Mathy Award Winner

I feel immensely honored to have won the Nelly Apt Scholarship which enabled me to attend this IVAI program in Tel Aviv. It was the prize I always wanted to win, and now I know everything happens for a reason, even having laryngitis a couple of weeks before the Mathy Finals! Although my family and friends were a little apprehensive about me travelling to that part of the world, with all that was going on in the news, we were so well taken care of that I felt completely safe the entire journey. There were security guards and checkpoints everywhere, so there was no need to worry. The weather was beautiful, the beach across the road was golden and very populated, we observed some breath-taking sights, but most of all, we were surrounded by the warmth and supportive friendly atmosphere created around the program.

The faculty includes most highly acclaimed industry experts, the majority of whom reside in New York and are connected with The Metropolitan Opera House and prestigious opera programs such as Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music and the list goes on. I was most privileged to work with some of the finest vocal and music coaches from the States including: Joan Dornemann (Artistic Director/Vocal Coach of The Met). I had voice lessons with Ruth Falcon (internationally acclaimed soprano and voice teacher), Mark Ensley (vocal coach/conductor - Memphis), Robert Cowart (language coach – The Met), Hemdi Kfir (language coach – The Met), Giovanna Canetti (vocal coach – La Scala), Håken Hagegård (internationally acclaimed baritone), Benton Hess (vocal coach/conductor)John Norris (stage director/movement coach), Jorge Parodi (vocal coach/conductor – Manhattan SM), Claude Webster (vocal coach), Joachim Schamberger (stage director) and Rainer Ambrust (vocal coach/conductor). I was able to study very closely with Ruth Falcon as my voice teacher during the program and she taught me a great deal about opening up my voice and singing with much more ease and control - the time spent with her was priceless. There were many other great coaches at the Program, but not enough time to work with them all.

Along with the high stature of the faculty, was the high calibre of the participants in the program, who ranged from uniquely gifted students to industry professionals, aged between early 20’s and mid 40’s. One of the participants recently finished singing ‘Queen of the Night’ at the Met, so you can just imagine the high standard of this program. The participants and staff couldn’t have created a friendlier and more welcoming experience for me. I established such great bonds with the coaches and even more so with these gifted students who were all so focussed to excel. It was great to share this passion with others – and now I have many places to stay when I visit New York! There were many opportunities available to us to socialise with the other students, and it was extremely enjoyable to head out to local restaurants in these big groups, merrily singing at every chance. Even onlookers were pleasantly surprised by the entertainment! At one point on a day trip to Jerusalem, we sang in one of the Churches there, with the best acoustics I have ever heard, and just imagine, ten amazing voices of all different ranges and colors, harmonized together singing “Ave Maria” - it was spectacular! Soon I discovered most of these students had undertaken this program many times before, so they were very used to the scheduling and what was expected of them. It’s no surprise that this program has been running for the past 22 years, paving the paths for many successful careers.

The daily routine was quite hectic, yet always enjoyable. We would start each day having a nice traditional Tel Aviv buffet breakfast and were then chauffeured to the IVAI School grounds at 9:30am. Each day could range from three to four coaching sessions, plus rehearsals for operas and concerts, and then finish off each evening with a fabulous Masterclass given by one of the coaches in the Program, ending at approximately 10.30pm. The very first day I volunteered to participate in the Masterclass with Joan Dornemann herself (where others backed away because of jetlag). It was the most amazing experience I have ever encountered in a Masterclass. Joan introduced me as being a prize-winner which resulted in my participation in the program, and when she mentioned I came all the way from Australia, the audience applauded even louder. We worked on Desdemona’s ‘Willow Song’ from Otello and the audience was indescribably receptive towards me. I witnessed what felt like an applause that lasted a good 5 minutes! It was a sensational feeling and even Joan commented, “pretty good for your first day!” Just the compliments and encouragement from the audience was breath-taking. Throughout the whole program the audiences were so receptive and increasingly supportive of my performances and I even had a few people tell me they were following all my concerts, as they were my biggest fans! It was so nice to have this support from complete strangers who are just mesmerized by what you do and sincerely appreciate your talent.

As I was not directly involved in any of the operas this summer, I was able to spend more time on coaching sessions and building a great rapport with these professionals who were working me meticulously to assist in my further development. It was a great opportunity to work though a vast range of repertoire, and to work on the role of Mimi from Puccini’s La bohème with Mark Ensley and Robert Cowart, who both thought I had the perfect voice colour for the role and that I should perform it as soon as possible!

The five operas performed this years were: Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti), Zanetto & L'Amico Fritz (Mascagni), and Little Women by Mark Adamo, all cast with great, talented singers of all ages. I was however very privileged to participate in a few of the concerts there, all of which were organised and directed by different coaches, including The Art of Lieder Concert and The French/Spanish Concert. It was great as it involved a lot of stagecraft and different ways of interpreting the pieces – in the Lieder concert I was singing my Rachmaninov piece walking down the stairs from the back of the auditorium, barefoot, and it was just an exhilarating experience! I also participated in three Masterclasses: Joan Dornemann, Håken Hagegård and Ruth Falcon. Each Masterclass taught me something new and essential about performance and the flexibility one needs to adapt to direction and instructions on stage. The audiences again were very supportive with their feedback, at times people approached me and said I brought them to tears which was gratifying, because I was able to move them and empathize with the character I was portraying. One gentleman even said I was not allowed to return to Australia! Another great honour was to sing in the final Gala Concert held in the New Israeli Opera House, again with a packed house, orchestrated under the baton of Maestro Paul Nadler.

I would like to thank The Australian Singing Competition for bestowing this opportunity upon me, and for the IVAI for fine tuning me into what I hope is an artist destined for a long and strong operatic career. This program is a great experience for young singers as it certainly made me more aware of the international standard of voices and was a jumpstart into working towards bigger and better goals. It was an immense honour to work with such fine coaches and other artists from around the world, with whom I hope to work once again, and I will cherish all the knowledge I have gained from this experience and hope I have the opportunity to revisit the program in the near future.