Texas native Thomas Stewart and Brooklyn-born Evelyn Lear met as graduate students at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City—and began a love story that has lasted for decades. Both enjoyed active singing careers in the States and abroad. As the founders of the Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers’ Program, in conjunction with the Wagner Society of Washington, D.C., they remain active today as advocates for young singers with big voices.
The two spoke with CS by phone in 2005 just before leaving their home in the Washington, D.C. area for a winter of active retirement in sunny Florida.
How does vocal training differ today from the education you received?
EL: American training was excellent when we were in school, and it still is. We had the best teachers then, and we still do. A great many U.S. schools do a fine job of teaching students to be good musicians.
How did you bridge the gap between school and professional careers?
EL: We began our careers in Europe. That was 50 years ago, and many of today’s singers are still forced to do that. They need to go over there to make a name for themselves, because otherwise they are not accepted by major U.S. opera companies. In addition, to get to the top you need to be the protégé of a conductor or director.
How does your marriage, between two singers, work?
EL: Well, I’m a troublemaker, and he’s a great guy.
TS: Sometimes I do have to keep her from saying things she shouldn’t, but that’s what I love about her. That’s her personality. When two singers are married, each understands the other’s career problems better than anyone else on the face of the earth.
EL: On the minus side, you also have to
deal with some degree of jealousy and resentment. You wonder why he gets jobs faster than you do.
TS: Darling, baritones are at a premium and sopranos are a dime a dozen.
EL: So that’s what I had to contend with!
TS: And I always had to contend with the fuss that they make over sopranos. You can get overpowered by being married to a diva! [Chuckles.]
How did you manage working in different cities?
EL: On one occasion we were separated for 10 weeks! Afterwards we decided never to do that again!
TS: Either she would come to see me or I would go to her, depending on our schedules. Sometimes we would meet in airports!
What led you to start working with young singers on Wagner’s music?
TS: James K. Holman of the Washington, D.C. Wagner Society learned that we were living in the area when I was lured out of retirement to sing a small part in Washington National Opera’s Parsifal. He asked us if we would want to find some promising young singers to present in a concert of Wagner’s music. The society is always looking for more performances. Its members were particularly hungry at the time because the Washington Opera was not doing very much German music.
TS: As a result of that conversation, we set up the “Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program,” and started looking for fine young artists whom we could prepare for presentation in a public performance. Since our retirement, we had been doing master classes, and we thought this was a wonderful opportunity for us to work in another aspect of training young performers.
We also wanted to provide a response to voice teachers who are afraid to let their students touch Wagner’s music. Many of them seem to think it’s bad for young voices. We believe this isn’t the case.
EL: Not if you sing it correctly. Too many singers think that Wagner should be sung loud with little differentiation in dynamics. That’s not right at all! If you look at his scores, you will see that the composer was very sensitive to the human voice. He always indicated that the orchestra should be subdued when the singer comes in.
TS: You need a healthy voice and some stamina for Wagner, but that’s often a mental and emotional thing.
How does a singer apply to the program?
TS: To apply for admission to the program, singers usually submit tapes or CDs with a piece by Wagner and an aria of another composer. Actually, there does not have to be any Wagner on the recording. These young artists need only to be talented Americans who are interested in singing Wagner. We listen to these tapes and CDs and select the ones that show promise. Sometimes it’s hard to judge because the recordings are of poor technical quality, but we pick out the singers that we think we need to hear personally, the ones whose voices have good potential.
The program then contacts these promising singers. Arrangements are made for them to come to Washington and sing for us. The society foots the bill for the trip and provides lodging for the artists at members’ homes. After the auditions, we select the performers we feel have the talent to make careers singing Wagner. We bring them into the program, where they are given coaching and just about everything else they might need professionally, except voice lessons. We expect them to be vocally secure before they come to us. We basically coach them on how to perform, and twice a year we present the best four or five in concert at the German Embassy.
