Robert Ian Weintraub, a versatile young baritone, is equally at home performing opera, oratorio, concert, musical theatre, or contemporary music. Recent engagements include Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd and Schaunard in La bohème with Arizona Opera, the Marquis d’Obigny in La traviata with New Orleans Opera, and an AGMA apprenticeship with Chautauqua Opera that included the roles of Elder McLean in Susannah, and Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof as well as two appearances as a soloist with The Chautauqua Symphony, one of them under the baton of Maestro Julius Rudel.
Recent concert appearances include being a soloist in The Indianapolis Symphony’s Yuletide Celebration, and singing the role of The Narrator in Grant Cooper’s Song of the Wolf with The West Virginia Symphony. Robert also appeared this spring as Marcello in The Bronx Opera’s La bohème.
This summer, Mr. Weintraub was an apprentice artist with Lake George Opera, where he performed the role of Escamillo in a staged concert of Bizet’s Carmen, and the role of Haly in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri. In October, Mr. Weintraub will return to the role of Schaunard in La bohème, at Dicapo Opera Theatre in New York City.
Mr. Weintraub has been previously featured on the stages of The Ash Lawn Opera Festival, The Brevard Music Festival, Ohio Light Opera, Opera Carolina, Opera Memphis, Opera Northeast, and Sarasota Opera. He holds an undergraduate degree from State University of New York at Fredonia, and a master’s from Arizona State University.
What were some influential experiences in your youth that led you to a career in music?
I started out as a trombone player, and was encouraged by my mother to audition for the high school musical in 10th grade. I had to sing in the show, and was asked to audition for choir. I got into the choir, and had a solo in my first concert.
In my youth, I was really into musical theatre, but also began to become aware of opera. One major influence was seeing Thomas Hampson sing “Largo al factotum,” televised on PBS. For me, this performance was incredible, and I still have a video of it that I watch sometimes for inspiration. To this day, I think it is the greatest performance of that aria ever!
What has been your career highlight to this point?
My career highlight thus far would be singing Schaunard in Arizona Opera’s La bohème. I got to sing with an incredible cast, including Gordon Hawkins, Bradley Garvin, Joseph Wolverton, Marc Heller, Patricia Risley, Nicole Foland, and Sally Dibble. All of these singers had performed these roles before, at major houses, but they all were very supportive of their young colleague.
My fellow baritone, Gordon Hawkins, who had sung Marcello at the Met, took me under his wing, and became my “big brother” for the production. I couldn’t have asked for a better colleague. The cast, conductor and director created a “safe” environment for me, [when it] could have been very intimidating, since it was my first time doing the role. … I learned a lot, had a great time, and as a result, was successful in the role.
What is your favorite part about being an opera singer?
My favorite part of being a singer is working. I love being part of a production, being in an environment where I am meeting new people, learning new music, exploring a new city, losing myself in a role. [I love] all of it: the bond that we all form around doing what we love, and working towards a common goal together; the collective pride that is felt when it all comes together; the feeling that we are doing something that is important, something that matters.
How do you balance career and family?
My wife is a pianist who often plays for me at auditions and in recital, so career and family are not separate things. The big thing for us is that we understand the importance of our careers and are supportive of each other. Having unlimited cell phone minutes with each other also helps!
Are there any other thoughts you’d like to share with Classical Singer readers?
I hope that CS readers will remember not to define themselves by their success in this career. It is easy to get caught up in this little opera world of ours: Who is singing what where? Who is featured in Opera News? Who got into what YAP?
Don’t forget that there is a whole other world out there. If you ask a stranger on the street, chances are they won’t even know who Bryn Terfel is.
Try to find something else in your life that you have a passion for, and it will actually enhance your singing.
Mezzo-soprano Jessye Wrightis among just four mezzos earning distinction as an “Upwardly Musical Artist on the Move” in SYMPHONY magazine’s 2005 Guide to Emerging Artists. She is next scheduled to perform Carmen at the Ravinia Music Festival with Opera Theatre North, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Chattanooga Opera, Verdi’s Requiem with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, and Mozart’s Requiem with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.
A recent recipient of a sizeable grant from the Metropolitan Opera, Jessye just made her Carnegie Hall debut in a performance featuring solos from Messiah. This season’s engagements include an Opera Gala performance for Toledo Opera, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s “Ninth” with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.
Jessye appeared in the world premiere of Mae Cohen’s 9/11 and made her European debut as a featured soloist in the Festival Internazionale di Musica in Tuscany, Italy. Jessye was also a soloist in Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio, and in a televised Christmas concert, both with the Saginaw Symphony in Michigan.
A past national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, Jessye received the Ardis Krainik Memorial Prize in Voice from Chicago’s Bel Canto Foundation, and recently won second place in the 2005 International Classical Singer Competition.
What were some influential experiences in your youth that led you to a career in music?
For some unknown reason, I begged my parents to let me take piano lessons when I was 5. My teacher, Jo Calderon, taught me music theory and the joys of practicing and performing. My first role was the Mummy in a Halloween musical (I was 8 years old), and a woman in the audience came up to me and told me I was going to be a star. (I thought she was crazy.)
My high school music instructor, Janine Baughman, taught me how to sight-read and to appreciate choral music, as well as musical theatre; and my voice teachers, Missy Osmond and Winifred Brown, have taught me most of what I know about vocal technique.
What are your goals for the next five years? The next 10 years?
My professional goal for the next five years is to regularly perform with B and C regional companies. In 10 years, I want to be with A companies (and perhaps start a family).
What I really want to do is work with artists who are obsessed with creating exquisite art that uplifts the human soul and brings joy to God.
What is your favorite part about being an opera singer?
Performing. I love the process of working with other artists—I love people in general, but I feel like I’m flying when I sing. As opposed to verbal communication, I express myself through music with much more honesty and passion.
Who are some of the role models, mentors, or influential people in your life?
My parents have been the most influential people in my life, when it comes to my career. I’m a person, first and foremost, not just a singer. Music is part of who I am, but not my identity.
I wouldn’t be singing if my parents hadn’t raised me the way they did. They taught me to have courage but not be cocky, and to have faith that my life would go the way it’s supposed to. I’m grateful to them for their patience and strength.
How do you handle rejection?
In general, I handle rejection pretty well. I’m used to it! By nature, I’m a huge perfectionist, so failure doesn’t come easily to me. That’s why I love singing so much—everything else I’ve tried to accomplish in my life has come relatively easily, in comparison. Singing has always been the most challenging and frustrating part of my life; but it’s also been one of the most rewarding.
Singers have to develop a thick skin. I often marvel at the stereotype that singers are cocky—we endure intense rejection and criticism every day, either from other people or from ourselves. How can we have big egos? Overall, I think humility is a vital part of human existence, and I’m grateful to be in a field that dishes it out in spades.
