When you think about the great state of Kansas, tornados, Dorothy, and Toto usually come to mind. Or if you’re a child of the ‘70s, you might associate the word with rock music before you would associate it with opera. But Kansas and its neighbor Missouri host several fine musical institutions.
Straddling the border of Kansas and Missouri sits Kansas City—half of it in one state and half of it in the other. So it seems somehow appropriate that the Lyric Opera of Kansas City should offer Young Artist apprentice positions to graduate students at music programs on both sides of the border.
The idea for collaboration began in 1988, when the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) approached the Lyric Opera of Kansas City with a revolutionary idea. Why not have UMKC graduate students participate in Lyric Opera productions while pursuing their master’s and doctoral degrees? Lyric Opera agreed to the idea immediately. Working through the academic bureaucracy proved a little more difficult. Eventually, however, the program was off and running. A quartet of UMKC grad students began singing in the chorus with a professional opera company while also pursuing advanced degrees.
In 1998, Ward Holmquist joined the LOKC staff as music director.
“When I came here I discovered to my surprise that there was a really fine level of singing going on at UMKC,” remembers Holmquist. “At that time there was a voice teacher, Inci Bashar, who was really drawing nationally, so there was a high level of singing going on over there. And all we were doing was putting these singers into the chorus.”
A former staff member for 11 years with Houston Grand Opera’s training program, Holmquist envisioned great possibilities for the underused singer apprentices from UMKC.
“I immediately started, whenever appropriate, putting secondary roles in the hands of these apprentice artists. In every case, they came through beautifully.”
Under Holmquist’s direction, singers began covering and singing main-stage roles alongside professional singers.
Seeing the success of the program, Mark Ferrell, music director at the University of Kansas, approached LOKC General Director Evan Luskin four years ago about adding additional apprentice positions for University of Kansas grad students. “We now have eight apprentices, four from each university,” explains Luskin. “At both universities, they study at the university and have performance opportunities with us.”
What are the advantages of working with a professional opera company while still in school?
“I felt like it was a really safe place to try out new roles at a professional level,” says former apprentice Julia Scozzafava. “It was a great place to use what I was learning at school and put it into practice in a professional company. Because it was a professional company, I was expected to perform at the same level as all the other professionals who had been hired.”
Between the three annual opera productions at KU and UMKC and the four productions each season at Lyric Opera, as well as university course work, the apprentices stay busy.
“At UMKC we have two different coaches, and we have an hour coaching per week with each,” says current apprentice and tenor Daniel Erbe. “Plus a voice lesson with our voice teacher, plus any type of electives, plus an opera workshop class to hone our acting and interpretation skills. When we’re in season at the Lyric, we have either a comprimario role or a chorus role. It’s a little difficult to juggle everything, but it’s worth it.”
“One of our intentions is to have apprentices preparing roles through the entire season,” adds Holmquist. “It’s not as though you’re in a school program where you’re going to work for a semester and then get two performances of Cherubino. You’re going to get two performances of Cherubino in the first month of the program and then you’re off to something else with the Lyric. Then you’re bouncing back to something with your university. So between these two organizations we’ve got these young artists actively involved in the preparation of roles throughout the entire season.”
Scozzafava found the schedule good preparation for the real world.
“The reality of being a singer is that it’s a busy profession, especially if you have work—and that’s the goal! So this is a chance to make you feel—because you do—like you have work. You do stay busy. I’ve done outreach, I’ve done the main-stage stuff. I’ve done all of the opportunities the Lyric has provided, and it’s extremely satisfying to stay busy doing what you love.”
In addition to providing ample stage experience, apprentices also receive significant funding.
“At UMKC the out-of-state tuition is dropped and all of the fees are waived,” explains Linda Ade Brand, head of the opera program at UMKC. “Six [credit] hours of school are tuition free. If they want to take more classes on top of that, they have to dip into the cash that we’ve given them.”
“Our arrangement at KU is similar,” says Mark Ferrell. “Since it’s a newer program, we’re still developing how people are paid. We don’t have quite the cash outlay immediately that UMKC does, but we’re working on that.”
Lyric Opera also provides financial support to the singers.
“All apprentices are required to join AGMA, and we do pay union scale. So whether they’re in the chorus or singing a role, they are paid,” says Luskin. “Recently we’ve been able to raise some money for an endowment to support the apprentice program. We’re beginning to give stipends on top of the fees that we’re paying to the singers. We hope that someday we’ll be able to give every apprentice a $5,000-a-year stipend.”
UMKC admits two apprentices each year. The program selected a soprano and tenor for fall 2006, and auditions begin in February 2007 for a mezzo-soprano and bass for admittance the following fall.
In addition to voice type, the directors consider other factors when auditioning.
“It seems to me, from my experience in the profession,” says Holmquist, “that intestinal fortitude, determination, and commitment to a goal are probably some of the most important determiners of those who succeed in the operatic profession. So we’re looking essentially for those who have a good instrument, who have some good training, and who have artistic ability that they are desperately desiring to have developed.”
Practical issues also come into play.
“We do three productions a year at KU,” explains Ferrell, “so we have to keep in mind what roles we’re looking to cast. Linda and I both have an idea what might be available for them at the Lyric as well—chorus parts we might need filled.”
“Sometimes it comes down to practical issues,” agrees Ade Brand. “Mostly, though, it comes down to talent and who we are most excited about nurturing.”
In addition to the four singing apprentices, KU also offers an apprentice coach position. “This person plays chorus rehearsals. They might play some main-stage rehearsals,” says Ferrell. “They work with the [music] education department and play some of the outreach programs, and they are enrolled in the master of music in vocal accompanying [program] at KU.”
The success of former apprentices speaks to the caliber of the program. Past Lyric Opera Young Artists have performed at companies such as New York City Opera, Chicago Lyric, San Francisco, Florida Grand, Glimmerglass, Santa Fe, Chautauqua, and many more. “With alumni such as Celena Schafer and Vinson Cole, conservatory graduates have been heard in every major opera house of the world,” says Dale Morehouse, associate professor at UMKC.
On whichever side of the Kansas-Missouri border Lyric Opera apprentices find themselves, one thing is for certain: a solid education coupled with valuable performing experiences is the order of the day.
For more information on the LOKC apprentice program, visit www.kcopera.org or email Flawn Barber at fbarber@kcopera.org.
