Ravinia 2022, Issue 3

PREVIOUS PAGE: DARIO ACOSTA; THIS PAGE: LA OPERA/CORY WEAVER As Servilia, Janai Brugger comforts Guanqun Yu as Vitellia in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito at Los Angeles Opera in 2019. Both sopranos reprise their roles in semi-staged performances at Ravinia on August 12 and 14. Opera’s not going anywhere. I have taken my time and have taken roles when I had the space to naturally grow into them. Although Brugger is the only member of her family to pursue a mu- sical career, her mother is a dedicated opera fan. When Brugger was barely 6 years old, she was taken to see Kathleen Battle in recital. “I experi- enced goosebumps for the first time!” Brugger recalls of hearing Battle’s iridescent voice. As a self-described “girly-girl,” she was especially taken with the lemon-yellow couture con- fection Battle was attired in. On the way home she asked her mother how she could get to wear beautiful gowns like Miss Battle. “You have to learn to sing like Miss Battle,” her mother replied. So, she did. Brugger initially imagined a Broadway career. She performed in the children’s chorus of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream- coat with Donny Osmond, and in school productions of Grease and Bye, Bye, Birdie. Her voice teacher Ingrid Mueller sensed an untapped potential, however, and steered her toward classical repertory. A Bache- lor of Music from DePaul University followed, as well as that COT debut. Brugger then waited two years before graduate school. “That’s normal,” she clarifies. “I tell young people now, take your time, this is not an easy path.” Eventually she landed at University of Michigan, where she studied with the legendary Shirley Verrett. “The thing I loved most about Miss Verrett,” Brugger recalls with obvious reverence, “is that anytime she was on stage, she had this way of capturing her audience before she even opened her mouth. You knew that anything she did was going to be good. She made us practice walking into her classroom, how to carry ourselves. The biggest thing I got from her was presence ; how to own a role and really go deep into character work.” After leaving Michigan, Brugger honed her skills at San Francisco Op- era’s Merola program in 2010 and the Young Artist Program at Los Angeles Opera in 2011 and 2012, as well as the Ravinia Steans Music Institute to focus on the individual drama of con- cert song repertoire in 2011. She won a slew of competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2012. She has been a leading performer ever since. Although Brugger’s shimmering voice retains the celestial quality noted by audiences years ago, there is now more body to her sound as her lightly textured instrument develops into full lyric soprano maturity. “There is more color to my voice now, and while a lot of that is age, it’s also pregnancy. My career and motherhood happened at the same time. Being a mother is an- other role I have wanted to play all my life, and it definitely affected my voice. It got rounder and a bit darker. I’m starting to lean towards some of the heavier Mozart roles now. I love Puc- cini. I love singing Liù in Turandot. I have sung Musetta in La bohème , but I am ready for Mimì now. Possibly some light Verdi. Violetta in La traviata is in the near future. But I have shied away from doing heavier stuff too soon. “Another thing about Shirley Verrett: she always said, ‘hurry slowly.’ That stuck with me. It meant so much to hear that, because it’s easy to compare yourself to colleagues and feel you’re supposed to have made it to some point by a certain stage; but really, you don’t have to rush. Opera’s not going anywhere. I have taken my time and have taken roles when I had the space to naturally grow into them. My idea of my career has never been about being famous, or singing in all the top houses, though that is amaz- ing—it’s about longevity and making sure that I take care of my voice. You know, those two little cords are very, very fragile.” BRUGGER HAS DRAWN inspira- tion from a variety of musical sources. “My Spotify playlist surprises people!” she laughs. “I love Motown, music from the ’50s and ’60s. Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong era. I love Aretha Franklin because she bared her soul. Miss Verrett was like that; they were strong role models, and always gave their very best. I love Mahalia Jackson. I love Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, Marian An- derson, [Luciano] Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanawa, Renée Fleming. In my own generation, I am a huge fan of Nadine Sierra, Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Larry Brownlee. I love learning from my colleagues. I don’t feel competitive with them, I’m in awe of what they RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 18 – JULY 31, 2022 14