Scuola Del Canto Libero
Singing Lessons with Markéta Malcová
About the Canto Libero approach & the Szamosi-Blum Method
The SZAMOSI-BLUM METHOD emphasizes natural singing and effortless projection of the voice. The teacher uses physical touch to prevent unnecessary muscle tension, which is often incorrectly used by singers to create volume or to add unnatural tembre to their voices. Great emphasis is put on relaxation and the psyche of the students. This creates a positive musical-therapeutic effect, as well as developing the vocal technique. This occurs after some intensive work, which varies in time length for each individual student.
History of Canto Libero
Lajos Szamosi Teresia & Dr. Laci Moshe Blum Teresia Blum
Szamosi – Blumova Method is a specific approach to teaching singing. It was developed before World War II in Budapest by Prof. Lajos Szamosi. Among his exceptional students and assistants was Soprano Teri Vajda - maiden name of Mrs. Terezie Blumova, who later settled in Prague, with her husband Tenor Ladislav Blum, where she became a renowned teacher.
Szamosi elaborated his method based on his experience at the Institute for Speech and Voice Therapy in Munich and his studies of aesthetics, anatomy, physiology and psychology. Mrs. Blumova brought this entirely new approach of teaching singing to Prague, where she was active until 2008. The practical exercises consist in loosening the tension and stiffness of the neck muscles with the soft touch of fingers in order to achieve an easier, more natural phonation. Moreover, the exercises have a healing effect for singers, whose vocal cords were damaged by a long-term wrong use! One of the essential features of the method is its universal applicability for all kinds of voices and musical genres - opera, oratorio, early music, folklore, musical theatre – because it does not aim to shape the voice but rather to help singers discover their true timbre and individuality.
As Mrs. Blumova often emphasized, the teacher’s role is not to add something to the student’s voice, but to reveal its inherent beauty – echoing Michelangelo’s words:
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
About Markéta
Markéta graduated from the Conservatoire of Music in Prague in 1991 and continued her study under the renowned Hungarian Prof. Theresie Blum for more than a decade. Ever since, she has been passing on her unique vocal approach to her students in various music schools (she started to teach in Týnská škola - the Academy of Early Music in Prague, then at the Teachers Training Academy in Sv. Jan pod Skalou.) She has performed extensively as a soloist, and as a member of various Early Music chamber ensembles. As a member of the Prague Chamber Choir, Marketa has performed in many concerts and operas throughout Europe, including the Rossini Opera Festivals in Italian Pesaro and Wildbad in Germany, or Wexford Festival Opera.
Markéta formed the chamber ensemble Kyčera in 2005, which performed concerts of Moravian traditional songs throughout South-East, Ireland. In 2015, with Nick Day, she co-founded the WEXFORD CHAMBER CHOIR which was formed out of her students and has performed a variety of Classical choral concerts in Co. Wexford over the years. In 2011, she started to organize international early music and Baroque Opera workshops in between Ireland, Czech Republic and Italy, conducted by Mr. James Gray. In 2017, she performed in a concert with the British chamber choir Tallis Scholars at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. In 2019, Markéta organized the first Irish concert to take part in the international Early Music Day Festival in Ireland, in Wexford town. In summer 2025, together with soprano, Kateřina Blasone Fürstová, Markéta co-founded a summer Masters Class in singing BLUM DAYS, in memory of their singing teacher, Teresia Blum.
Since 2002, Markéta has resided in Co. Wexford, Ireland, where she began teaching in the Wexford School of Music. Following this, she started her own private singing school, Scuola Del Canto Libero, where she has since been teaching vocal students of all ages. She regularly showcases her students in concerts and workshops throughout the year to develop and enhance their vocal performance. Markéta now lives in Enniscorthy, Ireland.