Opera News Awards

I realize I'm a wee bit tardy on this post, but you know - there has been sunshine to enjoy, ornaments to write, and lyrics to memorize! But I didn't want to let too much more time pass before sharing the amazing evening that I participated in a few weeks back.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild began hosting the "Opera News Awards" 5 years ago, and it has become quite an event in the social calendar of New York City, not to mention in our wonderful, whacky opera world. They honor 5 different artists in the course of the evening, usually consisting of one or two singer on the younger side (eh hem!), one or two luminaries or legends, to say the least, and a composer or conductor of great merit. 2 years ago I was asked to present an award to the incredible Olga Borodina where Leontyne Price was also being honored - and the impact of her speech and very presence alone moved me deeply:



But this year it was my turn, along with Gerald Finley, Philip Glass, Martina Arroyo and Shirley Verrett. Sadly, the effervescent, elegant, refined and awe-inspiring Shirley Verrett could not attend the awards. She was sorely missed and celebrated with gusto by everyone in attendance in her absence. The video clip of her singing Dalilah was ravishing beyond words, and her legacy was deeply felt and celebrated by us all.


Gerald Finley, dashing as ever (and with whom I've had the privilege of sharing the stage on several memorable occasions), spoke eloquently of the importance of our art form and those who make it possible; following a witty introduction by none other than Paul Simon, Philip Glass accepted his award while speaking of the high calling of composing an opera; and Martina Arroyo - RADIANT with her beaming smile and twinkling eye, inspired all of us who are still singing to be sure to carry the torch, especially bringing in the next generation as we move through our careers. (She's putting her money where her mouth is, doing marvelous, intensive work with young singers as a part of her foundation.

I cannot speak for what the other recipients were feeling as they took their moment in the spotlight, but I can tell you that I was overwhelmed and perhaps even a bit incoherent! The "force of nature" that is Stephanie Blythe served up an introduction to me that reduced me to tears. (Although the tears had no strength to fight themselves back since I was attending the gala with a sleep deficit of about 48 hours!) But I'm rather certain that they would have shown up even with a full night's sleep, for she was incredibly eloquent and heartfelt and deluged me with the most touching and sincere words I could have imagined. She is a treasure, and I felt quite honored to be receiving this award from her.


As I accepted the award, I truly felt the presence of everyone who has touched my life in a significant way: the teachers who inspired with their wisdom and patience, the critics who, oddly enough, also inspired with their dismissals and oversights, the colleagues who challenged me to be better, the friends who lifted me through the most difficult of times, the manager who believed, the family members who walked with me, ... and it was each of them that overwhelmed me that evening, knowing that I could not have been standing there with the crystal in my hand without them.

We never know the impact we may have on another's life, but I can say that there have been COUNTLESS people in my life who have taught me, challenged me, lifted me up and tore me down. Yet the reality is that none of them can ever stand on the stage and make me do what I do - no artist or performer has the luxury of leaning on someone when the cue is thrown your way and you're not sure if you can do it or not. That's our responsibility alone. But somehow, the strength they have given you along the way, the lessons they have taught you, the times they have abandoned you and forced you to find the strength deep in yourself - somehow they all contribute to the making of an artist, and it was this which was heavy on my mind that night.

There is another element to building up an artist and helping them stand on a stage in front of thousands of scrutinizing people: the fans. The wonderful, passionate, discerning and sometimes whacky fans!!! None of this makes sense unless it arrives to the audience for people to hear, experience, live, breathe and FEEL the music and emotion. How privileged I am to be given the honor of singing for you!

Oh, there was one more element of the evening - which nearly put me over the edge! My brilliant husband was busy conducting "Casanova's Homecoming" in Minneapolis the same evening of the awards and was unable to be my date for the night, but the ever thoughtful Met Guild found a way to bring him to NY that night, via a video greeting. As you can see by my reaction, I was taken completely by surprise and felt overwhelmed by the outpouring of love not just from him, but from everyone that evening!


Thank you, Dario Acosta for the use of your lovely photos!!

Rainy days and Mondays...

