Spotlight on: Michelle Siemens

Interview

Calgary-born mezzo-soprano Michelle Siemens was heard this past season on the Four Seasons Centre stage, as a finalist for the 2014 COC Ensemble Studio competition. Michelle has trained across Canada and in the United States, and I had the chance to work with her on one of her stops, singing Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Opera on the Avalon.

Spotlight on: Emily Peragine

Interview

I met Montana-born soprano Emily Peragine during her undergraduate degree at Oberlin College Conservatory, and she struck me immediately as a rare breed. Emily is a real lover of singing, and a refreshingly thoughtful artist. You can see more of what I mean by reading her beautiful blog. For a while now, I've been looking forward to the chance to introduce Emily to my readers, and she doesn't disappoint with this interview.

I just wanna do my nails

Humour

Pianists, am I right? I'm speaking for the pianists who have a #justgirlythings side, the ones who like to look like a half-decent person on top of showing off their skills at the keys. There's no shame in that, ladies (mostly, probably). I too have to make the decision between wearing Weitzman pumps and a) tripping on the way to the piano, and b) being able to use the damper pedal.

Spotlight on: Julia Dawson

Interview

Julia Dawson is a Canadian mezzo-soprano currently based in the United States. Julia is a hardworking, creative artist, and she's been keeping busy singing at the Academy of Vocal Arts, the Glimmerglass Festival, and Opera Philadelphia, to name a few. Get to know this smart singer:

The Future of Opera is Indie

Editorial

What we call ‘indie’ opera is not necessarily any more ‘independent’ than Big Opera – ‘grass-roots opera’ might be a better definition. Whatever you call them, what these organizations do have is a license to artistic freedom and experimentation that big-budget opera has had to renounce in order to maintain an outdated model of funding: subscriptions, high-profile donors, and swanky corporate sponsors.

Nico Castel's dialectic genius

On May 31st, the opera world lost comprimario tenor and linguistic authority, Nico Castel. I never personally had the chance to work with Castel, but I'm among the many who thanked him every day for his *Complete Opera Libretti Translation Series*, the invaluable anthologies of opera libretti, translated and phoneticized.

How to really learn a song

How-to

The universal steps to learning a song, I know you've all got them down. You can read music, count rhythms, learn language, and tell stories. A lot of the music I work with involves a pianist and singer, and duetting is all about communication. In the process of "learning your part," it's easy to forget to look up (or down) at some of the other musical lines happening in tandem with your own.

The Dallas Opera picks its Women Conductors

News

The Dallas Opera has created a new residential program, the Institute for Women Conductors. "This program has already generated tremendous international interest, and over extremely 100 talented women applied -- from the U.S. and 26 other countries. The field was extremely competitive, and the acceptance on the program is recognition of the significant accomplishments in the candidate’s career to date."

Arizona Opera, on tradition

Editorial

“Is this going to be a traditional production?” As the Education Manager at Arizona Opera, this is the question I am asked most about operas in our upcoming seasons, and I must confess, I don’t really know how to answer it. After all, what tradition are we talking about?

Relationships and the road

Editorial

Even if there's endless respect for each others' careers, working away from home means that you will have experiences without that person. You can tell them about the incredible show you sang, or send photos of the beautiful cities you visit, but it will never be the same as having them there with you. Not only that, but you will have these experiences with other people.