This past summer I was a participant at the Tyrolean Opera Program (TOP), located in Maurach, Austria, on Lake Achen (Achensee). As an American traveling to Austria, my head was filled with stereotypical images like The Sound of Music and the Cliff Hangers game from “The Price is Right” (the little yodeling man climbing up the mountain with his pickaxe and lederhose). Much to my delight, not only was there yodeling and lederhosen, but some fabulous singing as well!
Austria is a beautiful country. On one of our free days, a group of us decided to tackle the massive mountains that surround Maurach. We ended up selecting one of the hardest trails complete with extreme inclines, and parts of the trail even crossed through streams. When we finally reached the top, it was such an accomplishment! The view was like nothing I had ever seen before. We stopped at a restaurant at the summit to reward ourselves with a delicious lunch of Käse Spätzle, one of my favorite Austrian dishes of dumplings and cheese.
My three-week, intensive experience in this program from mid-July to early August was much like the hike up the mountain. It required hard work, lots of effort, and staying focused on my goals. With each new challenge, I had to decide to persevere, hoping that the views from the top would be worth it.
Leading us up this proverbial mountain was artistic director Elizabeth Bachman. As a stage director, she has worked with companies like Houston Grand Opera and the Metropolitan Opera and with singers like Luciano Pavarotti and Sherrill Milnes. Through TOP, Bachman shares her knowledge of the opera world with emerging singers, giving them the practical skills to become better at their craft.
The program had a rigorous schedule starting with movement/dance class every morning at 9 a.m., followed by daily German classes. Throughout the day, each participant would have various lessons, coachings, and stagings, with an average of two to four individual sessions per day. Then a few times a week there were group classes and masterclasses.
Carol Kirkpatrick (www.ariaready.net) taught a series of classes different from any other workshop I’ve taken before. Aside from having a career as an international opera singer, Kirkpatrick is also a certified neuro-linguistic programming trainer and the author of the book Aria Ready. With her unique knowledge, she helps singers unlock their “Personal Power.” Her workshop helped me understand what motivates me and how to develop a personal brand. She gave us the skills to know ourselves, to effectively communicate with others, and to manage the business of being a singer.
Bachman taught the essentials for the opera stage in group classes, with topics like how to properly bow, curtsey, and maneuver in a hoop skirt. She tackled audition basics as well by examining how to walk into a room or introduce an aria. Her staging techniques showed us how we can say one thing with our hands and then, with a flip of the wrist, say something totally different. Bachman also gave one-on-one dramatic coachings to help us prepare our arias and scenes for the performances. I really enjoyed working on and performing “Monica’s Waltz” from Menotti’s The Medium with fellow participant, Elisabeth Buchner. With only three male participants last year, I had to stand in as one of the guys, playing Toby to Elisabeth’s Monica. Of course, portraying the opposite gender is no rarity in opera, and with Bachman’s staging, we presented a touching performance of the aria.
I also had the pleasure of taking lessons with Melanie Helton, an associate professor of voice and director of opera theatre at Michigan State University College of Music. I had a lesson from her almost every day, and we got along great and even bonded over our love of coffee. I learned a lot about details from Helton—she knows the nuances that take a singer from good to fabulous. For example, she showed me how to express emotion in the sound of my voice with the speed of the vibrato, and how dynamics are less about loud and soft and more about color.
TOP also introduced us to the opera system in German-speaking countries. Kathryn Wright, TOP’s music director, is an American coach who has been living and working in Germany for many years. She is currently with the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She was a great resource for practical information on Fest contracts and living in Europe, and her coachings were full of information on German style. We also got to experience the European system firsthand by attending a Professional opera production in a European house. The group traveled to Erl for the Tiroler Festspiele Erl to see Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer presented in a modern, present-day staging to a packed house.
