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On the road, onstage, or at rehearsal, healthy habits for singers are in everyone's best interests. Choral singers fine tune their daily habits, optimizing them on rehearsal and performance days, but unlike straightforward programs for traditional athletes, singer wellness regimens are more likely to be an artful blend of idiosyncrasy and science. And singers don't always have the organizational support needed to maintain the healthiest choices. In the second of this three-part series, we examine singers' diet and nutrition.
"The singer is not only the instrumentalist but the instrument," says Margaret Baroody, a singing voice specialist in the practice of Dr. Robert Sataloff, a leading practitioner in the field of voice medicine. "If a pianist is inadequately nourished it affects them but it doesn't affect the piano."
Pamela Harvey, a voice pathologist and author of the chapter on nutrition in Sataloff's definitive textbook, Professional Voice: The Science and Art of Clinical Care, says that although singers are typically characterized as vocal athletes it should not be inferred that they have the same caloric needs as competitive cyclers or marathon runners or that they can target the voice with nutritional supplements.
"The vocal system cannot be viewed as a system in isolation but as part of the whole body," she says. There are no magic pills, potions, or micro-nutrients. She eschews the USDA food pyramid, with its emphasis on the quantity rather than the quality of food, in favor of the Mediterranean diet pyramid.
Chung-Wai Soong, who is now in his 17th season as a singer with the SF Symphony Chorus, is also an event planner and caterer. "I am very conscious of what I eat. I'm an avid label reader and I try not to consume processed foods, trans-fat, fried foods, or foods that are high in sugar." A typical performance day menu for Soong might include rice, fish, and vegetables for lunch, salad and bread before performance, afterwards a bowl of soup.
"The last thing I want in the middle of a concert is my stomach growling or a drop in blood sugar. Then I am thinking about food instead of performing." -Singer Mary-Ellin Brooks
When and how much is the right amount of food on rehearsal days? "Theoretically your stomach should be empty when you sing so your diaphragm can descend more easily," says Baroody, but she says theory doesn't always match practice and singers must establish patterns that work best for them.
Mary-Ellin Brooks, who sings with Quintessence Choral Artists of the Southwest and Polyphony Voice of New Mexico, is equally concerned with eating too little or too far in advance of a performance.
"The last thing I want in the middle of a concert is my stomach growling or a drop in blood sugar," she says. "Then I am thinking about food instead of performing." Her pre-concert meal of choice is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole grain bread. "It's perfect," she says. "Not too heavy, a little bit of fat, and a little bit of protein."
Because the vast majority of choral singers tag rehearsals and performances onto already busy professional and family lives, their nutrition choices can be a compromise on any given day.
Will Morton, a chorister with Washington, DC's Thomas Circle Singers, says his ideal pre-concert combo would include lean protein and a vegetable. ("I actually like broccoli," he says, almost apologetically.) But with a day job in marketing and a dog that needs to be walked, there is often a "mad dash" between work and rehearsal and he has been known to grab McDonald's along the way and wash it down with a Diet Coke.
Another singer confesses to making dinner out of the snacks provided every week at rehearsal—usually a high-carb array of store-bought cookies and salty snacks. "It's not ideal," she says, "but the rehearsal is across town during rush-hour traffic and I can't count on being able to leave work early enough to get dinner beforehand."
"If you get to the green room at six you will see a dozen choristers wolfing down soup and a sandwich," Soong says of rehearsal night with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Being a caterer, Soong is sometimes able to bring large amounts of leftover food to rehearsals.
"Singers will eat anything," he says. "You put it out there and if it is edible they will eat it. Especially if it is free." SF Symphony Chorus management provides free coffee and tea at breaks and the singers maintain a "cookie fund" to provide a little sugar boost. Though store-bought varieties remain popular, Soong is currently advocating a movement toward organic snacks. "I'm trying to get them to buy more healthful cookies," he says. "If there is such a thing."
Foods to Avoid
There are certain foods from which singers commonly abstain before singing: dairy products, acidic foods, and "breathy" foods (garlic, onions, fish), but there are multiple variations on the theme.
One singer avoids eggs on the day of the performance, another swears by egg whites. Brooks avoids chocolate. "It coats my throat and affects the clarity of my voice," she says.
"Singers will eat anything. If it is edible they will eat it. Especially if it is free." -Singer Chung-Wai Soong on rehearsal snacks
Kate Johnson, a Hawaii-based choral soloist, avoids carbohydrates that might make her less alert, especially during long orchestral works. Hugh Davies, managing director of ACFEA Tour Consultants and a singer, avoids spicy foods on concert days, with one exception: Thai soup. "I find soup a very reassuring thing in any case," he says, "but something about the spices in Thai soup really seems to clear the sinuses."
While managing their food intake to avoid dryness, phlegm, and hunger, singers must also be on alert for another vocal enemy: reflux.
Pamela Harvey says that even with the avoidance of acidic foods prior to performance, the flexion of the abdominal muscles during singing promotes reflux, such that the incidence of reflux in singers is well into the 80 percent range, far above the general population.
Compounding this propensity is post-concert hunger. Singers, often ravenous after a performance, tend to over-indulge, which induces yet another cycle of reflux during sleep. "It's important that even after concerts singers exercise self control and eat something small," says Harvey.
On the Road
When on tour singers lose control of the comfortable regimens of home. Davies says the challenge when touring is getting a balance between the needs of the choir and the real possibilities of feeding them. Dinner after a concert is either too late for restaurants or the singers. Dinner before the concert can be equally challenging.
"In Spain if you go into a restaurant at six they think you are coming for a late lunch," he says. "They certainly don't want 60 people coming in."
Finding appealing food choices is less of a challenge, says Christine Wang, managing director of InterCulture Tours, which specializes in bringing choruses to Asia. "In the majority of cases singers will be adventurous," she says. "That doesn't mean they will like everything," she adds, so in addition to local dishes she makes sure there will be American fare as well.
"Our primary concern for the kids on tour is keeping them healthy," says Debbie DeSantis, artistic director of the Colorado Children's Chorale. "We want them to eat before a concert even if they are nervous or excited." Soft drinks and candy are forbidden, except as the occasional special treat on a non-performance day.
"Sugar spikes their blood sugar and if you add the caffeine and the carbonation it affects not only their singing but their ability to sleep," she says. Fresh fruit and granola bars are the snacks of choice.
Tell us, what foods and drinks do you consume and which ones do you avoid to stay in your best vocal shape?
