But this is how I sing it...

I recently read a quote on the “book of faces” posted by a friend that went like this: “"If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all." ~ Billie Holiday. So many singers work with people who innocently say “try this phrase like so and so does it,” or “here’s where (insert artist of the past,) would do a crescendo then descrescendo,” or “If you can’t sing it like famous diva, then you shouldn’t be singing it.” Many of those in the opera business are there to offer their expertise as they have worked with the “greats,” but at some point we as artists have to say this is how I sing it. (I chose “artists” over the word “singers” because I believe that with the tools we are given-the score, the language, the stories, the advice from the teachers, coaches and conductors, our technique and our own voices, we truly do create soemthing beautiful, memorable and amazing.)

We go to undergrad and sometimes grad school with a handful of information as we begin to explore how to make our voices into the instruments that opera lovers (and company heads) want to pay to hear. It is a long process of putting the voice, text and acting together as each thread is important. In the beginning we need many ears to help us learn the sounds and release the fears that keep us in check. Once we leave school we still try and make our way and hold onto the title “young artist,” sometimes for MANY years, in an effort to let people know that we are still putting the pieces together. At some point, however, we have to say “All right. I have all this information, the tools, the network and the freedom to create.” It’s our chance to become all the things that make us a great opera singer. It’s an exciting and scary place to be as we get to take full responsibility for our performances. We ultimately become the ones who make the decisions and sometimes asserting that can be tough, but it is necessary.

With recordings, videos, DVDS, YouTube, bootleg/pirated 8-tracks and all the other media out there it is possible to be overwhelmed with the number of ways that singers can sing a role, an aria or a phrase. But the one thing that makes all of those interpretations valid is that those artists did something so special that it’s still remembered for years and years (or months, or weeks or days depending on whether the artist is still performing.) Our goal as opera singers is to tell the great stories of opera with our voices. As a performer we want to put our personal stamp on it and make it something so amazing that people will be talking about it for days, weeks, months or years.

One day some young singer will be in a coaching and that coach will say: “Sing it like (insert your name here.)” So with that knowledge in mind we are able to take it with a grain of salt when someone tells us to sound more like singer X or do it like singer Z, because in the end the only way we can do it is by singing with our own voice and ideas. The greats knew that and that is what makes them someone we want to listen to over and over again.

Peace,

Eric

2010 in review

Somewhere around December 27th after the hoopla of Christmas, but before the dropping of the giant ball that rings in the new year, I tend to reflect on my past year and what I've done and learned.

2010 was a year of extraordinary change. I took a chance at the age of 39 and left my secure (most of the time) job and ventured back into the realm of being a performer. On many occasions, mostly in between performance opportunities, I questioned what the he!% I was doing. Who in their right mind would try and get back into the opera world at 39 after taking nearly 7 years off?!

Back in December of 2009 I auditioned for the 75th Anniversary National tour of Porgy and Bess. It was really just on a whim and I never thought I would get it so I had no real fear until a few days after my audition when I received an e-mail asking me to come back to New York to be seen by the entire production team (director, producers, conductors.) I sang well, but it as one of those things that you can never predict. Subsequently I was offered the role of Jake. The tour would begin rehearsals in about three weeks and I had to decide if I should leave my job, my city and my current life and go on this adventure. I've always been a bit of a bohemian wanderer and have always believed that you can live the life you dream so I jumped at the opportunity.

Now, I've always been an insecure singer, but I had to step up and "fake it." I had to be strong, secure, confident, consistent and amazing everyday as I never knew who was listening. One of the most surreal experiences was being called in to audition for a feature film. The company was looking for a male African American opera singer to play the lead in an untitled project and had sent a scout to one of the Porgy and Bess rehearsals. I was so excited and felt that I nailed the audition, but as things are likely to happen, the project was shelved. Still I was certain that the universe was pointing me in the right direction.

After a few more weeks in rehearsal, we hit the road and did 45 performances from February to June. The experience of touring and delivering a show (sometimes two in a day) several days a week was grueling. It was a great exercise in remaining mentally tough and was certainly not for the weak of spirit. The demands to be "en pointe" every show can be tough, but that is what we are being paid for and I loved the challenge of keeping it fresh every time.

In the five weeks off from the tour, I was contracted to cover the role of Jake and sing the role of Robbins in Virginia Opera's Porgy and Bess. it was so fun to work on a different production with a different director and conductor. I learned even more about the magic of Gershwin's opera and met some wonderful people on the way.

Following the tour, I auditioned for and won the role of Casey O'Brien in the musical Boy Meets Boy where I met a kind and nurturing director and found out that the skill of memorizing a musical had as much of a challenge as memorizing an opera. I was very fortunate to receive great reviews for both the Porgy and Bess and Boy Meets Boy and it made it realize that I was indeed doing the right thing!

I was then fortunate to be offered the role of Fred Graham in Kiss Me, Kate. I was also fortunate that the director and soprano singing Lilli were old colleagues and that the other two principals were fantastic as well. The four singers shared an apartment making it very much Real World meets Opera World, but without the fighting and such.

In late September I made the short drive to Dayton, Ohio to reaquaint myself with Jake as rehearsals for Dayton Opera's Porgy and Bess got underway. It was a fantastic way to end the performance year and again reaffirmed that I was indeed doing the right thing. Right around that same time, I was offered the role of "The Clinician" in a pyschology training video. The director was the same one who had directed Boy Meets Boy. So I was actually spending my days in rehearsals for Porgy and Bess and memorizing the dialogue for the video at night. It was thrilling to be so busy.

November and December saw lots of auditions and me turning 40. I thought I would be OK with turning the big 4-0, but it actually knocked me for a loop and I had to remind myself that I was venturing into new territory and that I couldn't get down on myself. Then came being in New York!

Money was tight as I was trying to get to New York, pay for auditions, pay my bills and still have time to practice. I spent the month of December in New York auditioning not only for opera, but also trying to break into the field of being an Extra. It's not easy and is really all about what the directors need and want. I also found some part-time work as a cater waiter and learned that while the work is exhausting, I am strong enough to stand on my feet, smile and take that empty plate from that up and coming celebrity with the best of them.

Finally, I took another step towards uping my professional image by launching ericmckeeverbaritone.com. It has been an exciting process and one that would have been impossible if not for the patience, talent and understanding of Keith Morgan of www.buckledown-interactive.com

I also want to thank you the reader for following my journey and for supporting it.
I look forward to sharing more success, dreams and stories in 2011.

Happy New Year!


Peace,

Eric