We also took another day trip to Salzburg to see Sir Thomas Allen give a masterclass for the Salzburg Young Singers Project. This trip was a definite highlight of the program for me. While giving the class, Allen would switch from one language to another depending on the native language of the singer and the language of the aria. He would also sometimes sing to demonstrate a particular point. What resulted was one of the great things of opera. The languages of the art form came together to become one language—the language of opera, a combination of German, English, Italian, French, speaking, and singing. This global style of communication was not only effective in the masterclass, but it highlighted the universal connection we have as musicians, performers, and communicators.
While I had heard many times before how important it is to know your languages, this program showed me the importance of not only pronunciation but comprehension as well. While the program was mainly comprised of American participants, there were also international students from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Austria. Even though program participants predominantly spoke English, several masterclasses and performances were in dual languages. I developed great friendships with some of the non-Americans in the program. This was a helpful way for me to immerse myself in the German language. We all study our languages and work on diction with our coaches, but nothing compares to being in a foreign country with native speakers when learning a language.
Traveling to Europe for a summer program can be quite expensive. Tuition for TOP is $1,500 plus an additional $2,000 for housing. Travel to Maurach is not included. TOP does offer some scholarship opportunities and provides participants with helpful fundraising suggestions including a sample letter. My supporters could make tax-deductible donations to TOP on my behalf. This helped me successfully fund my trip to Austria. For the last two years, TOP has partnered with another wonderful program, the Westchester Summer Vocal Institute, to offer a discount in tuition to any participants who were attending both, or who were participants from a previous year. I took advantage of this partnership to receive the discount and attended both programs.
Program participants were housed in a few different locations, including the Hotel Klingler and the bed and breakfast where I stayed, the Wachhof. Overall, the accommodations were quite good. Due to some visa issues, my prospective roommate could not attend the program at the last minute, and I had my own room complete with a private bathroom. I loved the Wachhof. It is such a charming place with a delicious homemade breakfast. Most participants were provided breakfast, and those who weren’t were housed in apartments with kitchens. Lunch was not provided, but we had dinner every night at the nearby Café Klingler in the center of downtown Maurach. There we ate fabulous fourcourse meals, including traditional Austrian dishes like Wiener Schnitzel.
Some of the dinners also served as mini lectures, covering various aspects of the opera business. One night we discussed the reality of having a successful career in opera. Most of the participants were emerging artists or college students, so this was a hot topic. How does one turn talent into jobs? Bachman gave us the harsh facts of how many singers actually make it in the opera field. Instead of telling us to go home and find new careers, however, she stressed how important it is to be prepared, work hard and, most importantly, be interesting. And if that doesn’t work, then be creative and flexible. Bachman stressed that there are so many things wecan do as performers that don’t follow the traditional path. More and more, people are starting their own companies, doing unique concert work, or something completely different than just auditioning and waiting for someone to say yes.
Guest artist Lynda Kemeny touched on this same idea in her masterclass. She expressed that as singers/artists we are too special to let our gift go to waste. We all may not achieve a glorious international opera career, but that should not stop us. “Don’t let them ask what your day job is,” she told us. That stuck with me because the reality is that most of us, even the “successful” ones, will likely need to do something aside from performing in order to make a living. That doesn’t mean we should forget who we are as artists, however, or how hard we work to share that with others.
The program provided many performance opportunities with a total of seven concerts of staged scenes and arias at a variety of locations. We performed in hotel lobbies, a church, and even a train yard. We gave our final performance in a theater, and it was our most elaborate. After the grand finale, a lovely reception turned into quite the party, complete with group sing-a-longs.
Attending TOP was very helpful to me as an artist and as a person. As singers it is sometimes hard to forget the fierce competition we are in with each other. At TOP it was easy to see all the things that bring us together. For me, one of the great things about summer programs is being with other singers in such a supportive environment. It was nice to attend a program where everyone involved worked together and learned from each other. Not only is working with a group good for networking, you can also get feedback from new sets of ears and expand your musical team.
As I arrived at my own personal summit after three challenging and wonderful weeks, I can look down at beautiful vistas of amazing memories with new friends, having learned from a fabulous faculty in glorious mountains. And the view includes a new perspective on singing, on my career, and on my art. For that I am grateful to my experience with TOP.
