In the Land of Opera, a Choir for the Tone Deaf

In the Land of Opera, a Choir for the Tone Deaf
"She tells us that we’re doing the vocal exercises Maria Callas used to do, so now we all feel like Callas." Ms. Tramontin is particularly qualified for the job: A mezzo-soprano in La Verdi’s symphonic choir
and director of its children’s choir, she is also a music therapist.
Maestro Maria Teresa Tramontin has directed the choir for the tone deaf since its formation, in 2010, at the suggestion of Luigi
Corbani, who was until recently the director general of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, known as La Verdi.
But after a few months with the choir, Ms. Corsini said, she feels like a changed woman, and her newfound singing voice has her "blowing up like a Michelin blimp with pride." Italy, the country
that invented opera, surprisingly does not have a strong musical curriculum in public schools, said Gianpaolo Scardamaglia, the choir’s organizer, and most Italian children do not take choral classes.
Joining the choir starts with an audition, which gives Ms. Tramontin an understanding of the individual’s vocal range
and serves as "the first psychological breakthrough," she said.
Maestro Maria Teresa Tramontin coaching Coro degli Stonati, or choir for the tone deaf, in Milan.
" Ms. Tramontin said. that Most people who come to the choir only have to learn how to listen, though that is the most difficult thing,
"I don’t want people to pass out, but I don’t want to see you breathe," Ms. Tramontin barked to one class, which
was crooning a song about a rooster in the dialect of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeast Italy.