Dinner with a (nice!) Diva: Meet Jennifer Rowley

I recently sat down with rising star soprano Jennifer (Jen) Rowley on the tails of a triumph as Musetta in a groundbreaking new production of La Boheme in Oslo.  The day we sat down (over prosecco and burgers!) was the day Jen had just been award a Richard Tucker Grant.  Needless to say, this Olympian-minded diva was bursting at the seams.

T:  Ok Jen, let’s get right down to business.  How did you, a girl from the Midwest, come to singing opera of all things?

 J:  Well, growing up I was a ballet dancer.  I distinctly remember my dad driving me to ballet class while I sat there screaming Billy Joel at the top of my lungs haha!  I got to the age where all the dancers went on pointe, and I HATED it.  A year later I got to high school and I was “too big” to be dancing; I was too tall, had too many womanly parts growing!  I still wanted to "move" so I joined show choir.  I found it was easy to sing, and I seemed to be good at it, so I switched schools to be with a top show choir.  The director listened to my voice and told me I should get involved in voice lessons.  I was offended!  I said to my mother, “I don’t need voice lessons!”  But like every good mother does, she wisely saw the reason he suggested that and told me, “EVERY good singer takes voice lessons, even the best.”  I took voice lessons through Oberlin’s preparatory program, and my teacher suggested that I audition for some voice programs for college.  I was a girl who wanted to become a chef and play softball; singing had never been a career option.  I auditioned for some schools, was accepted and got scholarship to Baldwin-Wallace College, and decided to go to school for Music Education.  I was in education school for one week and I thought to myself, “Nope, I’ma sing!”  I never looked back.

T:  Wow, that’s a great story!  A pretty natural progression, similar to my own story of how I came to singing.  Now tell me, I know that you worked a full-time job for several years while still singing on the side.  What are your feelings on your “non-traditional” career path, versus the traditional path of a Young Artist Program, singing full-time?

 J:  Well, I worked in the buying office at Saks [Fifth Avenue] for 5 years, and I learned a LOT.  I learned about the business world, I learned how to dress myself (and many other body types!), but the biggest thing I learned was how to balance work with life and with singing.  Working made me appreciate the time that I was able to sing in the week far more than if I had been handed a full-time YAP.  I really had to fight to be able to sing.  I would work all day at the office, and then I would shoot uptown to Martina Arroyo’s role preparation classes two days a week.  I would get there early and warm up and go over my score to make sure I had dotted all of my I’s and crossed all of my t’s.  There were good days and bad days, but I always had that fight within me.  I always kept my eye on the prize.  Working full time made me feel like I was living someone else’s life; when I was able to make time to sing, I felt like me.  At the end of the day I look back knowing with confidence that I wouldn’t want my journey to have been any other way.

 T:  And that, Jen, is one of my favorite things about you.  You have this incredible confidence in all of your decisions and this Olympian mentality that I think is lost among a lot of [younger] singers today.  You are a big proponent of the phrase “Big risk to high return,” and that seems to be a driving force in the build of your career.  A major “risk” that you took that really paid off big for you was when you went on, last minute, as Maria di Rohan at the Caramoor Festival; that really seems to be the event that catapulted your career.  Tell me about that.

 J:  I had just come back from doing a year long program in Bologna, so I had missed the entire audition season.  I wanted to audition for Caramoor, but my agent wasn’t sure it was exactly the right fit for what I should be doing.  I decided to go ahead and do the audition anyway; I knew they were looking for a cover for Norma, and while I knew that I shouldn’t be singing it on stage, I thought, “you know what?  I could COVER Norma.”  And there was so much that could be learned about bel canto style from Will [Crutchfield].  It was a learning experience I couldn't pass up.

So I got into the audition and I sang Puritani.  Maestro Crutchfield asked me if I could sing in chest voice, as not much was displayed in the aria.  After some vocalizing down, he heard that I did have comfortable access to my chest voice.  At this time, he told me that he thought I would be a great cover for the OTHER opera they were doing, a really rare Donizetti work called Maria di Rohan.  He described it by saying, “It’s like Anna Bolena and Lucia got together and had a baby.”  I thought to myself, ‘now THAT sounds like fun.’

 I got the offer and started learning the role; I fell in LOVE with it.  I had done some big singing previously, but this was a REAL big girl role.  We were talking 90 minutes of big huge legato singing; it was unlike any role I had ever learned.  But I thought to myself, ‘Big risk, high return.’  So I learned the role in and out.  I am a professional musician, so I went in as the cover learned, memorized, coached, and ready to go.  At my first coaching, Maestro was amazed at my preparation.  Anyone who knows him knows that he loves playing around with ornamentation tailored to specific singers.  He added ornaments all over the score (which I had already memorized!!!), completely throwing me for a loop.  But I worked at it every night, I coached it extensively, and I was absolutely ready to go when I was called on to sing the final dress rehearsal.  I knew it cold.

Feeling incredible support from the other Young Artists, I figured this would probably be the only opportunity to ever sing this work with full orchestra.  I sat there knowing how huge of a moment this was for me and thought to myself, “You know what?  I’ma just sing it.”  And I sang it.

T:  It’s so funny, I actually remember reading the review in Classical Singer at the time of this soprano filling in last minute in this rare Donizetti work and what a triumph it was!  I didn’t realize until last year when we first met that it was YOU who was the soprano!  It’s such a small, small world.
So I know you talk often about how much a student of theater and acting you are.  Now I know most people would say that acting isn’t as important as singing is in opera-

J:  I don’t know that I would say that it isn’t equal.

