Hitting the Right Note
On paper, Marianne Cornetti has lots of titles associated with her name.
International operatic star. Leading Verdi mezzo-soprano. Artistic director of Pittsburgh Festival Opera. Voice faculty member for Carnegie Mellon University.
But other terms emerge in conversation with her. Dennys Mills native. Singer for over 30 years. Educator.
With the pandemic, all of these titles have come into play for Cornetti.
“If I can get out there in any way, I want to do it,” Cornetti said. “We now are (all) in such need.”
Being born into a family of musicians, Cornetti got started on the path of operatic stardom early.
Her mother's side was particularly inclined toward music, going back as far as Cornetti's great-great-grandmother. From piano to singing, Cornetti remembers her childhood home being filled with music.
She said she learned a valuable lesson about her own “God-given gift” of singing growing up.
“It's never just your own,” Cornetti said. “It's to share.”
Sixth grade was a turning point in her career, according to Cornetti. A teacher at Saxonburg Elementary School asked Cornetti if she'd sing a solo in the school's spring concert.After hearing Cornetti's performance, the sixth-grade teacher told the Knoch High School chorus instructor to watch for Cornetti. When she turned 14, Cornetti began voice lessons.She said the spring solo song should have been a sign.“It was, 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing,'” Cornetti said.The path that has led Cornetti to perform around the world over three decades hasn't been easy, according to the singer.She said it's been paved with hard work, but also with the “right people” to give her a chance.“That's what I want to do for some other young singer,” Cornetti said.Cornetti said she found a way to do that when she became artistic director for the Pittsburgh Festival Opera last October. Her position allows her to guide and teach young artists — even during a pandemic.
“I feel really happy to be able to do this,” Cornetti said.Though opera must be experienced in person for full impact, Cornetti and the Pittsburgh Festival Opera have provided 16 artists with virtual instruction and projects over the last several months.One such project is Opera Without Walls. OWOW, for short.These roughly 10-minute videos premiered on Fridays and featured scenes individually recorded by artists at home. A professional editor compiled audio and video clips to make short movies.“We have to be creative,” Cornetti said. “We have to find ways to be visible.”Those videos are available for the public on the Pittsburgh Festival Opera website and YouTube.Cornetti's got plenty of plans for working through 2020 pitfalls.A Wagner concert originally scheduled for an in-person performance will now be a three-day virtual extravaganza called “The Wicked Wagner Weekend” from Oct. 30 through Nov. 1.
Performances will include singers from as far away as Iceland, because the pandemic has allowed for global collaboration.“Of course with the pandemic, we have been really devastated,” Cornetti said. “But all artists are struggling.”Throughout 2020, Cornetti's had a mantra, which she says with an Italian accent: “When life gives you lemons, we make limoncello.”Most people have been challenged by and forced to embrace the pandemic, according to Cornetti. But she doesn't believe they've given in to it.When the country first went into pandemic mode, Cornetti launched “Cornetti's Candid Corona Conversations.”The vlog followed her as she converted her car into her office, taking to the road to be among people even when people couldn't be together.“The arts all have to now come together and help each other,” Cornetti said.One of Cornetti's dreams is to start a performing arts center in the area where she grew up.There's lots of talent in Butler County, according to the singer. She wants to help draw that talent out.“I wouldn't give up my roots for anything,” Cornetti said. “Dreams do exist. And we need to have them.”
