that it might not be a lucrative profession for them down the road.
Some years ago, I was running a vocal interactive workshop where I had 11 strangers and also, at that time future winner of Canadian Idol 2007 - Brian Melo, was attending along with his band member. He "saved the day", as the rest of them were sitting there like complete zombies and telling me during the introductory interview, that all of them (young girls primarily) wanted to become opera singers...? All of the previous years, when I asked young girls who they would want to become, the answer was premeditated - Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and before that, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. Now, these parents, evidently, were afraid of "Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll", so to speak, and thus, they have been instilling in their youngsters' minds (who obviously did not know any better), that opera is the only genre they can embark upon, as in the parent's minds, this is the "safest" field for their children/teenagers.
So, needless to say, I saw the seeds of destruction being planted some time ago in those children's minds. In my opinion, no doubt, by now, they have fully blossomed.
So, by the law of averages, given the very good beginning of this school, from 1984 to 2004, that, to say the least, it came to a not-so-very satisfying present, I'm hoping that the future will be that much more fulfilling, based on the experience of the past and the present. I just wish that my staff and I would not have to work so hard in our present time to:
ACHIEVE A BEAUTIFUL FUTURE!
HOWEVER...
WE DO BELIEVE!!
