Jessica Pratt,
Lyric Coloratura Soprano
Sydney, Australia
Describe your career highlights up until now.
Winning the Australian singing competition (more than A$45,000 in scholarships and prizes). Being invited to study at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma under the direction of Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti and then to perform, among other things, Beethoven’s Ah Perfido!for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s opening gala concert under the direction of Maestro Gelmetti in February. This was followed immediately by performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. All of these concerts were broadcast live nationally on ABC Classic FM.
What are your goals for the next five years? The next 10 years?
Five years? Consolidate my technique, gain more performance experience, in houses such as Chicago Lyric and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, [and] perform Amenaide under the direction of Maestro Gelmetti. To become fluent in German and French, and also to improve my fluency in Italian.
Ten Years? To perform as a top-level professional internationally, to debut at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and Vienna Staatsoper, among others!
What is your dream role and why?
Amenaide from Rossini’s Tancredi. Three beautiful arias, two incredible duets, among other equally great ensembles. This is the opera that made me truly fall in love with Rossini, and was the first opera I observed in Rome while I was there and was fortunate to watch all rehearsals with a cast including Daniela Barcellona and Mariella Devia.
How do you handle the inevitable rejection that’s part of a singer’s life?
I trust that there is a reason for everything. Although sometimes things look tough at the time, I will see in a few months or years that this rejection allowed me to be available to apply for something else that in the end could turn out to be much more rewarding. Also, whenever one door closes I react by finding five more to try, which takes my mind off [the rejection] and gives me something else to think about.
What is your favorite article you’ve read in Classical Singer, and why?
My favorite article was on a bad summer school I attended called Bel Canto Italia. This helped me move on from what had become an emotional stumbling block.
Who is your favorite singer?
Maria Callas, [for her] attention to language and drama.
Anything else you’d like to say during your moment in Center Stage?
I enjoy this career because singing and opera—as with most art forms—can be enjoyed on so many levels, and can also be used as a tool to help people overcome emotional blocks in their own lives. I think, in some cases, people can go to the opera and during the night, while they are watching and listening to the beautiful music, they can experience emotions through the characters on stage that they might not admit to having themselves.