...can often get you down, but in LA it's a bit hard to let it settle in and take hold, I have to say! Perhaps it's actually a most beneficial thing for my career that today is rainy, because loads of work beckons (or, is that loads of work beckon?), but I must admit that the last week of sunshine did my inner child a WORLD of good! I'll actually let a few pictures do the talking:



I really shouldn't say anything just yet (touch wood, please!), but my leg feels back to normal now. After loads of physical therapy, I have felt immeasurably lucky to be back on form, and while being cautious, have immensely enjoyed getting active again. In fact, I look at the roller skating as quite good therapy for the ol' legs! Not to mention the rush of just PLAYING! Ah, it does a soul good, so that when I have to play a young teenager...


...it doesn't feel like QUITE as a big a stretch as it might otherwise! I just think finding JOY around you is one of the greatest gifts you can possibly give yourself. Life is not always easy, and challenges present themselves on such a regular basis, it is true. But if you can find a way to train yourself to see the humor or the laughter or the joy in it, somehow it passes a bit more easily - and the bonus is that I think you leave yourself open for the truth of the experience.

Even if that's not always possible, I'm a big believer in that when life is GOOD, make the MOST out of it! Celebrate it, and let it refuel you for when the tough times arrive. Which they will. But in the meantime - celebrate!



Or at the very least, LAUGH!



Now my Italian Art Songs are calling...."Amarilli......"

Perspective!

Taken out of context, as we all know, things can carry very different meanings! I just snapped this photo from my window in GLORIOUS Santa Monica, CA, and found it very funny that, framed simply as it is, one could make countless different assumptions. If I had taken the photo in a landscape (vertical) direction, you would have found the bride's groom and photographer about 20 feet to her right, waiting to finish their photo shoot. However, as it is, I love the possibility for imagining what her story might be.

I think as a singer, imagination is one of the most important tools you can utilize. Being able to imagine a character's backstory, or the off-stage conversation she may have just had with the baritone, are enormously important to fleshing out any kind of character. (What happened during Fiordiligi and Ferrando's "walk" just after Gugliemo has seduced Dorabella? What ever did Donna Anna and Don Ottavio speak about before Giovanni burst into their lives? What was Mimi doing just before coming to knock on that creaky door?) The more specific a singer can be in their vision of the character, the more real he or she will be to the audience.

In "Una voce poco fa", usually no one is on stage with Rosina, and yet, isn't it feasible that she might want to take a peak into the next room to make SURE Berta isn't lurking? Wouldn't that help suggest the "danger" she is surrounded by in that claustrophobic house? That's something a director most likely would never point out, but if your imagination is activated, you might think about certain details like that - details that help make the scene become multi-dimensional. If you can truly place yourself into this character's room, your imagination can begin to feed you an infinite number of plausible things to play.

We had a lovely opening for our Barber here in LA. (Thank you to James Taylor and the LA TIMES for giving me such a lovely profile to announce the opening of the production!)

(Photo © Lawrence K. Ho for the LA Times)

Yes, I've now done a number of "Barbers", but I think it is my willingness to engage my imagination that keeps it feeling fresh and alive to me. This show carries it's own set of challenges, because the emphasis lies with the visual aspect of "Seville", incorporating lots of (wonderful!) dancers filling the space and lots of comedic bits that could sit simply on the surface of the show. I found that I had to dig in and rely on my imagination to help me fill in some of the blanks of this production, and in the end, it begins to feel very much alive to me, because of that. Sometimes I wish the directors could help me find those details that I crave, but in the end, if I've had to struggle to find them myself, ultimately I suppose they will be more authentic.

**Singers - I encourage you all to really engage your imagination whenever possible! Ask LOADS of questions about the articulation the composer gave you (why a staccato? why a diminuendo here and not a measure later?) If you can supply the subtext to all those various elements, you will be miles ahead in the game!

And while I don't want to brag, I have to say that being in LA in December does NOT hurt the ol' psyche at all! The sun is shining, the ocean steady and strong, and my inner child is partaking of the big playground of life here! Yesterday found me roller-skating on the boardwalk, playing beach volleyball with some of my fellow castmates, and finishing with a killer California-style yoga class, where I'm astonished that I can walk at all today!!! (They do NOT mess around with yoga here in sunny CA!) Thanksgiving found me doing cartwheels on the sand - and my inner 12-year old has never been happier! (And for anyone who may be tempted to tell me to be careful on those roller-skates, I promise I'm well padded!)


As a final salute to the importance of perspective, I attended a thrilling concert last weekend of the LA PHIL, with the electric Gustavo Dudamel at the helm, performing all California-related works from the last 15 years, including a premiere by John Adams. Meeting Mr. Adams afterwards, he asked me what I was doing in LA, and I simply said, "Ah, Barber over at the Pavillion." "Barber?" he responded, "Which one - Vanessa?"

