From Aspiring Neuroscientist to CATS’ Grizabella Understudy

Welcome to the first SFYCA Alumni Profile post!

In 2023, SFYCA will celebrate its 25th Anniversary. While it is still a way off, planning is already underway to include an alumni reception and featured performances by alumni, alongside the 2023 SFYCA participants. SFYCA Alumni Profiles are one of many ways we will be celebrating SFYCA alumni (over 1200) who are doing amazing things in their careers today. If you are an alum, or know someone who is, please email Education & Operations Coordinator, Barbara Harris at bharris7@uoregon.edu who will feature you on a future “SFYCA Alumni” blog post.

1. In your own words, what does SFYCA mean to you? How has it shaped and informed your career?

SFYCA taught me about community and work ethic. Even as a soloist onstage, your work is always better when you feel a sense of partnership with the ensemble of musicians supporting you. It took real discipline and patience to achieve the high level of performance that was demanded at SFYCA. Anton Armstrong and Helmuth Rilling were both very exacting leaders. They expected a dedication to practicing and musicianship that I still benefit from having learned so early. Anton also always emphasized finding your way into a piece. For example, Bach’s music has such profound religious connections for some singers – but Anton stressed that the feeling could be achieved in other ways. The important thing was to connect deeply to the message to express the music the way it deserves to be expressed. That is profoundly important to me as an artist. I think of myself as a singing actor, rather than a singer.

2. What is your favorite memory of SFYCA?

There are many. I loved singing the Brahms Zigeunerlieder. Another favorite memory was singing the “Pie Jesu” solo for our Faure Requiem. I remember Anton chose to have the three of us sing it because he heard us warming up together for the audition and liked how we sounded. We were helping each other prepare and came together in support, which multiplied the opportunity for all of us. This is a lesson I have learned repeatedly – that investing in your individual artistry and not worrying about “being the best” will always get you farther. I got to sing that solo again later in high school with another choir, and that piece will always carry a special place in my heart.

3. What is your favorite memory of SFYCA? OBF is looking forward to offering SFYCA in June 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. As communities slowly get back to “business as usual” and vaccinated populations continue to increase, what words of encouragement and advice do you have for high school choral musicians considering auditioning for the 2022 Academy?

First, I want to emphasize just how much vaccination is making it possible for our industry to restart. Second, no one is really “going back” because no one is coming out of the pandemic the same way they came in! Everyone has changed in some way. I think recognizing how you’ve changed and been open to not knowing how others have changed goes a long way. We all have opportunities to reassess. In terms of singing and auditioning, one piece of advice is to be patient as you get back to in-person singing. I highly recommend practicing how you’re going to audition before you do it! If you’re auditioning in person, find someone else to sing in person for. If you’re auditioning on tape (which we do more and more in the musical theater industry), practice setting up and making some practice tapes before you have to do the real one.

4. Congratulations on making the cast of the currently traveling North American Tour of CATS! What has it been like to be a member of this amazing musical? What roles are you playing? What was it like to audition for an opportunity to be a part of this record-breaking musical?

Thank you! I’m a booth singer in the show, which means I sing the show with the orchestra, and I understudy two roles. One is Grizabella, the cat who sings the iconic song “Memory.” My other cat is Jellylorum, who is a dancer and a more traditional soprano. Being a “swing” or understudy is fascinating because you have no idea when you might be called. You get to rehearse, but you also need to take personal responsibility for your own preparation. All the swings practice outside of rehearsal hours. Some of the swings in the show cover 6 different dancing tracks, so 6 different cats dance different choreography and sing different harmonies! This is a very interesting job for me because it uses so many artistic skills I trained in, from dancing to high soprano to belting.

The audition process started with a tape I made of some high soprano ensemble music and the end of “Memory.” I got called back to an in-person audition a few days later, so I spent the weekend memorizing a lot of material. I learned all the Grizabella material just in case they asked for it – and they did! But other members of my company have been auditioning for CATS (either Broadway or other tours) for years. We all had different paths to getting cast. Sometimes you’re actively pursuing a role, but other times (like for me!), an opportunity to audition comes to you and you just get to see where it leads.

