Kate Lindsey (mezzosoprano)

According to you, how strong is the competition in your profession? Which one of your mezzosoprano colleagues do you appreciate most?

The competition is quite tough in this profession, but I try not to think of it in a competitive way. Each singer is very different, and we all bring varieties of ideas and experiences to the work we do. I choose to be more competitive with myself rather than feeling competition towards my colleagues. Knowing the courage, commitment and work involved in being a performing artist, I have a deep admiration for every one of my colleagues that work in this field. Singers such as Susan Graham, Joyce DiDonato, Magdalena Kožená, Elina Garanča have truly inspired me in their great artistry and beautiful voices.

Not so long ago, you were cast in the title role of the contemporary opera Amelia in Seattle. For how long have you been preparing that role and how do you like to sing Hagen’s music?

I spent about a year preparing the music for Amelia. It was a very special situation in which I was able to obtain the score very early. As a result, I was able to work with Daron personally in order to tailor the role to my voice in order to insure a very solid singing experience. I found his music to be very beautiful. He put his heart and soul into composing that score, and I could hear and feel that so deeply in every moment of the opera.

Do you enjoy singing contemporary music? Quite a few singers avoid it – apparently to save their vocal chords…

I actually really LIKE singing some contemporary music. Yes, I think it is certainly important to balance oneself so that you don’t do TOO Much, but I really feel that working on contemporary music helps me to challenge my musical and vocal skills. It challenges me to think in new ways and new musical concepts. Usually when I begin learning a new contemporary piece, I become frustrated very fast. However, when the work is completed, I feel exceptionally proud and fulfilled. I call this the 5 stages of contemporary music: 1. dread, 2. frustration, 3. acceptance, 4. internalization, 5. success!

Aren’t the roles in contemporary operas offering just too few rewards? More often that not, one gets to sing them just once…

It depends on how you look at the situation. I have found these experiences entirely liberating. For once, you are creating something that no one has seen or heard before. This is a chance to truly practice artistry in a new way – you don’t have to consider the way the music or role has been performed or sung in the past. I have found that I’ve grown tremendously from opportunities like this. As a result, I find the courage to try new things in the „core“ operatic repertoire.

As far as I know, Mohammed Fairouz has composed a song cycle just for you. It must be quite an exciting oppportunity, isn’t it? Do you have any dreams in that respect? Perhaps a new opera with a specific subject, written just for you?

Yes, Mohammed and I are good friends, and I think he is a very important young composer in the music world. I feel that the world will be hearing his innovatively thoughtful compositions for many years to come. I really enjoy being able to share in a process of creation with a colleague. It makes me feel like a true artist: to have an idea, share this with a composer, and we create the story and the text together. The concept of having this artistic license is very attractive in terms of future projects. I’m always interested in discovering stories, characters, text and poetry that might translate well into larger musical concepts.

In spite of your youth, you count to your credit tens of performances at the New York Met. Do you consider performing there different than elsewhere? What about the Met audience? Do you consider them special in certain ways?

I was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Program for three years from 2004 to 2007, so I received a tremendous amount of training at the Met at a rather young age. It was a tremendous privilege to „grow up“ in an environment in which the very best singers in the world work and thrive. I feel that the Met is my home in many ways because I know so much of the staff on a personal basis. This makes such a difference when I’m on stage – I feel extremely supported and cared for. When I work in other houses, I feel quite relaxed because I have already dealt with the inherent intensity of singing at the Met! ;) I find the Met audience to be extremely gracious to the work of the artists as a whole.

Do you suffer from stage fright? Do you feel heavier responsibility on your shoulders at the Met as compared to other opera houses?

Certainly from time to time I’ve suffered from stage anxiety. I don’t like to say „stage fright“ because I’ve never had a time where these feelings prevented me from doing my job. I personally think it’s very normal and appropriate to feel a bit nervous. That rush of adrenaline can be a very good tool to use towards a more exciting or vulnerable performance. Everyone handles these feelings in different ways. I utilize yoga to calm my body before a performance. It‘s highly probable that you will find me in my dressing room pre-performance upside down working on my headstands or handstands! That is a great calming-tool for me. At the Met I maybe feel some extra responsibility because they have invested a lot in my career and my development, but I also must always remind myself that my work and expression has to come from a very honest and genuine place within myself. This is the only way to offer a truly fulfilling evening of music to the public.

At the Met you also sang the role of the Kitchen Boy in Dvorak’s Rusalka and that under the baton of Czech conductor Jiri Belohlavek. How was that performance? Was it difficult for you to sing in Czech? How you like Rusalka as an opera?

I LOVED working with Jiri Belohlavek! He was incredibly kind, and he expressed very clearly what he wanted from the singers in the cast. We had a great time in rehearsals, and it was such an enjoyable experience. I also had the pleasure of working with Renee Fleming as Rusalka and Stephanie Blythe as Ježibaba. My scenes with Stephanie were so much fun to stage! Although Czech is a very difficult language to learn, I truly enjoy singing in Czech. The clusters of consonants are so much fun to practice, and the specific notations of the language makes it very clear to learn the pronunciation. The amount of gloriously beautiful Czech music out there makes me rather excited to explore this repertoire further!

You are getting ready for your Prague recital in the very near future. Have you ever visited Prague. What will you be singing there?

I have only visited Prague once before in my life, and this was about ten years ago exactly! I was studying abroad during college while doing a language program in Vienna, and we traveled to Prague in September 2001. This was just two weeks after the 9/11 attacks in New York City. I remember how touched we were to see and feel the sympathy and care from the people of Prague. It was a very special trip, and I’m looking forward to returning to this amazing city once again! We have a fun program set up, and I’m so excited to perform with this wonderful orchestra. I will be performing Berlioz’s Les nuits d’eté on the first half, and then I’ll be doing various arias on the second half of the program featuring Mozart and Offenbach. I want it to feel fun and intimate so we can celebrate some great music!

Anything interesting in the months to come as far as opera goes?

This is a really great season for me. I have just made my debut with San Franciso Opera, I will be singing both Hansel and Siebel at the Metropolitan Opera, and I will also be making my debut at the Royal Opera House in February! Then, I have some fun projects ahead of me with various orchestras this spring before I travel to Aix en Provence to debut there as Cherubino this summer!

Would you tell us also a little bit about yourself? How are you as a person? What about your family? Your hobbies? Where do you live when not performing around the world?

When I was growing up in Richmond, Virginia, my passion in life was soccer! I played soccer my whole life. Although I enjoyed music and singing, I thought my future must have soccer in it! Then, one day I started to take classical voice lessons, and my dreams began to change. I did not grow up with opera in my life, and I was quickly falling in love with this new discovery. Even though my parents did not know a lot about classical music, they were extremely supportive my new goals, and I’m very lucky that everything worked out!

Among my hobbies, I really enjoy being outside – hiking and biking are very fun. I also love yoga because it is something I can do easily when I’m traveling in order to stay limber! When I am at home, I love to do projects around the house. Right now, I really enjoy restoring older pieces of furniture or finding a new use for a piece that has interesting and artisitic qualities to it. I don’t like to waste things because it is so bad for the environment. I would rather find new ways to use the things we already have!

I currently live in Seattle, Washington with my husband. We were just married this past summer, and we met there when I was working on the opera, Amelia. My brother’s wife introduced us, and we immediately connected with one another. We were incredibly lucky to find each other at the right time! He doesn’t know a lot about opera, but he is learning very quickly! ;)

Thank you for the interview.

www.katelindsey.net