See? It's all a matter of context and perspective, folks. If we can get that, world peace can't be THAT far behind, can it?

PS -- in case anyone has 5 hours to kill tonight (!) Jim Svejda of KUSC 91.5 in LA (the renowned host of the nationally syndicated Record Shelf) will be doing a 5 (!) hour show on yours-truly, including clips from a number of my recordings, interviews, etc. It can be streamed live on their web site. I had a ball speaking with him, as he is an incredible fount of knowledge, but it should give a very interesting insight into the variety of recordings I've been so lucky to participate in!!!

Breathing...

...is something I often need to remind myself to participate in when things have gotten a bit hectic. If I can manage the breathing part, the rest will likely follow. Last SATURDAY I was in Minneapolis for my husband's "triumphant" conducting of "Casanova's Homecoming" by Dominick Argento (what a brilliant score and LIBRETTO!!). SUNDAY found me flying to San Francisco to rehearse a few hours for my recital on MONDAY night to a wonderful crowd of my west coast "family". 6:00 AM TUESDAY morning a car arrived to whisk me away to the airport to fly to Los Angeles to begin my rehearsals for my LA Opera debut in Barbiere ... after getting lost on the freeway system several times, I had my 2 1/2 hour costume fitting, (3 costumes x 5 layers each = 15 hemlines to stand tall and motionless for whilst they take exact measurements!), followed by 6 hours of staging rehearsals. WEDNESDAY brought another 6 hours of staging and I whisked myself away (not getting lost this time, thank god!) to LAX for the red-eye flight to New York City. Arriving at 7:30 AM on THURSDAY, I had more fittings for gowns, a brief nap (which wasn't productive at all, since I couldn't stop the ol' mind from spinning off it's axis with the list of things I needed to accomplish in the next 10 hours!), and before I knew it I was standing at a podium thanking the world for the wonderful "Opera News Award." (Much more on that later) No after parties for me, for I had to get home to finish lining up things so that our apartment would be ready for it's first renter, not to mention being sure I was awake and packed for the car that was coming at 5:15 AM FRIDAY morning to whisk me back to JFK to catch the plane that would whip me to LAX and into my 6 hours of piano dress rehearsals for the day.

SATURDAY I stayed in bed until 4:00 PM.

So we've crossed off the "Break a leg" mantra for me, and now any of those jokes about divas staying in bed all day eating bon bons? They're off limits, too!!!

Sadly, a full-fledged weekend doesn't seem to exist in my world, so it's back to the theater for orchestra stagings today, BUT I kept breathing, took all my vitamins, and look - I'm still standing!!! And breathing.....

Shocking!!

My senior year at Bishop Miege High School in suburban Kansas City, I was certain - and I mean CERTAIN! - that I would be a high school choral director, and so I searched for schools that had great music education degrees. After sorting through loads of brochures, I settled on The Wichita State University, known for it's wonderful teacher programs, and as it so happened, an outstanding opera department. I didn't know about the latter until well into my theory classes: upon my arrival there seemed to be a very serious, elite "opera clique" of amazing performers that seemed much larger than life, and actually, untouchable to me. The program was run by the omnipresent, towering Dr. George Gibson - who to this impressionable freshmen seemed not just larger than life, but all-powerful and imposing on the highest level.

As I found my footing, I found that people would come from around the country to study voice with him and that he was quite a revered opera director. To me, he was the kind of presence that required you to divert your gaze while walking in the hallways, because he was THAT powerful! Somehow I got enticed into being in the chorus of Die Fledermaus that he was directing, and he was fierce in his directing, exacting in his expectations, and tolerated nothing less than the best. (His motto, which he exemplifies in every area of his life, was Dedictation, Discipline and Determination: the 3 D's!)

Well the rest is now history, but there is no getting around how influential he was on my formation as a singer, and I've told him repeatedly that when I stand on stage, there is a part of him that is standing there with me - and most happily, he continues to be an important part of my life. But the kicker is that I am just one of MANY whose lives he has touched!


Last week, while working here at the MET, I was talking with a good friend of mine, and fellow Wichita State Alum, (as well as Santa Fe apprentice!) Brian Frutiger, who is involved here in The House of the Dead. He said, "You know, Joyce - right now there are 5 WSU alums working here at the MET."