5. You are fortunate to be a working actor in an industry that has been hit hard by the pandemic. Do you have any words of inspiration, wisdom, and even caution for those who wish to pursue a career in the performing arts?

Every day, I think about how lucky I am to be working right now. Artists in every field are really struggling. The more I work as an artist, the more I see how vital it is to define the work I want to do, rather than waiting for someone else to tell me what’s right for me. A lot of young singers have teachers and other people in their lives saying, “you have a great voice, you should be a singer!” But they get used to waiting for an external source to tell them what the right career decision is. It’s only in pursuing an artistic career that you understand whether it’s right for you. To be a professional singer, I think you need to love practicing. And you need to love auditioning, even (especially) when you’re not getting cast. There is so much of my work that isn’t actively being in a production. Doing all that unrecognized work is how I got to be here, working full time in CATS. It’s just easier to see in retrospect!

6. You have quite a unique academic background with a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Pomona College and a master’s in music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In what ways has this unique pairing of disciplines helped shape your career?

I’m getting betting on appreciating the value of my science degree all the time. For many years, I felt behind other singers, like I had to make up for “lost” or “wasted” time. There is absolutely no wasted time for an artist because everything that makes you unique makes your work unique. But in school, it can be hard to see that. Seeing the world like a scientist holds immense value to me. Scientists test hypotheses with experiments. Really, my choice to go to music school and see where it would lead was an experiment – I told myself I could always go to medical school if it failed. But I fell in love with working as a singer and actor.

I’m also a writer and having a science background influences the material I want to write and the characters I want to play. For example, this year I wrote and shot a short 5-minute film about a medical student and her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. As an actor, I’d love to play scientists and doctors, and in general, represent women in traditionally male-dominated careers.

7. What are your favorite music genres? You have a project listed on your website called Song Lab. Can you tell us more about it? What was your inspiration?

My favorite genre right now is probably jazz. I’ve been studying with phenomenal jazz singer Gabrielle Stravelli for the past year. I love learning how to improvise. It requires dedicated listening to instrumentalists and using the voice to imitate all those different colors, in addition to the text and acting work you’re always doing as a singer. My favorite singers cultivate their own unique expressions rather than a consistent sound. It takes courage to do that because we want to sound good. But if you’re listening to what you’re doing, you’re not in it. That’s why live performances are so special when someone is living in it. Nina Simone is one of my favorite artists. You listen to her and feel how she’s channeling everything she wants to express into her voice and playing. Her activism through music really inspires me.

My Song Lab project started during the height of quarantine. Pressing pause on the intense NYC audition circuit threw a lot of us for a loop – we had to think about what we wanted to sing when there weren’t breakdowns telling us what to prepare for the next thing. I just started writing about different songs I loved and digging into what I loved about them. I’ve often struggled with feeling like a mixed bag as a singer when so many singers focus on just one genre. So, writing has been a way to work through that. During the last year, I was more focused on writing my short film and starting a play, but I’m working on my next Song Lab post! It helps to have other artistic projects on a long tour like CATS because it reminds me that my artistry isn’t defined by my current job.

8. In addition to your performing experiences, you are also a voice & acting teacher. You’ve had the opportunity to work with many great mentors. How have these pedagogues shaped your teaching philosophy?

I will always be indebted to my voice teacher Ursula Kleinecke at Pomona College for supporting my dream to change directions. She helped me see I was ready and guided me through applying to graduate school. Jane Randolph has been my voice teacher since we met at SFCM. Jane has the deepest understanding of breath technique that I’ve ever encountered, and that is the foundation of all singing, in any genre. When I started focusing more on musical theater and belting instead of opera, she was right there with me. The way I teach and think about singing comes from her.

One of my favorite coaches is Andy Einhorn, who I met through the Kurt Weill Foundation’s Lotte Lenya Competition when I was a finalist in 2019. He has a brilliant mind for musical storytelling. And Jen Waldman and other teachers in her acting studio like Steve Pacek have been the bedrock of my New York training. Jen’s studio community is my creative home. There are many more teachers and coaches I could name. Training never stops!