Interview with
Siobhan Owen What inspired you to pursue Celtic music?
Do you play or wish to play any other instrument?
When I was 12 one of my voice teachers gave me an Irish song to learn (My Lagan Love) and taught me how to sing it in the Celtic style. She had Scottish background and thought it would suit me because of my Welsh/Irish background. I loved that song and it suited my voice, so I decided to learn more like it. I was born in Wales to a Welsh dad and Irish mum, so have a strong Celtic heritage which I enjoy keeping alive.
I started playing the guitar when I was about 6 or 7, but wasn’t very good! So
At what age did you begin studying the harp? When I was 14 I was asked to sing at the Adelaide concert of French singer/harpist Cecile Corbel (who I met on Myspace). She accompanied my songs with her harp and I was so inspired by the beautiful sound that I decided to learn to play myself.
I took up piano instead. I got to about grade 4 in piano, but don’t really play now. As part of our school music lessons, we all learnt the basics of playing guitar, bass, keyboard and drums. I was also the captain of the school drum corps, playing the snare drum. Over the years I have bought a few instruments… but haven’t really mastered them yet. Some of the instruments are accordion (which I played on my last album), mandolin, ukulele, guitar, violin, bodhran, Irish whistle, Japanese flute and harmonica. I eventually want to buy a pedal harp and an electric harp. Some of the best loved Celtic songs have been performed hundreds of
times; what do you do to make them your own? I don’t really think about it. If there is a song I really like and want to perform, I find out about what the song is about and then work out a harp accompaniment for it, and try to sing it with feeling. I don’t usually like to listen to other people’s versions, because I sing it how I feel it and don’t want to be influenced by anyone else. Celtic vocals have a very distinctive sound, how did you learn to master it? As I said above, one of my first singing teachers taught me basic Celtic “lilting”, and over the years I have developed my own way of singing Celtic style. People used to say I sounded a bit like certain Celtic singers that I had never heard of or listened to. I think I have a sort of classical Celtic style. You have an extensive performance resume as well as albums under your belt. Which do you like better, performing live or coming up with sounds in the studio? Probably performing live because I can be free with how I sing a song. I never used to enjoy being in the studio. I don’t think you can sing with as much passion as you can live. But I really enjoyed my recent work in the
studio. I enjoyed working with my producer, Quentin, to get the songs how we wanted them. We had a lot of fun! Are there any other styles you would like to pursue in the future? Or do you want to try and bring your Celtic sound to different genres? I don’t think many people realize that I also sing serious classical music. I started classical voice when I was 9 and I am still studying classical voice at university (Bachelor of Music Performance and Pedagogy – Classical Voice). Although I love singing arias, art songs and liede, I don’t have any plans to be in operas … but you never know! I quite enjoy performing musical theatre songs. I performed in my first show when I was 10. The show was Brigadoon and I played a child (of course) but sang in the adult chorus! I continued performing in musicals until I was 15 or 16 – when I got too busy with my solo career. I also enjoy singing jazz, although don’t get the opportunity to do much of it at the moment. I would like to learn some jazz pieces on my harp. They would be great for working in 5star hotels or on cruise ships! You have taken Irish dance, so what do you think of shows like Celtic Woman & Celtic Thunder, who use a
lot of choreography and lighting? Do you think the added elements enhance or detract from the musical experience? I love watching Irish dancing. It was after seeing Riverdance, when I was 5, that I started Irish dance! I have to admit that I prefer the early Celtic Woman repertoire – and singers – to their new stuff. I think they’ve moved too far away from the traditional Celtic music that I love. I also think the choreography and lighting make their shows more Broadway than Celtic. I haven’t seen much of Celtic Thunder, but I have liked what I’ve seen. What is your favorite song to perform? That is much too difficult to answer! It changes depending on my mood, the event / venue and the type of audience. If the occasion calls for something soft and haunting, it would be “Black is the Color” or “She Moved Through the Fair”. For a gentle lullaby type song probably “Cariad” or “Sora Wo Aruku” (Walking in the Air in Japanese). For a fun song probably “Cyfri’r Geifr” (Counting the Goats). A dramatic song would be “Bring Him Home” or one of the operatic arias I perform at uni. What would you like your audience to take away from your concerts?
