Epilogue |
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Soprano Deborah Millar has been a performer, a teacher, and a voice clinician for over twenty five years. She was born on the West Coast of Canada in beautiful British Columbia and music has always played a powerful role in her life. She grew up in the era of Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and so many other incredible singer-songwriters who embodied the voice of her generation. They inspired her to sing, write her own songs and start Conservatory lessons. The world of classical music and musical theatre opened up to her and a year later, Deborah was offered a scholarship at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. This scholarship steered her towards a bigger commitment in her formal musical studies.
After graduating from the Conservatory in Victoria, Deborah continued her studies at the Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. Six Years later, Deborah left Canada for Europe, with a Masters in Opera and Voice Performance in hand.
Deborah studied for two more years in the Diplôme de Virtuosité Program in Lausanne Switzerland and received her Doctorate in Musical Arts. She would make Switzerland her home for the next sixteen years, working as a soloist and voice teacher, as well as traveling, performing and teaching in other countries including; France, Israel, Belgium and England. Some of her performance highlights include performing the songs of Ravel, Franck, Fauré and Bizet at the BinyaneiUma Theatre in Jerusalem, singing the solo soprano in La Messe de St. Cécile in the great Gothic Cathedral of Lausanne, recitals in the concert halls of Geneva, Strasbourg, Yverdon, Achern and Toulouse, among many others.
Along with her studies in Voice Performance, Deborah's training included five years of
vocal pedagogy and in 1990 she began a twelve year collaboration with the Swiss laryngologist
and speech therapist, Dr. M. L. Dutoit-Marco. Dr. Marco was also a voice surgeon and published
author on the care
and treatment of the voice. Deborah and Dr. Marco worked together with
people suffering from different kinds of vocal problems. These ten years of collaboration
were invaluable to Deborah and laid an important foundation for her role as teacher and coach.
This work taught Deborah about the fragility and resilience of the human voice; the trauma of losing it and the fear of never getting it back became a powerful metaphor for the empowerment of being heard and finding the strength to voice one's own truth. Exploring the inner world of the voice, allowing unknown potential to take shape and be expressed, choosing to let go of things that hold us back and condemn us to silence, became an important and intrinsic aspect of Deborah's work as a teacher and mentor.
In 2002, upon her return to Canada, Deborah heard an interview on CBC with Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, the founder and co-creator of the Body/Soul Rhythms Intensive, which incorporates the principals of C.E. Jung's work in the context of voice and movement. Marion intuitively understood that if a person could connect with their authentic voice and work with intrinsic wisdom of the body, creative energy and aspects of the self that have been suppressed can be freed to come into consciousness and integrity with the totality of who we are.
In 2005, Deborah was selected, because of her extensive training and experience with the voice, to become one of a small group of people from all over the world who are now being trained by Marion Woodman, to assure this ground breaking work carries forward to future generations.
Deborah's love and respect for the human soul continues to deepen her commitment as a performer and teacher. This soul work brings her full circle in her passion and deep respect for the human voice.
A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other people, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the full measure I have received and am still receiving. |
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