Barbara DeMaio Caprilli
Dramatic Soprano
Winston Salem, N.C.
Please tell our readers about your career highlights so far.
Odabella in Attila at La Scala, Aida in Verona [and] Rome, Tosca at Torre del Lago Puccini and Palermo, Turandot at Caracalla, Rome Opera at the Rome Soccer Stadium, [and] most recently in Seoul, Korea, Nabucco at Verona, Verdi and Puccini specialist, Norma in Genova, Zurich, and all over the world.
What are your goals for the next five years? The next 10 years?
I am now teaching at Salem College and leading the American Singers’ Opera Project in the summers. In the next five to 10 years I would like to continue to grow the program at my school, continue to sing new roles—I just debuted the Witch in Hansel and Gretel and Medusa in the opera of the same name, by William Bolcom—and expand ASOP to other states.
When you turn on the radio what do you listen to?
Country-western.
Who are some of your role models, mentors, or influential people in your life?
Florence Birdwell and Nancy Stokes-Milnes.
What is your dream role, and why?
I have sung most of my dream roles, but I would still love to sing Manon Lescaut and Gioconda. I love dramatic roles, and as I get older my voice gets more and more dramatic. I sing Amneris instead of Aida now, Eboli instead of Norma, but I love the heavier, more intricate roles.
How do you handle the inevitable rejection that is part of a singer’s life?
A deep faith in God and a wonderful support system: my husband, my voice teacher and mentor Nancy Stokes-Milnes, and my family.
How do you balance career and family?
I wasn’t able to have children—I like to say that all my children are 18 or older. I am fortunate to have found a wonderful, supportive man and am now happily married.
What is your favorite article you’ve read in Classical Singer, and why?
The article about ASOP, of course! Seriously, I love the articles in Classical Singer because I find them to be fair and balanced, and they give the true picture of what it means to be a singer.
Who is your favorite singer and why?
Leontyne Price, the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard.
What is your favorite techno tool you use as a singer?
I’m not into techno tools. I use CDs and tapes to record my lessons, and I have the model of a larynx on my piano, but I believe in good, old fashioned, one-on-one listening and teaching.
Do you have a motto by which you live?
When God created the voice, he created a perfect instrument. Our job is to try not to mess it up.
