How do opera singers introduce newbies to the art form? Through Broadway musicals
Even though her voice teacher in high school suggested she switch from Broadway musicals to operas, Alexandria Zallo still uses Broadway shows to get children into the stories told in opera.
Zallo, the director of education for the Pittsburgh Festival Opera, said there is an opera equivalent to many of the world’s most famous stories, so she recommends a certain opera to children based on their own interests.
Having never heard an opera herself until she was about to graduate high school, Zallo said this tactic is usually enough to pique the interest of high school students.
“I pitch opera to high schoolers because I know they like drama. If you like musicals and you like drama, wait until you hear about opera,” Zallo said. “We have so many operas that follow a similar plot to musicals. If they know ‘Hansel and Gretel,’ I can show them ‘Hansel and Gretel’ the opera. ‘Rent?’ ‘La bohème.’”
The number of children and youths Pittsburgh Festival Opera can teach will be greater over the next five years thanks to a $1.3 million gift the organization received from Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin. The five-year gift, which Pittsburgh Festival Opera announced Sept. 2, will support tuition-free training and performance opportunities for high school students from across Western Pennsylvania, the organization said.
Pittsburgh Festival Opera is led by an alumna of Knoch High School, Marianne Cornetti, who is its general director as well as its artistic director. Cornetti, who has made a career in opera for nearly 40 years and counting, said she wants to educate the next generation of opera singers as much as she wants to perform it herself.
“I'm all for the next generation of singers because we have to continue to support this art form,” Cornetti said. “Three years ago, I positioned the company to do more concert opera. It's all about the voice. I wanted to put more money into the voice.”
Cornetti and Zallo called opera the most dramatic form of the singing genre, but they agreed teaching people how to sing it is like teaching any other form of music. Voice teachers take their opera students through warm ups and musical exercises that press their vocal muscles into the shape ideal for performing opera.
Cornetti said the first step in educating people in opera is teaching them the form is not just “for the elite or high-brow,” but it can be enjoyed by anyone. Although opera is often performed in ornate theaters by people who sing in languages other than English, that’s not how it has to be.
Anyone can watch and enjoy an opera. Cornetti said that although it takes practice and training to sing it well, it’s fun to stretch your vocal chords to create the sounds typically associated with the music.
And just like other genres, Cornetti said there are several vocal ranges in opera, so people can sing it no matter what the natural tone of their voice is. She said Pittsburgh Festival Opera helps pull the performance out of students by steering their voice to their preferred range.
“The thing is, you know immediately when someone has a talent. You just know it,” Cornetti said. “The younger kids, they need to be trained. They need voice lessons, an instrument, a piano. You do need training.”
Cornetti and the educators with Pittsburgh Festival Opera are no strangers to starting from scratch with a student. Although Cornetti and Zallo said opera is more accessible to listen to than people expect, it isn’t as culturally prominent as the average musical.
The educators start by showing their students operas based on existing stories. Despite being an educator with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Zallo said she didn’t see an opera until late in her high school career. Now, she is working with students who are in the same boat she was in.
“A lot of our students aren't even in an opera until they are in their third or fourth year of college,” Zallo said. “We are opening up the doors to kids just like me to really understand opera before they get into the collegiate level.”
In the summer, the emerging-artist level will bring a select group of young artists to Pittsburgh for an intensive monthlong residency. The experience is tuition-free, thanks to the foundation’s gift, and is designed to cultivate the next generation of opera singers.
Participants will receive coaching and comprehensive professional training from musicians like Cornetti, Zallo and others, as well as industry professionals from around the world. All that preparation culminates in the performance of an Italian concert opera with the backing of a full orchestra.
In the fall, the organization will begin the high school-level training experience. Students will prepare operatic scenes, arias and choruses throughout the year and perform in two featured concerts in collaboration with a Youth Concert Orchestra, according to Pittsburgh Festival Opera.
Cornetti said the gift will allow for 10 to 12 more students to go through Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s training programs, some of which would not be able to attend if they had to pay tuition.
The opera performances they will be part of is an added benefit, she said.
“The first part of this is we choose the singers. In January, we coach them. We create a program for them,” Cornetti said, “and then we'll have a concert and we'll choose from the youth orchestra about 10 players to put into the pro orchestra.
“There's no cost. It's for the next five years.”
Cornetti said she has been contacting schools and their music programs to alert them to the opportunity, which will help Pittsburgh Festival Opera attract youths who are talented and ready to take on the task of learning opera.
“It creates an accessible pathway from a student's first serious exploration of opera to the intensive training and professional relationships that can help launch a career,” Cornetti said.
For information on Pittsburgh Festival Opera and its programming, visit pittsburghfestivalopera.org.
