“Blair’s teaching was dedicated, clearly structured, and thorough. What I loved most was the way he built a large imaginative world for the song and then brought it to life through small details: the warmth of a summer afternoon, the beads of sweat on Phidylé’s brow, a passing cool breeze. Those details made the world of the song completely believable, and they allowed me, as the singer, to truly feel present inside that scene rather than simply describing it. His insights into the character’s inner life resonated with me just as strongly — the tenderness and protectiveness toward Phidylé, the instinct to sing gently so as not to disturb her sleep, and the patience to hold back until the music truly calls for more, letting the song’s dramatic contrasts emerge through the text and the character’s changing state of mind. Certain ideas from his coaching will stay with me for a long time: that each time you call your beloved’s name, it should sound different from the last; that the opening should simply paint the scene rather than complicate what is meant to be simple. He also helped me enormously with my French — I have never felt fully confident in the language, and he gave me the confidence I had been missing.”