A bunch of my CDs’! …. Seriously, I like to think I can touch their hearts with my music. If they leave my concerts with a warm, fuzzy feeling, I’m happy. If I can make at least oneperson cry with my interpretations, then I know I’ve done my job properly. People often tell me they are mesmerized by my performances, that it takes them to a better place. That makes me feel really good. What have been some of your most exciting music projects? I have been very lucky over the last couple of years to have been invited to be part of some fantastic projects and events. Last year I was asked to sing the Welsh National Anthem at the Australia versus Wales Rugby Union test match – to a crowd of 44,000 and watched on TV by millions worldwide! That was an amazing experience and a great honor to represent my birth country. My family are very proud of that performance! Earlier this year I made my UK and US debuts. In January I performed 3 concerts in Wales and England. It was the first time my family over there had seen me perform live, so it was very special. In March I headlined the Los Angeles St David’s Day (Welsh) Festival in Barnsdall Park on Hollywood Boulevard. That was an amazing experience. We were invited to a Hollywood VIP reception for the
unveiling of Richard Burton’s star on the Walk of Fame on the day we arrived in LA. Lorin, the festival director, was introducing me to movie stars and celebrities. I don’t know if was the jetlag or the occasion, but it was all very surreal! In June this year I received an email from French writer / composer / producer, Alan Simon, asking if I was interested in being part of his next project. He was writing a Celtic/symphonic ballet based on the legendary love story of Tristan and Yseult. Alan had been searching the internet and came across a video of me singing “Cariad” and decided I was the voice he wanted for “Yseult”. The project involves an album to be released on February 14 next year, and a World Premiere show In Nantes, France, on March 7. The show will have ballet dancers portraying Tristan & Yseult, while myself and Roberto Tiranti will be the voices. I will be going over to Nantes this November for a showcase and press conference, then back again in March for the show. I am very excited about this project and feel very lucky that Alan found me. Can you tell us something about your latest albm? “Storybook Journey” is my 4th studio album, and definitely my best! My previous albums had quite simple accompaniments of harp or piano. I
wanted this one to be a bit different so asked local producer Quentin Eyers to work on the album. He had wanted to work on an album with me and did one sample track to see if I liked his work… I loved it! So we ended up with 17 tracks, which Quentin had added extra instrumentation (playing many of the instruments himself) which enhanced my voice and harp and gave it a magical sound. All the tracks had a story to tell, and I arranged the songs in a logical order starting with the lullaby “Cariad”, then taking the listener on a journey of love, loss, prayers and dreams, and finishing with the music box style melody of “Storybook Journey”. I had my photo shoot done the fairy-tale castle style Thorngrove Manor, and the graphic designer did a fantastic job of the artwork, adding to the Storybook theme. I am very pleased with how the album turned out, and proud that it was awarded Classical Crossover UK 2012 “Album of the Year”! Downloads are available on iTunes, Amazon & CD Baby, and signed copies of the physical CD can be ordered from my website. Besides music, what do you do for fun? I love to draw and paint. I do mainly manga style, but like to try other styles too. I enjoy reading fantasy novels, especially Tolkien. I am fascinated by languages and have been trying to learn Japanese for a
couple of years. I even went to Japan for a month last year to study the language! I like to play pool with my brothers and hang out with my uni friends. What are your dreams for the future? I want to carry on performing and making CDs. I want to do more
overseas travel with my music. I have had offers of work on cruise ships and in a 5-star hotel in Dubai. I was too young at the time and didn’t want to miss any university. But I would like to take up offers like that in the future. I would love to be a singer in something like Cirque du Soleil or Cavalia. I would really love to have my voice in movies and animes.
www.siobhanowen.com
Interview with
Anna Hawkins By Chantelle Constable Hi Anna, thanks for taking the time to let us get to know you better. Let’s start at the very beginning… What musical training did you have growing up, and at what point did you decide that you wanted to make a career of singing? I started singing publicly from the age of seven at the local Country and Western Club. I did a lot of competitions and had informal lessons to prepare for these with someone who led the club. I learnt a lot about performance, looking back at old videos I wonder where I got my confidence. At the age of eleven I began formal classical singing lessons this opened me up to a lot of different musical styles, I won some classical competitions at 12 & 13 and recorded
my first album at 14. It’s hard to pinpoint when I decided I wanted to have a career in singing, it was very early on. I remember being in hospital at the age of 10 after a motorbike accident with a blow to my voicebox. I wasn’t allowed to talk or sing and the doctors were worried about my voice coming back. This was extremely upsetting because by that age I’d determined this was what I wanted to do with my life. Do you have any favorite performance memories, whether it was a prestigious event or collaborating with a certain orchestra, or even a special “first” for you? There are many memorable moments. I particularly remember at the age of
15 performing in-front of 200,000 at the Coca Cola Christmas in the Park at Auckland Domain. More recently would be performing my song, Journey On, with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra at Hagley Park and time recording in Poland and London. Those were pinch me moments. You are currently preparing to tour as Christine in Ken Hills Phantom of the Opera in Japan. What are some other musical theatre (or opera) roles that you have performed, or would like to perform someday? Yes, it’s very exciting. I’ve played Fantine in Les Miserables, Florence in Chess, Lucy in Jekyll & Hyde and more recently Kim in Miss Saigon. Funnily enough I’d love to perform these roles again if I got the chance. I’ve always been attracted to the role of ‘Eponine’ in Les Mis and I think Elphaba in Wicked would be a fabulous role also. I love to dance and act so it would be great to explore this more in the future. Your album contains a mixture of original songs and favorites from the classical crossover genre; what was your process of choosing songs for the album? Did the selections seem to fall in place quickly, or was it a long process to narrow down your list?
