In 2016, Alexandre Morrissey made it all the way to the finals of the French Idol-style television show, Prodigies. The competition gave children a chance to exhibit their talents with voice, instruments, and dance in front of a professional orchestra. While Morrissey advanced all the way to the finals, he did not win the competition.
After a muddled start, Alexandre returned to form and sang a beautiful rendition of Mozart’s, “Ave verum corpus.” The instrumentation of this performance was a little different from Alexandre’s previous performance of “Panis Angelicus.” This time he was joined by a chorus, which seemed to swallow the boy soprano’s sound at a few spots.
We suspect, from his frequent looks toward the conductor, that he was having trouble hearing himself. He did not let his shaky start get to him, however, and in professional fashion, he found his place quickly and finished the hymn.
If we could make one suggestion to this young singer it would be that he never close his eyes in performance. Closing your eyes closes you off to the room and can significantly cut the strength of your voice. Always look toward the back of the room and try to project to it.
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And today we celebrate...