{"id":56832,"date":"2018-11-08T20:53:40","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T01:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=56832"},"modified":"2018-11-08T22:27:01","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T03:27:01","slug":"interview-adrianne-pieczonka-and-the-new-singing-stars-of-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2018\/11\/08\/interview-adrianne-pieczonka-and-the-new-singing-stars-of-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Adrianne Pieczonka And The New Singing Stars of Tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Have you ever wondered what it takes to become an opera star? Soprano Adrianne Pieczonka shows ten aspiring singers how it’s done at the IRCPA Encounter masterclass.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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C<\/span>alling all opera fans \u2014 have you ever wondered what it takes to become an opera star? What it\u2019s like to step on the stages of the great opera houses of the world, sing your heart out, receive audience accolades, meet adoring fans at the stage door, be the toast of the town \u2014 ah, the life of an opera diva\/divo!<\/p>\n

To make that dream come true, a great voice is a given. And solid training, of course. But a lot of the skills necessary for a big career are not<\/em> taught in the classroom or the voice studio. A young singer only learns the ways of a career during the perilous journey in one of the toughest professions there is.<\/p>\n

This is where the International Resource Centre for Performing Artists<\/a> (IRCPA) comes in. The brainchild of Canadian artist agent\/arts administrator\/impresario Ann Summers, IRCPA, now in its 35th<\/sup> \u00a0year, is a service organization for musical artists, with the goal of helping young artists to make a successful transition from students to professionals.<\/p>\n

Among the many singers\u00a0IRCPA has supported in the past are Adrianne Pieczonka, Isabel Bayrakdarian, and Colin Ainsworth. An annual IRCPA event is the \u201cEncounter\u201d where ten aspiring singers spend a day with an established artist, who gives vocal and interpretive pointers in the studio, as well as share his\/her insights in the ways and means of a career.<\/p>\n

This year, that established artist was soprano Adrianne Pieczonka. \u201cI did the Encounter<\/em> when I was a young singer, probably in 1986 or 87,\u201d soprano Adrianne Pieczonka muses. \u201cOMG \u2014 decades ago!\u201d Pieczonka says in mock horror. \u201cI worked with Joan Dornemann. I remember being so in awe of her \u2014 she\u2019s this famous and quite formidable MET coach\/r\u00e9p\u00e9titeur. I remember the aria I sang for her was “Adieu, mon petite table” from Massenet’s Manon.<\/em> \u00a0Joan had me sit on a chair to help “ground” me. It made a big impression. This physical change, simply sitting on a chair, made a big improvement in my sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now some thirty years later, Adrianne Pieczonka is one of the most celebrated of Canadian singers, frequent guest in great opera houses in the world, with a diverse repertoire. I remember hearing her Mimi at the COC in the early 90s at the Elgin Theatre. She has since become a great Wagnerian and Straussian. In a business known for its impermanence, a 30-year career is quite amazing \u2014 she\u2019s celebrating 30 years since her professional debut as the Female Convict in a COC Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk<\/em> in January 1988.<\/p>\n

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(l. to r.) Jocelyn Fralick, Rachel Andrist, Kathleen Promane, Gwenna Fairchild-Taylor, Rebecca Townsend, Beth Hagerman, John-Michael Scapin, Sara Schabas, Teiya Kasahara, Georgia Burashkno, Tonia Cianciulli, Zachary Rioux. (Photo: Joseph So)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I attended part of the Encounter, to see her in action as a teacher and to get her thoughts on working with the young artists:<\/p>\n

Give us your thoughts on these talented young singers<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They are all at different stages in their development. Some are relatively young, in their early or mid 20’s to their early 30’s. Some have just graduated from university and some finished their studies more than 5 years ago. A few of the singers are married with children and one singer has had quite a bit of professional experience already.<\/p>\n

How do you work with a group that\u2019s so diverse in their training and experience?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I work with each individual as I saw fit – trying to give some technical support, and I try to understand where each singer is in his or her career progression. I think the advice I give unanimously is that each singer must follow his or her path \u2014 not the path of another or a path which he or she thinks is the ‘chosen’ path. I stress that discipline, hard work and devotion to the art of singing is what it’s all about. It can get hard these days with social media. Singers feel the pressure that they are not measuring up or falling behind but I am of the firm belief that hard work and discipline win the day.<\/p>\n