It did take me some time choosing the material, I wanted to be unique in my song choices. There are many songs in my repertoire that didn’t make it to the album because I felt like they’d already been done. Having originals grace the album was a first for me and an exciting step. I’d narrowed it down to five to choose from and they all ended up making it on the album. What was the most challenging aspect of undertaking the project of recording an entire album by yourself? What was the most rewarding? To be honest I think the most challenging thing is second guessing yourself. It was a huge undertaking for me and one that involved a lot of risk. It can be a scary thing and sometimes you can question am I doing the right thing, is this going to work out, am I making the right decisions, it’s easy to doubt yourself or get discouraged along the way. Dreams cost you something but it’s worth it. The most rewarding thing is getting to do what makes you come alive inside. To now have an album in my hand that other people are enjoying and being touched by is also incredibly rewarding. When did you first begin writing your own songs? Part of being a classically-oriented singer is not necessarily performing “covers” but
bringing life to the work of beloved songwriters and composers. Do you have a preference between performing your own work vs. songs written by others? Writing and performing my own songs is relatively new for me. I did dabble when I was younger but it’s really only blossomed in the past 3 to 4 years. It’s something I didn’t see myself doing, being a classical singer, but now realize it’s a huge part of me to express myself in that way. I love being able to take songs from a wealth of songwriters and perform them as well as my own songs. However, performing my originals I’ve found to be more vulnerable and I think there’s something special in that. It’s obvious from lyrical imagery in some of your songs like “Delicate Flower” as well as the atmosphere and lovely backdrop of New Zealand in your album photoshoot that you are inspired by the beauty of nature; what are some other sources from which you draw inspiration? Obviously from my own life and experiences but also from observing other people, cultures and history. I also draw inspiration from God and spirituality. A lot of songs stem from a thought and/or emotion. Many artists are using “crowdsourcing” platforms such as
Indiegogo and Kickstarter to fund their album recording projects; you yourself funded “Journey On” through Indiegogo. What was that experience like? Did you have certain expectations that were not met, and some that were exceeded beyond what you imagined? Yes, after I’d recorded the album I still needed funds for the manufacturing and other expenses and was encouraged to do a Indiegogo campaign, something a friend had done for his album. While the album recording itself had already been funded by my own money and means there were still many expenses. It also seemed like a good way to involve friends, family and those who follow me in my project. We didn’t reach the goal by a long shot but it was so encouraging to have people support what it is your trying to achieve. Are there any other genres besides classical crossover that you could see yourself performing, either as an extension of your current career, or as a “one-off” just for fun? I think listening to my album you can tell I enjoy Celtic music. I have Irish heritage and I’d particularly like to explore this genre of music more. I’d love to do a ‘spiritual album’ in the future, perhaps. It will be interesting to see how my songwriting develops
as this will influence the style of my albums in the future also. What music do you listen to recreationally? Can you share your top five favorite albums with us? I listen to all sorts of music from classical, opera, musical theatre and Celtic/world music through to pop and classic rock. I love Josh Groban (particularly All that Echoes, Closer & Awake) and Andrea Boccelli albums. I’ve also been enjoying listening to Celtic singer Loreena Mckennitt. When I’m in the mood I love show soundtracks and I enjoy NZ singer/songwriter Brooke Fraser and the Bethel Band.
