Force of Nature

Louisvillian and Soprano Emily Albrink Releases Debut Album of World Premieres

by Bridget Williams / Portrait of Emily by Anna May Photography

Now I see you

Mother, woman, musician

Relentless in your work

And in your love

These opening lines from Now I See You, a single from soprano and Louisville native Emily Albrink’s debut album of new classical music Force of Nature, hits you right in the feels like a Puccini opera. The idea for the album began percolating during COVID when she and her sons were going stir-crazy at home. “I had lots of time to consider my children, mortality, and legacy. So much of what we do as performers is ephemeral, and I wanted to create something lasting,” she said.

I understand you

Desperate for connection

Proud of your passions

Dedicated to the memory of her mother, Nancy Albrink, founder and artistic director of the Academy of Music at St. Francis in the Fields, who passed away suddenly in 2017, the self-funded album consists of four commissioned song cycles from composers Jake Heggie, Rene Orth, Nailah Nombeko and Steve Rouse, who received a directive to tell different stories related to the female experience from their diverse perspective. “I wanted a true deep dive, non-sugar-coated exploration of a vast range of emotions of what women go through today,” explained Emily.

Steadfast to your values

Unafraid to mold

Brave enough to guide

While Emily has been performing professionally worldwide for decades, Now I See You marks the first time she has penned lyrics, writing them in collaboration with pianist Kathleen Kelly to a score by Jake Heggie. “Singing my own words is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” said Emily, who likens the mental acuity required of an opera singer to that of a fighter pilot.

I see you

I get you

I thank you

I love you.

Art song, a vocal music composition written for one voice with piano accompaniment, is Emily’s favorite type of music, and she never considered anything else for her debut album. “It’s all about the poetry, incredibly intimate and meaningful.” Pianist Kathleen Kelly, a faculty member at Baylor University with whom Emily first collaborated as a student, was her first choice as her accompanist. “I’ve always felt drawn to her and her playing.”

One-and-a-half years after making initial contact with the composers, the album was recorded over four days at Comstock Hall at the University of Louisville, where Emily is an Assistant Professor of voice, an experience she describes as “intense and amazing,” despite having to sing a given measure over and over again to make sure it was right. While awaiting the commissioned music, Emily reached out to friends and colleagues with recording experience and launched an indiegogo campaign to help with the nearly $70k in expenses involved in making the album. She also got by with a little help from her friends in Louisville, who hosted fundraising events for her benefit. “This whole process made me grateful for my community,” she gushed.

As it often happens with monumental experiences, Emily gleaned several life lessons. “One major thing I discovered is that by engaging with a project that was so professionally fulfilling, other aspects of my life felt equally rewarding; I had more energy and patience with my children.” She also learned to manage her fear of the unknown, change, and failure, a recurring theme of her childhood and her relationship with her mother. “When you push through the fear, the real growth happens, and magic can take place,” she said, adding that this process made her fully realize the value and importance of the bond with her mother.

Emily recently wrapped a small recital tour that included Baylor University, Notre Dame University, and the University of Louisville, the latter of which she likened to a wedding reception with so many friends and family on hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever sung for an audience in such an electric atmosphere,” Emily recalled, adding that she genuinely felt her mom’s presence at that moment.

Quick to acknowledge the simultaneously unconventional and groundbreaking nature of her work, Emily remarked that giving a voice to a wide range of emotions seen through a female lens and often glossed over in classical music, including stories of insecurity, body image issues, risk-taking, poor decisions, abuse, gossip, and modern motherhood, has been more empowering than she expected it to be. And, while debuting at the top of the charts on April 28th and a Grammy nomination would be the cherry on top, Emily said she is pleased with the album’s potential to introduce a new audience to classical music. She cited a conversation with one of her students who brought their girlfriend to her concert at the University of Louisville, and she remarked that “she loved hearing new words set to ‘old’ music.”