MANGKHUT

stories in the air

Richard Armstrong

A five-week writing journey in early 2019 took me to the island of Cheung Chau in Hong Kong, to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand and to Southwest England. The title of this book arose on that journey. It is the name given to a deadly, category 10 typhoon that hit the Philippines and Cheung Chau in September 2018. It is also the name of a delicious Thai fruit.

The book takes the reader on a journey. Information gathered through my work with the human voice over five decades is interspersed with notes from the 2019 trip. These events and stories have one underlying theme: that the voice and the psyche are interlinked, and therefore reveal each other. This principle, of the human voice as a Geiger counter for the personality, is fundamental to my work. It leads to reflections on racism and gender, mythology and biology, repression and liberation, birth and death. The book – together with over 40 illustrations, including photographs and original artwork – contains stories from my early life and from my classes, fictional events and reflections on mortality, anything from the extra-terrestrial to the mundane, from pop culture to dream analysis. My intention is to prompt the reader to ask fundamental questions about both self and identity. 

Grace Zandarski, Associate Professor, Head of Voice and Text, Yale School of Drama wrote of Mangkhut:

World-renowned singer, director, and beloved voice teacher Richard Armstrong uses his intuitive genius to gently guide each student over the threshold from expectation to the vast, divine unknown by honoring the human being in front of him with love and care. He has written a memoir as unique, engaging and altogether brilliant as the man himself. This is a singular take on life, art, voice, and pedagogy — as well as a playful reinvention of the memoir form. With exquisite storytelling, Richard weaves an intimate and personal artistic journey into an inspiring tapestry that celebrates a life well-lived, and a man deeply loved by all lucky enough to work with him.

Singer and conductor Barbara Hannigan wrote:

Richard is one of my main teachers and a lasting mentor. Our ongoing work together established in me a vocal-physical connection which has become the cornerstone of my approach to singing. He is an encouragement to countless artists in all disciplines. I can honestly say that every day, there is a moment when I think of something Richard said in class, or of a moment of our work together. A great teacher continues to teach even when he is not with the student.

Actor/singer Emmy Rossum has written of her experience:

Meeting and working with Richard completely changed my relationship with my instrument and myself. Having grown up in a rigid classical music environment, the focus was often on seeking perfection. Richard helped me divorce from this pursuit, an idea that initially terrified me. With his calm reassurance, Richard encouraged me to play, to be curious, to embrace every color and tone that I could make. He forced me to let go and surprise myself. By moving away from focusing on what my instrument "should" sound like, I was able to find places and tones long hidden from me. These sounds and modalities not only aid in the richness of my work but made me fall in love with singing again. One of the most profound and liberating pieces of advice Richard instilled in me was that any sound I made was music.

A previous book, A Vocal Journey: Conversations with Richard Armstrong, was published by The Writing Space in Toronto in 1996. Canadian singer and teacher Fides Krucker (author of Reclaiming Calliope: Freeing the Female Voice through Undomesticated Singing, soon to be published by North Atlantic Books) wrote in its foreword:

 His students follow him around the world, flying thousands of miles to take yet another workshop. In class, he has the noble bearing, the sureness and beauty of a lion and yet presents the work simply and in a manner that never encourages his students to make a guru of him.