You address some deeper issues in your original songs while maintaining the lyricism of poetry, enabling people to take away their own interpretation of your songs. Is there one message in particular that you hope people receive from your music? I think the main message would be hope. I’d like for my songs to be thought provoking but ultimately to leave the listener feeling inspired and more hopeful than before. I want to make music that is healing and uplifting to people and connects them to an emotion inside. This is what I appreciate most about music, the power it has to touch our souls.
www.annahawkinsmusic.com
10 Questions with
Anastasia Lee By Don McCullen Don: What performance have you enjoyed the most so far in your career? Anastasia: I would have to say (I have 2) at the EAA in front of the B-29 “FIFI”. Everything imaginable went wrong. There was no ‘mini-stage’ set up as they said there would be, no microphone, no camera-man, no CDplayer, etc. I sang the whole concert live, with no mic., and acapella. The other concert would be at ‘Operation: Greatest Generation’ at the National Railroad Museum. Performing for all those veterans (around 1,000) was the greatest event of my life. It felt wonderful! They treated me well at both shows, and I was flooded by people asking
me for autographs, pictures, and CD’s, which as you know I don’t have CD’s yet, but that is being worked on. I signed shirts, napkins, etc. Don: Based on your experiences do you have any tips for concert planners? Anastasia: I am not a picky soprano, in most cases my ‘dressing room’ is a bathroom stall, and normally I don’t get to do sound checks. One thing I do notice is that when someone wants to hire you, they seem to forget what they are paying for. For example, someone said they would like to hire me, and they asked if I sang and pop or Lady Gaga. A tip is, if you are planning a concert, make sure you
pick the right artists, (make sure they all have a good following and bring something ‘different’ to your show), and that what you are doing is actually ‘doable’. Don: How does it feel to perform on stage? Anastasia: Really it’s just like running. Have you ever heard of “Runner’s High”? Well it is the same thing. So much adrenaline gets pumped through your body, you get jittery, and it’s a neat feeling really. I started performing all over the place when I was around 13, but from the time I was eight until now that feeling before going onstage and whilst being on stage has never left. [Running] is much more physically painful, but as far as feelings go, the excitement is really nerve-racking. I can get pretty stressed out before I run and before I sing. Don: How do you deal with that stress?
have to do and that’s all there is to it. I like to joke around on stage and on easier songs (that people know), I ask them to sing along with me, and that helps them understand me more and it helps me calm down (let the adrenaline subside!). The day I sing, I eat nothing. I once sang, ran a 5K, and sang again, all in the same 2 hours, without eating anything (this was at the end of the day). I felt great, but I got funny looks from people. It’s not that I can’t eat anything before I sing, it’s just that I did it so often when I was more of a novice, that now I can’t bring myself to break that habit. Don: Do you have any favorite songs you like your audience to sing along with? Anastasia: “That’s Amore”, “We’ll Meet Again”, etc. I don’t do that many songs with my audience, but mainly WWII era songs with the audiences. It depends on the venue, at Italian Festivals, everyone sings along to everything.
Anastasia: There really is no ‘way’ to deal with it, you just do what you
www.anastasialee.com
Interview with
Laura Wright With special thanks to Kathryn Nash Mezzo soprano Laura Wright first came to the spotlight as a winner of the BBC2 Chorister of the Year title. She then joined classical crossover girl group All Angels as one of its founding members. The group’s successful recording career opened the door for Laura to launch her own career as a solo recording artist. She is now signed to Decca Records and has released two albums. Laura was the official singer of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee anthem, “Stronger as One,” and remains the first official anthem singer for the English Rugby team.
Congratulations on your recent gradation from the Royal college of Music! You’ve been singing professionally and recording albums for a few years now, why was it so important for you to continue formal music training? Thank you! As a singer you are constantly learning, your voice changes from year to year and like any muscle in your body it needs training and exercise! I had also recently left All Angels so Royal College helped me train as a soloist…it was a huge struggle to deal with the time management, but I was lucky to have such huge support from my manager, family and the record label who all respected my decision to continue my education. Your first album ‘The Last Rose’ focused on folk music, while ‘Glorious’ was more of a diverse crossover collection. What would you like to explore with your next album? That’s a good question!! I’m so excited about my new album, I can’t spill the beans just yet but let’s say this repertoire has been a passion of mine for years as well as by popular request from the fans! I’m also working on a creative side project which I’m very excited about as it’s enabled me to work with some artists and producers from other genres.
You recently performed at ‘Opera in the Park’ and called it a highlight of your summer. Do you have any ambitions to pursue roles in opera or musicals? I’m now at an age where I can take on some smaller roles in operas, however i would miss my concerts and fans too much! I love being able to choose the ‘best bits’ from operas, shows, musicals etc. and putting them on an album…you get the best of both worlds! You paid tribute to beloved favorites with your first album, but have also set lyrics to classical material and performed contemporary music. What do you think the importance of new material is to a fairly new genre such as crossover? Like all musical genres, they are constantly evolving and changing. We will always have an enormous amount of classical material to perform but I feel passionate about allowing new composers to grow and make their mark on the classical industry too. This new material will be seen as ‘classic’ in years to come, so it’s important. If you could work with any classical composer from the past who would it be? How about the present day (classical or contemporary)?
