OperaWorks celebrated 30 successful years in 2016. And after that, their board of directors voted to take a year off. Why pause one of the most smooth-running, influential summer programs in the country? Because there simply isn’t time or energy to make bigger plans happen when running three other programs.
A one-year pause actually isn’t something new for OperaWorks. The program also suspended operations for a year in 1999 to restructure. And Ann Baltz, the program’s director, takes an annual hiatus, unplugging from literally everything for two full weeks. I caught up with her right before her yearly break to discuss her program and more.
Ann, I found out about the opportunity to interview you one night before you went “off the grid” for a couple of weeks. Since the topic for this interview is to be the one-year hiatus at OperaWorks, could you talk to us a bit about personal, and organizational, renewal?
My annual two weeks of “off the grid” is what I need to find a quiet place. Just as I need renewal, what we do at OperaWorks also needs renewal. It’s easy for artists, companies, and organizations to stagnate by continuing to do what we do well. This year the board of directors approved the hiatus because there are much bigger projects and programs we want to do, and we simply couldn’t consider these while still running three programs a year plus productions. It’s exciting to have the time to imagine something entirely different—or not.
Before we delve deeper into the hiatus, can we go back to the beginning? What led you to found OperaWorks?
Early in my career, when I was assistant conductor/coach for regional opera companies, I observed professional singers being asked to do things in rehearsals that they didn’t know how to do. They would “try” harder to do what the director asked, but the “trying” often made them press on their voices.
Prior to that, I had been music director for Wesley Balk’s Minnesota Opera Institute and had seen firsthand how successful his revolutionary techniques of singing-acting were—but as a musician, I wanted to delve deeper into the musical contributions the voice and accompaniment can make in the dramatic discovery process.
You describe OperaWorks as a “holistic opera training company.” How did that approach evolve?
We start with the view that everyone is a whole, unique person who happens to sing. I wanted our curriculum to address as many aspects of a person/performer as we could. Unlike traditional music education in which classes are taught separately from one another—theory, history, vocal technique, diction—which leaves the student to figure out how to connect them, our teachers refer to and integrate skills and concepts from each other’s classes to bridge that gap for the singers.
Another music education tradition is the predominant focus on what is wrong or what needs to be fixed. Speaking from experience, the consistent negative feedback throughout my training, while well intentioned, had a devastating effect on my confidence and artistic growth. I never want anyone to walk out of a class or lesson feeling like they have failed at everything.
Interestingly, we have documented, through a two-year psychological study of the participants in our programs, that the positive way in which we work with singers results in increased confidence and self-esteem and decreased perfectionism, anxiety, and shame.
Can you tell us more about the unique curriculum of Opera Works?
OperaWorks’ curriculum is designed to accomplish several things:
1. Address and integrate the musical, dramatic, physical, vocal, psychological, emotional, and entrepreneurial aspects of each singer.
2. Provide a positive learning environment in which singers can explore their art outside of established traditions, without fear of criticism.
3. Encourage and support individual artistry through the act of improvisation and creation in addition to re-creation.
4. Build self-confidence by acknowledging each individual’s contribution in classes and rehearsals.
5. Teach specific psychological tools to manage issues such as stage fright, fear of rejection or success, lack of confidence, debilitating perfectionism, etc.
6. Provide innovative performance experiences in which the performers are part of the creative process.
When I add new classes at OperaWorks, the impetus is always “What do singers need to know?”
We should probably get back to the hiatus. Why this year?
We celebrated our 30th anniversary last summer. Our board of directors voted to take a one-year hiatus beginning in August to re-think, re-evaluate, and re-envision what we do. This hiatus year without programs is allowing us the time to slow down, investigate how performance education and careers have changed, and see if there are other ways in which we can make a difference. In other words, we now have the time to look outward, and inward, for new ideas without the pressure of constantly preparing for the next program. It has been interesting to observe how, when we open up the space for ideas, they come flooding in.
Is there a connection between that space you make for yourself personally and the hiatus at OperaWorks?
I would say so. I didn’t realize how burned out I was until about November, so this hiatus couldn’t have come at a better time. Having great colleagues and alumni to talk to during this time is wonderful. I am feeling so much more creative, joyous, energized, and excited about future possibilities.
This is the second hiatus in your 30-year tenure. What transformations occurred after the first research and development period in 1999?
We offered two-week summer programs from 1987–1997, which were patterned after opera workshops. We accepted fewer singers, we had a smaller teaching staff, and we performed standard opera scenes. The year off resulted in a clearer vision of what we wanted to achieve and how we wanted to get there. It was after that point that we added daily yoga classes, visualization, acting, career planning, and marketing—and we began to perform our innovative pastiche productions for the public.
What work do you personally intend to undertake while away?
I am taking this year to do several things personally: do absolutely nothing until I get bored (which happened pretty quickly), engage in meaningful conversations about the direction of the arts in our society, go to the theater more, and find more balance in my life. Continuing to teach workshops around the country without running OperaWorks full time is really nice, too.
You mentioned the OperaWorks pastiche productions. Can you tell us how those work?
These two-act and three-act productions involve performers from the very beginning of the creative process: they choose the setting, suggest their own characters, sing their own repertoire, choose their own costumes, and help create the sets. It takes a very special kind of stage director and music director to guide this creative process. As faculty, this is some of the most creative work we do.
How can the performing arts make our society healthier and gentler? And I realize that this question is so loaded, it could be the subject of a separate article!
This is an important question and one that speaks directly to my heart. I truly believe it is our duty as artists to use our talents and gifts to make our society healthier and gentler. In the most simplistic terms, I think everyone wants to feel validated, important, and that their voice matters. Adults and children “act out” when they aren’t being heard or seen.
I can’t help but wonder how different it would be if every person felt that they were listened to and valued for who they are. Instead, we see devaluation of individuals and stigmatizing of groups because of superficial differences. So, we in the performing arts must seize the opportunity to create performances that highlight our shared humanity and expose these artificial distinctions for the harm they cause our society.
For example, in 2015 we created The Discord Altar, a 50-minute musically improvised opera to a powerful script about homelessness. My goal for this Arts for Social Awareness Project (ASAP) is not to be dogmatic and take sides, but to show the effect homelessness has on human beings. After each of the 12 performances, we had talkback guests from homeless shelters around Los Angeles who brought their real-life perspective to the evening.
In the weeks following the performances, 80 percent of our audiences reported they had discussed homelessness with friends or family. That kind of ripple effect is what we hope to encourage.
How has your teaching changed over time?
My goal is always to look for the unique individuality in every performer (and teacher!) and to specify what they do well and what to focus on for improvement.
If anything in my teaching has changed, I would say it is probably my own courage in trying something that is daring or that may fail—particularly in a public masterclass setting. I feel that I am less tied to what has worked in the past and more focused on what I can do that will unlock a door in each individual.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
OperaWorks would never have happened were it not for the dedication, commitment, and generous spirits of our faculty, staff, and donors. There has never been enough time or money to accomplish items on our wish list, but I can see that much of our work and teaching philosophy has influenced the opera business. I will be forever grateful for what we have accomplished together in 30 years.