Singers are paid for their appearances. It’s not a lot, but they have no expenses, either. The German Embassy has a wonderful hall and the concerts, usually sung with piano accompaniment, are about two hours long. If the artists prove they can handle the pressure of public performance and still retain what we taught them, we introduce them to managers, we phone conductors, etc.
EL: If we feel that an audition trip to Europe is in order, the Wagner Society will sponsor it. We work pro bono, of course.
How old is the program and what new things are in store?
TS: The program is now five years old and it has grown and grown! We now have singers in the midst of very successful careers. In the past, all concerts were accompanied by piano, but now we are expanding, and the McLean Symphony, under the direction of Sylvia Alimena, will play for the next one.
EL: Alimena is the first hornist of the National Symphony.
TS: We will be happy to have some of our concerts with orchestra because that will be another test of our young singers’ abilities. They have to be able to handle that pressure, too. A pianist can help you out and go with you in ways that an orchestra cannot. Singing with an orchestra is just that much more difficult, and having our artists perform with one allows us to get a bit closer to making sure they have what it takes for a professional career.
EL: The members of the society are not wealthy, but they pay dues and some of that money can be used for plane fare. We love doing this work as a payback for our fantastic careers. Besides, we enjoy meeting these talented young American singers.
Who are some of the up-and-coming singers the society is currently working with?
TS: We heard a baritone named Jason Stearns sing with one of the local opera companies.
EL: It was at Catholic University’s summer opera.
TS: He is possibly one of the most talented young singers I have heard in 30 years. He has a most beautiful voice.
EL: We went backstage to see him, and that is not something we usually do. As we told him, when we hear a young artist with that kind of talent we want to ask if we can be of help.
TS: He was very happy to see us and very flattered, so at that point we took him under our wing through the Wagner Society’s program. A voice of that quality is rare. To bring you up to date, he is currently in Europe auditioning for opera companies. He will probably have his pick of places to sing. He’s knocking ‘em dead with that voice.
EL: We also discovered Jennifer Wilson, who sang Turandot in Santa Fe last summer, and Caroline Whisnant, who is having tremendous success in Germany [see CS’ December 2005 issue].
TS: Another talented American who is trying to make his way as a Wagner singer is bass-baritone Charles Robert Austin. As of late, he sang King Marke with both Opera Puerto Rico and Virginia Opera.
EL: When we coach singers, we don’t allow them to merely sing loud—they have to sing beautifully. It must be Bel Canto. We want to help these young singers get ahead, of course, and we also want to foster Richard Wagner’s music.
Why don’t American opera companies do more for singers with this kind of voice?
TS: That’s a question we have often asked. Why the Met doesn’t pick up more of the talented American singers working in Europe, I don’t know.
EL: I don’t know why they bring over questionable people from Eastern Europe instead of hiring first-class American artists. Of course, European singers have European names, but we went through that 50 years ago.
TS: It is the perception of European musicians that America is only the land of McDonalds, not a land of music and art. They think we’re merely a bunch of cowboys. As a consequence, foreign conductors often look for European singers, who they figure know more because they have been brought up with opera. It’s a misconception, but that’s the way it is right now.
EL: It was that way when we were trying to break into the profession and it’s still true. That makes us a little bit annoyed.
TS: Even regional U.S. companies feel they are doing well if they can get singers with foreign names to sing in their own languages. They will use Americans for works sung in English, but for European works they think European names put them in the big time. It’s appalling that people with beautiful voices, like Jennifer Wilson and Jason Stearns, have been going from pillar to post, often singing in choruses to make ends meet.
One of my favorite recordings of yours is “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” which features not only the two of you, but also the voice of Evelyn’s mother, soprano Nina Quartin. Have many of your recordings been re-released?
TS: Right now we have about 20 CDs on the market. They are on the Video Arts International label and are available from www.vai-music.com.
Do you have some concluding words of wisdom for our singer readers?
TS: Stay the course! Don’t be discouraged! You will be assaulted with all sorts of things that can destroy your self-confidence, but you must not allow that to happen. Believe in yourself, believe in your talent, and don’t be afraid to work hard.