I would love to work with John Tavener, I remember hearing ‘The Lamb’ for the first time when I was 8 or so and my brothers sang it in their church choir, I was mesmerized by the music and the poetry. I later studied the piece at school and understood more about the composing method he used to create such beauty. I love the work he produces and I think his compositions are timeless. Our culture is very obsessed with ‘skinny’ at the moment and lots of fad diets to achieve the goal. You on the other hand seem to be motivated by fitness. How important do you think it is to switch the focus to health instead of just focusing on weight? SO important! I am so passionate about being a healthy size. Every woman has a different shape and I believe it’s about celebrating that and being on top of your health. I love my fitness challenges and all sorts of exercise, because it makes me feel empowered and strong. Cue ‘I’m a survivor’ Music! Correct me if I am wrong, but you are recently listed as a mezzo soprano on your twitter account while previously been listed as a soprano in your work with All Angels. Has it been an easy transition to make?
Yes, it’s been a very natural change within my voice. When I was 15 or so, my voice was ‘thinner’ and had less vibrato but as you get older your voice naturally develops a richer tone and a stronger ‘bottom end’. I have more control over my vibrato now too which is great when singing so many different genres of music. You are very involved with charities especially of late Nordoff Robbins. What inspired you to get involved about this one in particular? I love this music therapy charity, I’ve been to able to watch some of their sessions and meet a lot of the families who benefit from their help. It’s clear they are a lifeline to many families, not only do they help the client with therapy and give them means to communicate through music, they also support the family too. I feel privileged to be an Ambassador for them. What singers inspired you growing up and who do you look up to today? A huge range of singers from classical to contemporary. I love the warmth of Anna Netrebko’s voice and the drama behind Patricia Petitbon’s voice. I have Billie Holiday’s ‘Lady Sings The Blues’ album on my iPod on repeat! However, when I work out I like to listen to progressive house,
drum n bass and dubstep…so a big mixture! When you are not on the rugby field or performing onstage, what do you enjoy doing for fun? I’ve just started a vegetable patch, so far there’s lots of soil and not many vegetable’s but I’m full of hope! Ha! I also love running Marathons, triathlon’s, cycles…anything that gets the heart rate up! I’m performing at the World triathlon series and taking part alongside my brothers too. I’m
also running the Run To The Beat Half marathon to raise money and awareness for Nordoff Robbins. What advice do you have for someone who is trying to pursue a career in music? Take all the advice you can get, but stay true to your goals that you want to achieve. Someone once told me it’s the journey to the top that’s the most exciting and the relationships you build along the way.
laurawright.co.uk
Renee Fleming By Fran Laniado
On July 10, 2013, at a White House Ceremony, President Barack Obama presented soprano, Renee Fleming with America's highest honor for an individual artist; the National Medal of Arts. This certainly wasn't the first award that Fleming has received (Fleming is a four-time Grammy winner, who has also been awarded Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal; Sweden’s Polar Prize; the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur from the French government; Honorary Membership in the Royal Academy of Music; and honorary doctorates from Carnegie Mellon
University; the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School), nor is it likely to be the last. But it is fitting that the artist known as “the people's diva” should have a high honor from the government of her own country. Fleming's ascent in the opera world can be seen as a sort of fairy tale. Or it can be seen as the natural (if extraordinary!) fate of the daughter of two music teachers. But it wasn't always easy. In fact, Fleming confesses to suffering from nerves and insecurity throughout her career.
