“You don’t really walk alone. I have a team of supporters who help me and who have nurtured me. I have a coach and a voice teacher…there are so many people that help you craft your passion.”
Have you ever considered how difficult it must be to be a live stage performer? You have to brave getting up on a stage, bright lights abound, all eyes focused on you. You have to remember your lines, so many lines. Life for the actor or actress can be pretty scary. And if you’re an opera performer like today’s guest thats only the start of it. The lines that Chelsea needs to memorize are typically in a foreign language that she doesn’t know. Then, when she gets on stage, she has to sing her lines in perfect pitch, and in such a booming way that without amplification it fills the entire theatre. It takes a lot of training to be able to do what Chelsea does, and she’ll tell us all about it.
“When you’re working on a role there’s so much more than just the singing. Usually you’re singing in a different language, you’re thinking about the drama, the conductor, and the musicians. You’re just a small part of this huge undertaking. ”
“I have a clear sense of the type of singer I am and the roles I can sing. A lot of the time young singers go into an audition and they have all different types of roles on their resume…and the people behind the table don’t understand who you are and they don’t think you know who you are.”
Interview Contents
1:20 - How does a young person get into opera?
2:45 - Having a team and a coach.
4:40 - Deciding that opera was her path.
6:00 - The performance side of opera.
8:00 - Opera being contemporary.
10:00 - The difference between an opera singer and other singers.
14:00 - Self care and training your voice.
16:45 - Getting cast for a role.
19:30 - How other singers get into the opera world.
22:15 - Differentiation in opera voices and what makes good opera.
30:00 - Seeing opera with people that don’t know anything about opera.
35:00 - Do you need to live in a big city?
37:00 - The schedule and lifestyle of an opera singer.
42:00 - Advice.
Links
THIS EPISODE WAS MADE WITH THE SUPPORT OF
Marcus Batson
Roxanna
Michelle & Jim Wortner
Janelle Swanson
Jimmy Seymour