Five WSU Alumni? Five WSU SHOCKERS?

That might not be a big deal if we were talking about Juilliard or Eastmen, perhaps, but Wichita State???? 4 of us are singers, and 1 plays oboe in the orchestra.

We thought that was rather amazing. And so we organized a photo shoot!

Please meet:


Brian Frutiger (Tenor), Alan Held (Bass-Baritone), Susan Spector (Oboe), Samuel Ramey (Bass), myself, and Susan's daughter who, by virtue of her WSU sweatshirt, immediately became our mascot!

My thought about writing about this, is that once I set my mind on being an opera singer, there was a temptation to believe "But I have to attend one of the BIG music schools!", and it was hard not to sometimes feel inferior, because I didn't have a "big name school" as affirmation that I was "good". Instead, I realized, looking at the 5 of us, each of us takes a very different route and path to get to where we are. I attended school with a number of HUGELY talented people, but they each walked a different route to live their lives. I think the urge for younger singers to think there is ONE way, ONE key to a career is just simply misguided. Get yourself in the mind set of the "3 D's", and get about taking your very own journey, and then ENJOY THE RIDE.


My ride brought me to the MET Opera Shop on Tuesday, and it was wonderful. The fabulous Opera Shop Staff really rolled out the red carpet for me, welcomed me with open arms, and a wonderful crowd came out to meet me and have me sign their newly acquired discs. THANK YOU to each one of you for purchasing the discs! (As everyone knows, every single disc makes a difference in this industry right now!) I'll always be a bit mystified that this girl from Kansas is on this particular journey, but I never stay in that frame of mind too long. But an enormous source of my joy is knowing all the people along the way who have helped me on the way, and reveling in the journey of my colleagues as well.

Go Shockers!!!

Climb every mountain - or at least one of them!

Yesterday the NY Marathon took the Big Apple by storm. The women's race saw a heroic figure and favored winner fight a horrible leg injury and still cross the finish line, the men's race saw a great upset with the USA taking the win for the first time in ages, and I got to cheer on my very dear friend in his 6th race (despite the fact that while fighting the crowds to get to the finish line I didn't actually SEE him cross the end - but I was there in spirit!) What I did witness took me by surprise. I finally fought for a spot in the park, slightly elevated, at the 26 mile marker; from where I stood, I saw runner after runner pass the point where they knew they would make it - 400 meters to go? That was do-able.


While the athletes I cheered on were complete strangers, in a matter of minutes I began to identify with them, marvel at them, and finally admire every single one of them for their endurance and strength. It struck me that they were all participating in the same event, running those same steps, accomplishing the very same task, and yet every single one of them had a different story which brought them to that 26th mile. They each were climbing an enormous mountain of their own: some running to beat their personal record, others running to simply cross the finish line for the first time, some running for a cause, others running for a single person as a memorial, some running for "Italy", others for "France", and I stood by in complete and total amazement at the physical, mental and emotional journey they all were making.


Some 40,000 runners made the journey yesterday, and I thank each one of them for the inspiration they provided to me, and hopefully to others as well. How I LOVED taking part in a day where excellence and tenacity were on such vivid display, as well as watching people from every nation on earth (or so it seemed) were united in perfect harmony - all striving for the same thing, completely regardless of race, creed, sex, you-name-it, and they all were crossing the same hurdles and triumphing equally, and supporting each other with each step they took. Oh wow - it IS possible.

And of course, as usual, there was the perfect example of harmony and peace right in front of my eyes:


Yeah, it's all pretty simple, in the end.

And while I am not at all convinced that I could run a mile, much less 26.2 of them, I did hike my own personal mountain in recording my latest Rossini Disc (sorry - here comes another plug!) and I will be SIGNING the discs Tuesday at the Met Opera Shop. Please come on out and wear out my arm!!

Meet Gabriel, the sweetest, scene-stealing Donkey you'll ever meet.

This is Gabriel, the adorable, mild-mannered Donkey that graces the stage of the Metropolitan Opera for our production of The Barber of Seville. He's only one element that makes this run so fun and refreshing and wonderful. We are actually rehearsing this week to add in 2 new cast members, which means those of us that have been performing these past weeks have to bring in the new colleagues and get them settled in and familiar to the production, as well as adapt our performances to incorporate the new colors and interpretations of the new guys. I'll be honest - it's a BIT hard to come back to the rehearsal room and focus on the details again since we've already opened, but happily this group of singers (and friends, really), is so great, we've been having a wonderful time - with more laughter than should probably be allowed!