Rise to the Top Certainly, her beginnings are humble enough. She grew up in Rochester, New York and attended the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam. There she joined a jazz trio that performed in an off-campus bar. Fleming credits her jazz experience with allowing her a sense of freedom with music that she's brought to her classical repertoire. Though jazz saxophonist Illinois Jaquet offered her the opportunity to tour with his big band, she declined in favor of continuing her graduate studies in music at The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. When Fleming won a Fulbright scholarship, she traveled to Europe where she studied with legendary sopranos such as Joyce Arleen Auger and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Upon her return to the United States, Fleming sang jazz gigs in order to fund her continued education at the Julliard School of Music. It was at the Julliard Opera Center that Fleming first began to appear in roles like Musetta in La Boheme. Though she began her professional career while she was still a graduate student at Julliard performing in smaller concerts and concert series., Renee Fleming's “big break” came
two years later at the age of 29 when she won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. That same year she sang for the first time what was to become one of her most famous roles; The Countess in The Marriage of Figero in her debut at the Huston Grand Opera. The following year she made her New York City Opera debut as Mimi in La Boheme. 1989 also marked Fleming's first performance of Dvorak's Rusalka, a role that she refers to as her “signature” role, which she has performed many times all around the world. Fleming was scheduled to make her Metropolitan Opera debut the following season, but she debuted 1990, earlier than planned, when she replaced a sick Felicity Lott as the Countess in The Marriage of Figero. Later that year she returned to the Metropolitan Opera to originate a role in an opera. She played Rosina in the world premiere of John Corigliano's Ghosts of Versailles. Then Fleming made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York City Opera Orchestra, performing the music of Ravel. She also played Rusalka once again, this time at the Huston Grand Opera, and appeared for the first time at the Tanglewood Music Festival, in
Mozart's Idomeneo. Other major “firsts” followed. Fleming traveled around the world performing to acclaim. In 1993 she made her New York City solo debut recital at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. Fleming, who considers performing in original works one of the most important things that an opera singer can do in terms of having a lasting impact on the art form, originated another role in John Kander’s Letter From Sullivan Ballou at the Seattle Opera's Richard Tucker Awards ceremony. 1994 was another big year for Fleming who performed her first Desdemona in Otello at the Metropolitan Opera and then performed the role of Ellen Orford in Britten's Peter Grimes, also at the Met. Next she originated another role: Madame de Tourvel in the world
premiere of Conrad Susa's Dangerous Liaisons. In 1995 Fleming signed an exclusive recording contract with the London/Decca label. She was the first American singer in 31 years to do so! In 1996 she sang the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Paris Opera at the reopening at the Palais Garnier, conducted by Sir George Solti. Solti chose her as the recipient of the first ever “Solti Prize” to be given to an outstanding younger singer. Solti said of Fleming that “In my long life, I have met maybe two sopranos with this quality of singing. The other was Renata Tebaldi”. The next few years saw Fleming going from one high to the next. In 1998 she originated the role of Blanche DuBois in the world premiere of Andre Previn's Streetcar Named Desire.
Threatened by Stage Fright: Fleming's “Dark night of the soul” Then there was a snag. Or rather several. By the late 1990's Fleming was at the height of her professional career. But while her professional life was going well her personal life was undergoing ups and downs. In 1989, when her career was just taking off, Fleming had married actor Rick Ross. Together they had two daughters; Amelia, born in 1992, and Sage, born
in 1993. But by the late 1990's the marriage was crumbling. Fleming escaped into her workload, taking on more than she could handle. The already emotionally fragile Fleming was booed at the opening night of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at La Scala in Italy. It's hard to say why. It wasn't a bad performance any
objective sense. But the show had undergone several difficulties. The tenor had dropped out and had to be replaced at the last minute. Frustration had built amongst the audience during the performance, because the conductor had passed out at the podium and had to take an unscheduled 30-minute break. The booing began during Flemings closing scene and continued after it was over. “I began to shake and I shook for days,” she says. Despite the fact that Fleming continued her run in the role without incident, she calls it “the worst night of her operatic life”. However, when she returned to the United States her colleagues congratulated her. Naturally Fleming was confused. Then she learned that she was far from the first singer to be booing on opening night at La Scala. It is a rite of passage that opera greats such as Pavoratti, Callas, Cabelle and many others have been on the receiving end of. Fleming could now count herself in good company! Yet this incident, and the stress in her personal life caused a year of crippling stage fright for Fleming. Though she never backed out of a performance, she suffered terribly. “Every cell in my body was screaming, No! I can't do this! you feel as if you will die."
Fleming was not stranger to preperformance jitters. But this was something different. "We're talking about deep, deep panic, and that every fiber of your being is saying, 'I cannot be on that stage.'" Looking back on the period from the distance of several years, Fleming believes that the anxiety she experienced was a combination of personal and professional stress that manifested itself as stage fright: "It was just a very difficult time. You know, the mind can only take so much and then it says, 'OK, I don't want to do this anymore. This is too much pressure.” She calls this period her “dark night of the soul”. Yet no one on the outside would've known that anything was wrong. In 1999 she won her first Grammy award for her album “The Beautiful Voice”, and closed the year by performing at the White House Christmas Celebration for President Bill Clinton. That same year she appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and Covent Garden where she sang the role of the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. Fortunately, she was able to draw on support from those around her. "My voice teacher stood in my dressing room and walked me to the stage. And thank God, because in retrospect I
think if I had somehow quit or said, 'I'm just going to take some time off and get on top of this', I'm not sure when and how I would have gone back," she explains. Eventually Fleming's life took on a more even keel. Her divorce was finalized in 2000 and she kept custody of her daughters, Amelia and Sage, raising them as a single mother. Does she still get nervous? Absolutely. “There are still high-pressure engagements and I'm very happy when they're over”. But “I'm always comfortable once I get on stage. It's the week or two in advance...when I suffer. And I've always had this strange coping mechanism, in a sense a sort of 'deal' with myself that if I suffer enough in advance, then I can perform well."
