What It’s Really Like… To Be An Opera Singer

Dubliner Kate Allen is a mezzo-soprano who has enjoyed a hugely successful music career both at home and abroad. Hailed by the LA Times as “a force of nature”, Kate has just returned from her Italian debut at Teatro La Fenice in Venice where she performed as a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony IX. She has been awarded numerous awards and scholarships, including district winner of the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, East Bay Opera League, Zheng Cao Memorial Scholarship and the Phyllis C Wattis Memorial Scholarship. She took some time to have a chat to Her.ie about the realities of working as an opera singer...

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Tell us a little about what you do… I am an opera singer, specifically a mezzo soprano. I’m lucky enough to make a living doing what I love! How did you get to your current position? I started singing in secondary school, and then was accepted at D.I.T. Conservatory of Music and Drama for a B.A. where I studied with Anne Marie O’Sullivan. She encouraged me to go abroad and continue my training in the USA. I decided to apply to San Francisco Conservatory of Music and was accepted with scholarship and completed a Masters and Postgraduate with my current teacher Cesar Ulloa. While in America, I was also lucky enough to be chosen as a vocal fellow at Music Academy of the West, under my idol, the famous mezzo soprano Marilyn Horne, and then went on to Merola Opera Program, the training program of San Francisco Opera. What is your typical working day? A typical day as a singer involves starting the day with some vocal warm-ups, which help to wake the voice up and get it in shape to sing. Then usually I will have one or possibly two rehearsal sessions, spread over the course of the afternoon and evening, either on music, staging or both. I really enjoy the rehearsal process, because it’s where we all get to know each other as a cast and grow into our roles. Why did you choose your current career? I was 11 when I first heard Aida by Verdi at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome and absolutely fell in love with opera. I loved the drama, the music and the passion the singers displayed and decided I wanted to do that too! What are the biggest challenges you face in your career? The biggest challenge is getting to know your voice and finding the roles that suit it. For example, seeing whether a role is too high or too low or whether it sits comfortably. What are the most rewarding aspects? Some of the most rewarding aspects of this business are the moments when the show comes together and you are all on stage as a cast and there’s a certain spark between you all that’s almost tangible and you know you’re really creating something special. You also make great friends all over the world. Whether you find yourself in Los Angeles or Venice, you always come across someone you’ve performed with before. Does your work taking you away from Ireland? My career has already taken me away from Ireland. I lived for almost five years in San Francisco where I completed my graduate studies. I also regularly perform in various parts of the States. I have just returned from the Castleton Festival in Virginia where I was performing in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. What is the best piece of advice that you’ve been given? I think the best piece of advice I have ever been given came from my singing teacher, Cesar Ulloa. He said ‘enjoy the process’! He meant to enjoy every step of becoming an artist, whether it’s the vocal training, the auditions, or the performing. Just enjoy it all, we are so lucky to get an opportunity to try! What has been the one ‘pinch me’ moment of your career so far? I think it was probably in December last year when I performed under the late Maestro Lorin Maazel at La Fenice in Venice for the 10th anniversary gala. It was on Italian television and was an extraordinary night of incredible music making! What do you think is the biggest misconception about what you do? The biggest misconception about singers is that it is easy or that we open our mouths and voila, that’s all there is to it. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We spend years perfecting our vocal technique to allow us to sing over orchestras and for long periods of time, we work on our languages as most operas are not in English, and we also work on our musicality, how to learn the music and sing it as close to what the composer wanted as possible. What is the biggest mistake that you think people in your chosen sector make? I think probably the biggest mistake that young singers make is to try to rush everything. Developing vocal technique and all the other components takes time and if you rush, often certain aspects of your training are ignored or become an issue later. Describe what you want to achieve in your career with one sentence. I want to bring opera to a wider audience, and to communicate this wonderful art form to the best of my ability. Kate will perform in two productions at the 63^rd Wexford Festival Opera, which runs from October 22^nd to November 2^nd. She will appear as Madame Audebert in Silent Night and Angelina in La Cenerentola, see www.wexfordopera.com for details.