Star Opera Singer Speaks Publicly About Struggling with Dyslexia

Elsa van den Heever, currently starring at the Metropolitan Opera, spoke publicly to the New York Times about her experiences with dyslexia. She credits her condition with her proclivity to thoroughly learn challenging scores.

What we’re reading: On December 11th, the New York Times published an interview with the South African soprano Elsa van den Heever. Van den Heever is currently starring in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten. In the interview, van den Heever discussed her experiences with dyslexia, which she credits with making her learn scores in out-of-the-box, fastidious ways. Van den Heever also admitted that her condition has led to feelings of imposter syndrome within her profession, due to her struggles with sight-reading and making sense of complex scores.

Some context: Elsa van den Heever is not the first singer to struggle with learning music. The tenor Pavarotti admittedly never learned to read music, and many famous pop singers have spoken publicly about their experiences with dyslexia. But van den Heever may be the first dyslexic singer to tackle Die Frau ohne Schatten, one of opera’s most daunting works.

Van den Heever expressed that she doesn’t view her condition as a handicap. Rather, her collaborators praise van den Heever’s commitment to learning the nuance and shading of every note and phrase in the operas she takes on, regardless of their complexity. Sounds like her Frau is not to be missed.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.