Interestingly, a study of the psychology of opera singers done in the 1980s found that there is more performance anxiety amongst those who have voices in the higher registers. As a soprano Fleming definitely falls into that category. But why would tenors and sopranos be more prone to stage fright than, say, a mezzo or a baritone? Fleming speculates “I think it's the level of risk. We who sing high have a great deal of risk, tenors most of all because the raison d'être really for a tenor is a brilliant high C or a brilliant high tone. And sopranos have the same pressure to a slightly lesser degree. But, you know, every voice type has difficulty."
The People's Diva In 2001, with the United States still reeling from the attacks of 9/11 only a month earlier, Fleming was asked to perform at a memorial ceremony at Ground Zero. Fleming was to perform “Amazing Grace”. It was one of those performances that Fleming worried about weeks in advance. In her autobiography she recalls “In the week leading up to that event, I had
sung the song, again and again, trying to imprint it into the muscle memory of my throat so that when the time came to perform it, I would be able to get through to the end without crying”. However, in spite of that practice, looking out at the crowd Fleming knew “when I started to sing I'd have to look at the sky or I'd never maintain my composure”. She also
speculates as to why she was asked to perform at the service: after all, classical singers, even famous ones, aren't household names or recognizable faces to mainstream audiences. So why ask a classical singer to perform at a time of grief and mourning? She came up with several theories. The first is that “the tradition of music grounds us and connects us to one another through a sort of universal appreciation that transcends taste, particularly in songs such as 'Amazing Grace' and 'God Bless America'. Second, a trained voice has a kind of innate authority that transmits a sense of strength. We can be heard without a microphone. We sing with the entire body. The sounds we make emanate not just from the head, but from the whole heart and soul and, most important, the gut...”. Fleming has performed for large audiences many times before and since, yet this performance stands out in her memory. She recalls looking out at “nine thousand people crushed into a space that was impossibly small for them, filling up the streets, pressing shoulder to shoulder in every direction until they became one single line of sorrow”. This is just one example of why, over the years, Fleming has earned the nickname “the people's diva”. She makes artistic ventures outside the
opera house or recital hall and participates in something that nonopera fans take part in. For example, in 2002, Fleming was hired to provide the vocals for Howard Shore's soundtrack to Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Fleming has sung in many languages including English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Czech. However, this project presented her with a new challenge: singing in Elvish! That same year, author Ann Patchett released a novel called Bel Canto about a group of terrorists taking a group of executives and people of high political standing hostage at a party at a private residence in an unnamed South American country. The novel explores the relationship between the hostages and the terrorists living in the house together for several months. One of the main characters of the book is an American operatic soprano, Roxane Cross, who was invited to sing at the event. As Patchett wrote, she imagined Roxane Cross having Fleming's voice. Her music brings both terrorists and hostages together in its beauty. The novel was a best seller and Fleming helped Patchett promote it. While she was providing the inspiration for Ann Patchett's novel, Fleming was also at work on a literary project of her own. In 2005, Fleming
released a book called The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer. Fleming describes this as less of an autobiography than a portrait of an artist at work. It's the story of her artistic development. She recalls her education, describes how she interprets a score, studies lyrics in foreign languages, and engages with the character that she's playing. She also describes some of the personal challenges she's encountered along the way. There's no insider gossip. Fleming touches on her personal life once or twice, mentioning her marriage and divorce and making it clear that though she loves her career, her daughters are by far her first priority. After their birth she travelled with them, and when they started school she took more engagements in and around her home base of New York City, and limiting travel to the summers so that her daughters could come with her. One theme that runs through the book is an understanding of how fragile her stardom is. While she loves what she does, Fleming is always aware that all of the opportunities and experiences that her career has brought her comes down to “two little pieces of cartilage in my throat. These vocal chordsdelicate, mysterious and slightly unpredictable- have taken me to unimaginable places”. She gives the