It makes me step back (once again!) and just revel in the reality of how much I love what I do. We're singing, we're playing, and we're laughing (along with working, of course!), but it's an environment of joy and celebration, and that makes all the difference in the world! We have had wonderful audiences who seem so HAPPY to come to the theater and LAUGH and let loose a bit, and so for us up on the stage, the enjoyment is all the greater.

Last Sunday I sang a joint recital with Eric Owens for the George London Foundation. A number of years ago I was the recipient of an award from the London Foundation, and it was an enormous help for me - not only financially, but also a huge vote of confidence, and I'm sure it helped a few reluctant people in the business start to take me a bit more seriously. Eric was also a lucky recipient and a fellow Houston Opera Studio Member. We hadn't shared a stage since "Jackie O" back in 1997, and it was brilliant to hear his sonorous voice again.

This is just a short update, as so many things are going on here in NY this trip! If you're in the Big Apple, please feel free to stop by the Met Opera Shop on Tuesday, Nov 3, for my first CD Signing at the Met for the COLBRAN DISC (in the top 10 on the Billboard chart this week!), and come help New York City Opera kick off its all-important 2009-10 season with our big gala on November 5, "American Voices" with a great line-up of American Singers helping kick off the festivities.

I think that's more hyper-links than I've ever used in a single post before, but just trying to keep everyone informed!

I've also received a few bits of really exciting news this past week - can't post anything yet, but I believe there will be some happy fans out there....will post as soon as I can! Oh, and for the FINAL kicker - THIS absolutely knocked me over when a friend from college sent it to me! You have to actually scroll through Halle Berry and Charlize Theron, etc. to get to me (I'm #14), but I thought it was pretty wild!! It will be one for the scrapbook - if I only had time to keep one!

So it's a scattered, random-type posting, but it's a big accomplishment during the World Series Week!

Rest, Relaxtion, Restoration ... ah, Alaskaaaaaah

I had the extreme pleasure of singing on board the US AMSTERDAM recently on a 7-day cruise of Alaska for the Metropolitan Opera Guild. The brilliant Jake Heggie was my collaborative pianist, the dashing Michael Snider the organizer, and a number of enthusiastic opera lovers our audience and travel companions! The week could not have been more memorable, more relaxing, more breathtaking, or more restorative. I was ready for a great week, but wasn't quite ready for the astonishment that was Alaska. The sights, the sounds (mostly of silence!), the fish, the friendship, the music making. It did this soul such good!


Perhaps my greatest memory was standing next to Jake as we were whale watching (which turned into whale astonishment over and over!), as he scoured the quiet, still waters waiting for that puff of mist to signal they were coming to the surface. You see, Jake is in the middle of writing his next opera, Moby Dick, which is set to open this spring in Dallas. As we set sail, he has just finished the piano vocal score of the piece and had workshopped it in San Francisco, giving him the opportunity to identify the parts of the opera that needed tweaking, and to know what was already working quite well. Upon our return, he would have to start the actual orchestration. So to stand on board next to him as he took in the SILENCE, the expanse, and the MAJESTY of these creatures as they would come to the surface was an experience I'll never forget. I could see the sounds beginning to formulate in his ear, and I just knew then and there that he would write a masterpiece.

We spoke one day of how nimble and agile these creatures were for their enormous size. "They're just HUGE", I said. And then Jake would take a look around us, 360*, at the entire world encapsulating us, and he said, "Actually, they're not THAT big, all things considered." That was Alaska - giving us the chance to remember where we fit into the scheme of things, and what real life is actually about.

And then of course, we got to play together!!


As with all things "Cruise ship", one never knows exactly what to expect. For example, for our first concert, they didn't have an actual piano available. So they brought down and actual "SLAM GRAND" which was an approximation of an electric keyboard housed in the casing that was made to look, almost, like a grand piano. We couldn't stop laughing about it - thinking it probably was the only time in our careers we had faced something QUITE like that before. Yeah, the piano was completely hollow:


Truly, it was the trip of a lifetime, wish such great sights, smells, tastes, and just that perfect silence that came with the majesty that was Alaska. It made me realize how important silence is in my life. It makes the sound that follows all that more meaningful.


(More pictures are posted on my FLICKR page, if you're curious!)