{"id":102625,"date":"2024-03-21T16:59:46","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T20:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=102625"},"modified":"2024-03-22T08:00:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T12:00:01","slug":"interview-soprano-midori-marsh-talks-career-womens-musical-club-toronto-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/03\/21\/interview-soprano-midori-marsh-talks-career-womens-musical-club-toronto-award\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Soprano Midori Marsh Talks About Career, And The Women\u2019s Musical Club Of Toronto Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L:
L: Soprano Midori Marsh, (Photo: Gaetz Photography); R: (top) Midori Marsh performs with Alexander Shelley and the National Arts Centre Orchestra; (bottom) Midori Marsh performs with the Canadian Opera Company (Photos courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soprano Midori Marsh recently received the Women\u2019s Musical Club of Toronto’s Career Development Award (CDA). The award is designed to help early career artists in making the leap to a professional career.<\/p>\n

It includes a cash prize of $25,000, along with a Music in the Afternoon series concert recital. Former winners include violinist Blake Pouliot, accordion player Michael Bridges, and pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin.<\/p>\n

We spoke to Midori about awards and competitions, and the ups and downs of a career in opera.<\/p>\n

\"Midori
Midori Marsh performs with members of London Symphonia at Midori Marsh: Under The Moon in March 2023. (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Midori Marsh<\/h2>\n

American-Canadian soprano Midori Marsh is a native of Cleveland. She studied music at Wilfred Laurier University, and went on to receive her Masters in Opera at the University of Toronto. She took first prize and audience choice award at the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s Centre Stage competition in 2019, and is a graduate of that professional development program. She was a semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s 2023 Laffont competition and a 2023 Lotte Lenya finalist.<\/p>\n

In the early stages of a career as an opera singer, awards and competitions are a vital boost.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be bleak about it, I want people to feel like there\u2019s more that you need,\u201d she begins. \u201c[But] gosh, it sure does help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singing, as she noted in her award acceptance speech, is \u201cone of the best things you can do with your time\u201d.<\/p>\n

When it comes to her own singing, she pursues it with a passion that extends beyond a professional career. \u201cThere\u2019s a million ways to do it for free,\u201d she says, mentioning her involvement in many choirs and other ensembles over the years.<\/p>\n

To make a living at it brings another dimension into the equation: it takes money just to go after a professional career, from the expenses of rehearsals, travel, continuing training, and much more.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessionally, it takes so much time and effort and money to even just get one person on stage living their dream.\u201d When she\u2019s in the audience watching other singers, Midori says she\u2019s acutely aware of just how many people are involved behind the scenes. \u201cIt took maybe hundreds of people to get them on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

It may seem daunting to a young singer starting out, but it\u2019s also an advantage to have so many people in your corner as you make the climb. \u201cIt\u2019s very, very nice,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s very moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

The expenses of a professional career don\u2019t end at singing. \u201cEven silly things, that people wouldn\u2019t even think of,\u201d she says, \u201clike a fancy clothes budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Midori credits a background where, like so many other aspiring opera singers, she began with very little. Her undergraduate degree was earned in a small music department at Laurier University. \u201cYou learn to do a lot with a little,\u201d she says, remembering the students who would take care of advertising one day, and then take up power tools to construct sets the next.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe passion helps,\u201d she says. \u201cNobody who isn\u2019t crazy about it would give up their weekends like that,\u201d she laughs. \u201cA little ingenuity is helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Midori Marsh sings \u201cJe dis que rien ne m’\u00e9pouvante\u201d from Bizet\u2019s Carmen at a Canadian Opera Company event:<\/p>\n