Mark Watson – All Articles

Soprano Angela Meade shares her experience of turning competition wins into a lasting career through steady preparation and organization. Meade continues to learn at every step of her journey in singing.

Singing in a masterclass can be a wonderful learning experience, and most singers will eventually take part in one. But not every singer makes the most out of this opportunity. Here are some strategies to maximize your experience. 

Like many singers during the pandemic, John and Gillian Riesen learned new skills to advance their careers. Their experience with recording, streaming, and promoting recorded classical music is a new growth area for classical singers to explore.

A lifetime of performing is a large part of Marilyn Maye’s legacy. Though she is not a classically trained singer, her advice on singing technique, connecting to lyrics, and reaching an audience is something all singers in any style should heed.

Vocal transformation may be found more in the text of your literature rather than in relentlessly pursuing perfect singing technique. 

A singer’s music education simply isn’t complete without mastering the once almost extinct skill of the vocal trill. First consider the history of this ornament, and then find six practical, hands-on methods for ensuring this is a tool in your own singer’s tool belt.

New York City’s Encompass New Opera Theatre has been championing new works and singers for over four decades. Read their remarkable story in this interview with the company’s Artistic Director Nancy Rhodes.

Soprano Elaine Malbin made her professional television singing debut at age 13. By the time she was 20, she landed her first full-length televised operatic role. That was followed by a succession of opera house engagements, Broadway tours, television shows, and major orchestral appearances in a whirlwind career that lasted another nearly two decades. Discover this remarkable woman’s rapid rise to success, what led her to leave it all behind, and how she feels about that decision now so many years later.

Up-and-coming soprano Nadine Sierra has taken the opera world by storm since becoming the youngest winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In the nearly seven years since her win, Sierra has gone on to sing at most of the major opera houses around the world. She credits her sudden rise to a terrific manager, a dream trio of teachers, and influential mentors who have opened doors for the gifted singer.

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano has had some lucky breaks—key mentors placed in her path at critical moments, a terrific scholarship to Rice University, placing at the regional level of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions on her first attempt and then later winning, and marrying an equally accomplished pianist to collaborate with. And, yet, as Cano discusses these accomplishments and others, it becomes immediately apparent that there’s much more than luck involved here. Hard work, thorough and complete preparation, and a level-headed yet passionate career approach are the real reasons for Cano’s rising star.

Conductor Jason Tramm seems to be everywhere all at once in his roles as director of music at Ocean Grove Great Auditorium, assistant professor at Seton Hall University, and now artistic director of MidAtlantic Opera. Learn more about how Tramm juggles it all and his exciting plans for his new opera company, including a Young Artist Program starting in fall 2016.

Conductor Eve Queler has forged a career as a true pioneer on so many levels—orchestra founder, female conductor, obscure-opera producer. Queler celebrated her 100th performance in Carnegie Hall in 2008, and here she shares the stories behind the years of thundering applause for herself, her orchestra, and her carefully selected singers in that great hall.