T:  OK, so in this time of the HD broadcast, demands on the performer are obviously shifting.  This was really tested in the Oslo Boheme that was just filmed in HD for DVD release.  How did you adapt from the grandeur of acting for several thousand people in the opera house to also being sensitive to acting for the close-up camera?

J:  Oh, that’s a really good question, haha.

I will admit, when we first got to Oslo, I left the first few rehearsals very frustrated.  I am an actress who ALWAYS does my homework when preparing for a role.  I research source documents, watch period films, listen to various recordings, look at historic photos from the time period.  I go into rehearsal with my character developed.  I knew who my Musetta was.  That first rehearsal we had, the director told us to throw out every bit of homework and character preparation we had done.  WHAT?!
 In this particular production we were constantly in and out of period and modern times; it was flashback, modern day, flashback, modern day, etc.  There was an extreme duality of character throughout the show for almost everyone on stage.  We all had to bring out our absolute best acting chops or otherwise this had the potential to fall on its face!

For me, I actually found that the HD was the same as every other night.  In this case, it was such a complex production with so much hidden meaning that it absolutely HAD to work.  Your intention had to be so concrete and clear, or the audience (whether in the movies or in the theater) wasn’t going to get it.  Sure, we had two rehearsals with the cameras and microphones, so I got to see and hear myself; I knew what to expect as far as that was concerned.  We also had the luxury of having the camera director there for every rehearsal we had.

T: That is SO important.  You usually don’t get that…

J: You don’t usually get that, but for this groundbreaking production you absolutely needed that.  I have never been part of a production that required so much acting to function, but I always bring that much passion and finesse to every role that I do.  I want the audience to leave sobbing; I do!  Even if I don’t give the best vocal performance of my life, I want the audience to leave feeling affected; like they spent the best money of their life, to FEEL with us.

I know who Stanislavsky is; I know what he taught.  I know all of these schools of acting and I USE these techniques; I use them because they work, and it affects the audience.  I want them to come back because it left them feeling so much.

T:  And that kind of mentality is what is going to keep modern audiences interested and coming back time and time again.

Now this “HD” (filmed in High Definition) phenomenon, do you think it’s good or bad?  There is some talk of people afraid that it will take bodies out of the opera house only to put them in a movie theater.  What do you think?

J:  Oh, I think it’s good!  Even if it just brings 5 more people into the opera house , that’s 5 more than were there before!

T:  I agree completely which is why I have come to really appreciate the beauty of “popera” (pop-opera – think Josh Groban).  If it brings even 1 more person in, it’s one more that is interested than was before.

J:  I think Josh Groban is great and absolutely hilarious.  He’s singing with Renee Fleming soon on TV, right?

T:  No, it was last week!  I was there for the taping! (Thanks Raquel!)

J:  Oh, OK!  I don’t know, I read about it on twitter, and then life got crazy haha.  I mean, the twitter following of Josh Groban is HUGE.  When he tweets about singing with Renee Fleming on TV, the exposure to the industry is massive.  And I also think that what Renee is doing for opera is absolutely GENIUS.  She’s bringing opera directly into the general public.  (Here, Jen is specifically referring to a rumor circulating about Renee Fleming on the short list for a very popular TV show).
Renee Fleming on TV?  I love it.  Anna Netrebko on the cover of Vogue?  I love it!  Danielle DeNiese on the NY Times best dressed list?  I LOVE IT!  That is what is relatable to the younger masses because it’s what they really care about.

Social media is the key for young singers and opera to stay relevant today.  The more singers like Joyce DiDonato are connecting with their younger audiences (and live tweeting during performances!!), the more we are going to see opera regain its hold on mainstream culture and that is SO important to the longevity of opera.

T:  Your career is snowballing and blowing up at an unbelievable rate (and justifiably so).  I’ve heard you referred to as “The Voice that is missing from the Met.”  If you could pick one dream role, what would it be?

J:  Tosca.  It is Puccini’s most beautiful music and is very clearly leading toward Verdi in style.  It is the most emotional thing I have ever experienced.  And, I know I am going to get flack for saying this, but she is ME.  Tosca is fire personified.  There are some moments in your life when you know it would be easier to give in.  And it wears you down until you think you can’t go any further, and then it explodes; and that’s exactly what happens to her.

Every singer has been there; worn down so much that you write that email to your agent saying, “I’m worn down, I’m tired, I can’t do this business anymore.”  But you get the end of the email and something makes you click SAVE instead of SEND; and then something happens and it sparks you to come back fighting harder and more fiercely than ever before.  And that’s what life is all about.  Now, it’s way more DRAMATIC than regular life, but you get what I mean.

T:  Have you talked to any houses about singing the role?

J:  I have talked about singing the role one day.  I know that it’s YEARS away, but I’ve been told that I will sing it one day, and that’s good enough for me!

T:  That’s a great feeling, isn’t it?

J:  When I do, I will be complete.

T:  Ok Jen, we’ve talked about a LOT of serious stuff here tonight (and had some serious bubbly!).  If you had to leave us with one thing, what would it be?

J:  You know, there’s this new Evanescence song that I run to.  It’s called “Ends of a Dream.”  There is a quote in there that I think sums it all up:  “Follow your heart til it bleeds as you run to the end of your dreams.”

Since sitting down with “La Rowley,” she has continued growing her career with a triumph at NYC Opera, a Carnegie Hall debut singing the Verdi Requiem, and secured several major contracts at major opera houses including a replacement for Diana Damrau in all performances of the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden’s new production of Robert le Diable (Fall 2012).  This rising diva is one that you will certainly want to keep your eyes, and ears, out for.

Visit www.jenniferrowley.com for more information and a complete performance schedule!

Jennifer is a student of New York based teacher Michael Paul.