Branko Stark believes that voice is an instrument.
As president (and founder) of the Croatian Choral Directors Association he knows almost everything there is to about the voice – vocology, speech pathology, speech therapy, phonetics – everything almost.
Stark is in town as trainer (for vocals, music directors etc) for the city-based choral group, Rock of Ages. This is the cheerful Croat's first trip to India, and the talent here has impressed him. Choral music, in common perception, has religious associations and Stark clears the ‘misconception'. “Although the beginnings of it are religious, but during the Renaissance it got a secular aspect. Opera is an offshoot for instance.” His pet project is the International Project for the Development of Choral Music (IPDCM) and that is what brings him to Kochi. As part of IPDCM, Stark conducts training sessions in countries or with parties who evince interest in being part of the project or gain knowledge from the project. The sessions are modified to suit the need as it were.
Search for truth
About what led him to music with such a passion, he gets philosophical and likens his commitment to a ‘search for truth'. Setting up the Croatian Choral Directors Association in 2000 was also an extension of that passion, a desire to develop choral art in Croatia. He also created a programme called ‘Choroatia 2020' (Chorus+Croatia) towards that aim. Folks interested in choral music from different corners of the world got interested and wanted to know more and learn more. As part of ‘Choroatia' he has set up a Vocal Academy (a school for voice training for spoken and singing voice); school for choir directors and choral singers. Stark teaches at the University of Split and also does speech therapy for the hearing impaired.
It is tempting to label ‘voice training' abstract and so how does he ‘voice train'? He counters saying, “that is like asking how does one teach singing” He explains that one of the aspects, for instance, involved in voice training is ‘emotional voice posture' which is the artistic use of emotion to get or produce a sound.
Ours is a culture rooted in a ‘solo form', generally, when it comes to vocal music so where does choral music as a form fit in? But, counters Stark, although choral art is not part of the tradition here, there is a willingness or acceptance of the form. “There is a need for people to sing together, it brings people together. There are other ‘collateral' advantages to that!” he says. He has worked with choral musician groups in 18 countries and he says that some of the Asian choral groups are better that those in Europe. One gets to hear new and hitherto unheard of terms, besides absolutely fascinating stories, while chatting with Stark. ‘Phonopedagogy' is a term which comes up during the course of the conversation. He says, “it is the study (teaching) of voice or sound.” Stark is a teacher (and of teachers), a storyteller and a musician, a wonderful combination that is sure to invigorate his students. Be it the history of the Slavic people to the evolution of Croat folkloric musical tradition to the workings of the human voice, Stark explains beautifully.
