Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 4 Siegfried

L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O November 3 - 16, 2018 | 17 to learn. Her brilliance in seeing potential allowed me to develop everything I have now. I’ve found a soul mate in her. Rather than telling me what I want to hear, she tells me what I need to hear. She makes me the best person I can be. Who doesn’t want that?” Once Faulkner’s son left home, she looked to the future, realizing that “I wanted to be around an opera house in a big city, with singers of top quality.” She already had two UW-Madison students at the Ryan Opera Center, soprano Emily Birsan and tenor James Kryshak (both are now launched on splendid international careers). Their artistry prompted the program’s administrators – director Dan Novak and music director Craig Terry – to make Faulkner’s acquaintance. Ultimately, they invited her to teach at the Ryan Opera Center starting in 2013, and appointed her director of vocal studies in 2015. Collaborating with Terry and Novak, Faulkner helps make major decisions regarding the singers’ activities day to day. “That was important for me when asked what I wanted in the job. The physical presence of all three of us here, seeing the singers on a daily basis, is very important.” Faulkner is also part of the decision-making panel at the final auditions. Looking at the artists she’s guided from beginning to end of their time at Lyric, "we're investing a great deal in each and every one of our artists from the moment they arrive to their final day. Our goal is for them to leave with representation and a fairly full season of engagements." The program’s thoroughness is exceptional. There’s extensive musical coaching, language coaching, improvisation and acting work, and sessions regarding the non-musical side of singing professionally, from financial management to proper attire. And of course, there’s the mainstage season and its challenges: in 2018/19, everyone in the Ensemble is singing supporting roles onstage while “covering” (understudying) featured or leading ones. “It’s wonderful that they’re learning major roles while they’re here,” says Faulkner. “We do a ‘cover run’ for every show, attended by Lyric’s artistic management, so they’re in a relatively protected situation. Of course, we make absolutely sure that everyone who covers a role could step in for a performance, if needed.” Other important performance opportunities include Grant Park Music Festival concerts; the Harris Theater’s Beyond the Aria series, in which Ensemble members perform alongside with Lyric stars; and the WFMT broadcast recital series, the only such series in the world, which gives singers an invaluable chance to develop the non-operatic side of their performing. Faulkner, Novak, and Terry hear singers in scheduled auditions in New York and Chicago, but many come to their attention via their own contacts. About three years ago, recalls Faulkner, “my student, Michael Fabiano [Rodolfo in Lyric’s La bohème this season], was singing in San Francisco when this kid came up to him in the opera house. Michael generously heard him sing and texted me that he was great. Then Renée Fleming told us how wonderful this young tenor was. That was good enough for us!” After participating in the final auditions, Mario Rojas was invited to join the program – he’s currently a second-year Ensemble member. In listening to auditions, the most important thing for Faulkner is that “the singer has something to say. If the voice is perfect but uninspiring, if the performance doesn’t engage me, I usually tune out.” Besides beautiful sound, “I’m listening for intelligence in their technique, and to be sure that vocal issues can be solved in a relatively short time.” Sometimes singers’ potential will be obvious, but major changes may be necessary for them to move forward vocally. For example, alumna Laura Wilde entered the Ryan Opera Center after having just moved from mezzo to soprano. “I was in vocal transition, getting the muscles to work differently,” Wilde recalls. “Julia understood so well where my voice was going, while inching me along and keeping me sane. She’s a miracle worker.” For Wilde, Faulkner’s expertise as a working singer with years of teaching have created “a deep, genuine caring about the young singers she’s guiding through this program. At the Ryan Opera Center, you have an administration for whom you are the priority. Julia, Craig, and Dan just want to help you succeed.” Wilde has indeed succeeded, with exciting engagements this season at Scottish Opera, Stuttgart Opera, and The Santa Fe Opera. The Ryan Opera Center singers benefit continually from working with someone who has achieved everything they want for their own careers. “Julia is able to give invaluable career advice because she had a great career,” says alumnus Anthony Clark Evans, a star of last season’s I puritani at Lyric. “And when it came to my voice getting bigger, she was able to help me corral it until it became feasible for the repertoire we were aiming for – the Verdi parts.” Evans moves into Verdi in a big way this season, singing his first Rigoletto at Kentucky Opera. Faulkner with one of her most celebrated students, American tenor Michael Fabiano. Faulkner with Ryan Opera Center alumni Laura Wilde, Anthony Clark Evans, and Richard Ollarsaba.