That has always been your philosophy? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

My dear friend and colleague Nina Stemme’s motto (she just won the $100,000.00 Birgit Nilsson Prize) is to “hurry slowly”. I like this image. Of course, you can’t just wait around and be inactive, but you also can’t rush success. Getting rejections is part of the business. Singers like Renee Fleming and others have written about not getting into programs or not getting certain roles, but of course, it didn\u2019t hamper them in the long run. It may even have built character and mettle.<\/p>\n

In my many interviews with Adrianne Pieczonka over the last twenty years, she has always espoused this philosophy of \u201cslow and steady wins the race.\u201d\u00a0 She has been very careful with choosing repertoires that suit her voice, and never takes on roles before she is ready. It explains why her voice remains fresh after such a long career of singing principal roles. I attended part of the afternoon of the Encounter and heard three singers. I find Pieczonka the teacher very supportive, always encouraging, insightful, and kind. She successfully put each student at ease to do his\/her best work. After a few pointers, each student sounded decidedly better.<\/p>\n

They were certainly well prepared and rearing to go at the Ten Singer Stars concert on Nov. 5, in the intimate space of Zoomer Hall. With its theatre-in-the-round arrangement, the audience could see and hear everything up close and personal. There were eleven singers, since the \u201calternate\u201d \u2014 \u201ccover\u201d if you will, in case one of the ten was sick and couldn\u2019t go on \u2014 was also invited to sing. They were nine women and two men \u2014 eight sopranos, one mezzo, and two tenors.<\/p>\n

They were sopranos Kathleen Promane, Tonia Cianciulli, Rebecca Townsend, Sara Schabas, Jocelyn Fralick, Teiya Kasahara, Beth Hagerman, and Gwenna Fairchild-Taylor; mezzo Georgia Burashko; and tenors John-Michael Scapin and Zachary Rioux. At the piano was the very experienced \u2014 and very supportive \u2014 Rachel Andrist.<\/p>\n

Rather than giving a blow-by-blow review of each singer\u2019s performance, I can say from my vantage point that they all gave their unique and authentic best, and always from the heart. Several really stood out for me. Mezzo Georgia Burashko\u2019s bravura \u201cDopo notte\u201d from Ariodante<\/em> was sung with nice, rich tone and excellent fioritura. Teiya Kasahara, a high coloratura during her tenure at the COC Ensemble Studio, astounded with her polished and dramatic \u201cSola, perduta, abbandonata\u201d from Manon Lescaut<\/em>. \u00a0Beth Hagerman sang the famous Wally aria with smooth, pure tone. Budding dramatic soprano Gwenna Fairchild-Taylor tackled Leonore\u2019s fiendishly difficult \u201cAbscheulicher\u201d with aplomb.<\/p>\n

Of the two men in the concert, tenor John-Michael Scapin offered a non-operatic choice \u2013 two selections from Sch\u00f6nberg\u2019s Brettl-Lieder<\/em>, including the best-known song, \u201cGalathea.\u201d He captured the mood of this cabaret piece beautifully, with warm tone and very good German diction. Tenor Zachary Rioux must have been fearless, choosing the daunting Faust aria \u201cSalut! Demeure chaste et pure.\u201d\u00a0 He impressed with his lovely timbre and long breath-line, not to mention a very fff<\/em> high C. Perhaps a bit too loud with the C, but at all of 21, he will continue to develop and has a fine future.<\/p>\n

At the end of the evening, Adrianne Pieczonka picked one singer to receive the Career Blueprint, which entitles the recipient to three days in the National Opera Centre in New York, where the singer gets expert advice from opera professionals, has photoshoots for publicity headshots and website development consultations. It was generously supported by Canadian soprano Jean Edwards, at 92 years young and still singing!<\/p>\n

The recipient this year is soprano Sara Schabas, who sang a lovely excerpt from Der Rosenkavalier<\/em>. It\u2019s a little odd to hear this Octavian\/Sophie duet excerpted as an aria\u00a0\u2014 I kept expecting Octavian to cut in!\u00a0 Schabas, possessing a lovely soubrette with a pure sound, not just sang it beautifully, but she looks like Sophie as well \u2014 brava!<\/p>\n

There you have it \u2014 another edition of IRCPA\u2019s Encounter and Concert has concluded. Congratulations to all, and we look forward to seeing and hearing them in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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