reader a full understanding that the voice is an instrument: just as much as the piano or the violin or the flute. However, if a cello breaks the player can always get another. The singer doesn't have that luxury. Fleming never forgets that if her voice goes, her career, and all that goes with it, is over. She gives aspiring singers advice on how to care for their voices, because glamor aside, that's what it all comes down to. Following the book's release, Fleming continued to make herself accessible rather than aloof to the general public rather than just opera audiences. In 2006, she released a jazz album called “Haunted Heart”, that brought her back to her early roots as a jazz singer. Fleming opened the 2008 Metropolitan Opera’s 125th anniversary season with a solo opening night gala. She was the first woman ever to do so. The 2008 season at the met was dedicated to Fleming who appeared in Verdi's Otello as Desdemona and in the title role of Massenet's Thais. In 2009 Fleming tackled a new challenge: a solo work written especially for her by composer Henri Dutilleux. Le temps l'orloge (Time and the Clock) is a three song cycle based on two poems by Jean Tardieu
(“Le temps l'orloge”, and “Le masque”) and one by Robert Desnos (“Le dernier poeme”) , as well as Charles Baudelaire's prose-poem “Enivrez-vous”. Dutileux explains that “I constantly thought of her voice's character, of her power of lyrical expression” when writing the piece. Fleming first performed the work in 2007 but by 2009, Dutileaux had added an interlude as well as included a fourth poem. The premiere of the complete work took place in May 2009 at the Theatre des ChampsElysees in Paris. In 2010 Fleming crossed over from the classical world again, and released an album that no one expected of her. “Dark Hope” covered songs by Leonard Cohen, Jefferson Airplane, Band of Horses, and more. When Fleming was first approached to record this music by her record label she was astonished. “I wondered what they were thinking – how they could possibly imagine my voice in this music. They gave me an Excel printout with a list of possible titles. The only piece I'd ever heard of was Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', because I'd taken my kids to see Shrek.” But it seems that Fleming is never one to shy away from a challenge. This particular challenge was difficult in ways that Fleming could never anticipate. The singing
itself wasn't hard. “Most of the singing on this disc is easier than speech. I just whispered into this enormous mic in the booth; the technology did the rest. I got incredibly frustrated because I wasn't using my whole body. With classical singing you have to put out so much air – you project, you emit force. We add timbre to the text, we color it by using vibrato, and in the end the words just become abstract sound. Here there's none of that, so the voice had no physical support and at first couldn't stay in tune – and I'm a fanatic about pitch!” Her early jazz training wasn't something she could fall back on either. “You’re not allowed to improvise either, the way you can in jazz. The words really matter, you can't scat like Ella! Those kids cared about what they were saying, and you have to respect that – the political protest in the Willy Mason song, or the nightmare about women being treated as devils in 'With Twilight as My Guide' [by the Mars Volta]. It needs a much more straitjacketed vocal technique. They had to police my diction, for instance – they wouldn't let me use explosive consonants, so no dental sounds on d or t.” Essentially Fleming had to “unlearn” years of training a and a lifetime of hard work in order to be able to cover songs by Muse, Arcade Fire, and Death Cab for Cutie. The
arranger and engineer on the record helped Fleming through the process. “I'm not a person who easily gives up control but he persuaded me to trust him. My mantra through it all was that I must be sounding bland, I didn't think I was imposing myself, making an interpretation. He told me to wait for the finished product." He was right. While a few purists grumbled, the album earned generally positive reviews. 2011 was a big year for Fleming in several ways. In March she appeared in the Grande Finale concert of the Youtube Symphony Orchesta along with the Sydney Children's Choir. They performed Mozart's “Caro Bel Idol Mio”. Within a week the concert had 33,000,000 online views! She also ventured into film once again, providing the singing voice of opera diva Bianca Castafiore in Steven Spielberg's animated film The Adventures of Tintin. She can be heard on the film's soundtrack singing “Juliette's Walz” from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette. In September of that same year Fleming married corporate lawyer Tim Jessell. She and Jessell were set up on a blind date by none other than Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto!
In 2012 the newlywed Fleming performed at Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. She also recorded Alexandre Desplat’s theme song, “Still Dream” for the animated feature film Rise of the Guardians. It's interesting that someone plagued by performance anxiety has found the nerve to venture out of her comfort zone time and time again. Fleming could have had a successful career playing it safe in the staple roles where she began. Instead she's stretched herself artistically in unique ways. However, in spite of all her crossovers into the realm of mainstream focus, Fleming's first love remains opera. “Other things can continue to happen, and it's only an aside. My main work is in opera -that's the substantial, satisfying part of what I do. I don't intend to give up my day job." She hopes in the future to take part in more original works. “Really, all I want to do is develop a new opera again. That's totally my first priority artistically. Being involved in bringing something to life has got to be the highest artistic goal that we, as interpretative artists, can achieve.”
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