WEBVTT - Joyce DiDonato: Opera Star 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:09.600 Always for me, music connected me to um something divine. 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:12.840 You know. I don't always know how to describe it, 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:15.280 but that's the word. I keep coming back to, something 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:20.840 much bigger than myself and something that feels elevated from 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:25.960 you know, the cement Jungles that we traveling. That was 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:30.000 opera star Joyce de Donado. The New York Times is 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.920 called this mezzo soprano perhaps the most potent female singer 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:39.720 of her generation, and her dedication to making a deep 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:44.080 human connection through music is evident in her latest role 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:49.720 as Virginia Wolf in the Metropolitan Opera's world premiere of 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:58.520 The Hours. Joyce's performance has been acclaimed as outstanding, confident, fresh, subtle, 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:03.920 and sonorous. I'm Alan ververe In. This is Seneca's on 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:07.720 women to hear. We're bringing you one hundred of the 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:12.520 world's most inspiring and history making women. You need to hear. 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:18.160 Joyce de Donado has three Grammy Awards to her name, 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.560 as well as many other honors. She has sung on 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:27.240 stages from the met to Carnegie Hall, from Barcelona to Berlin. 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.440 Not bad for a girl from prairie village, Kansas who 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:35.160 was told starting out that she didn't have much talent, 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.560 And here's some great news for her fans. Even if 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.240 you can't get to New York City to hear joy sing, 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:47.559 you can see her this coming Saturday, December tenth, when 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:51.960 The Hours will be broadcast live in theaters. Go to 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:59.680 the Met's website met Opera dot org for the details. Now, 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.480 let's and then learn why Joyce de Donado is one 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:08.560 of Seneca's One Women to Hear. I'm speaking today to 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:14.079 award winning global opera star Joyce de Donado. Welcome, Joyce. 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.520 It's a thrill to have you with us. Thank you. 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.959 I'm very honored to be here. Now. I know you're 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:23.400 appearing in the world premiere of The Hours in New 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:27.640 York City and you're singing the part of Virginia Wolf. Now, 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.800 how terrific is that? Can you tell us a little 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:35.200 bit about what that means to you? Where do I start? 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:37.920 How much time do we have? As much as you need? 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:43.800 Superb um it is. There are so many different elements 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:47.920 about this experience that are incredibly rich. One is the 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:52.000 very baseline of doing a world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:55.919 It's they haven't given very many world premiers, and they're 0:02:56.240 --> 0:03:01.240 very illustrious history, and so it's a very honorous situation. 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:04.480 It's not only a world premiere of a new opera, 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.520 but it's also building on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:12.720 on an Academy Award winning film. There's a lot of 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:16.200 history to this, and you mix into the fact that 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:24.040 I'm playing such a Titanic woman of a role very complex, 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:28.880 had a huge impact on the arts, on feminism on 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:34.119 the twentieth century, Virginia Woolf. That alone is another immense 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.840 element to this. But what I'm finding perhaps the most 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:43.560 powerful part of this is the timing of it. I 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:47.720 think this is a story that resonated quite strongly, you know, 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:50.240 in the late nineties when the novel was written, and 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:53.240 then early two thousand when the film came out. But 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:58.160 we've just spent two and a half years in isolation. 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:00.920 We've spent the last two and a half years where 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:05.320 so many of our loved ones were The issues of 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:10.440 mental health really can screaming to the surface. We've had 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:14.000 a pandemic with a new virus, you know, and certainly 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.480 the theme of AIDS is very present in the hours, 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:24.680 and so the timing of re encountering this story I 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:28.880 think is very powerful and it's coming through the power 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:33.279 of music. The words in the novel were very strong, 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.800 the what's the word? The impact of the film was 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:40.800 also very strong with these great actresses, and there's there 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.800 was a kind of distance that pulled you into that story. 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:46.880 But the difference with the operas that we have the 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:51.000 music to just fill in the emotional impact of these 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.800 immense stories of these ladies. So that's a there's a 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.520 lot on my mind with it. So it's hard to 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.520 pinpoint exactly with your question, but it's a it feels 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.359 like a great honor, and it feels like there's a 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.440 lot of responsibility to do this story justice at this 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:09.400 moment in time. Well, you said that so well, and 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.920 I can understand why it feels like a great honor. 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:17.359 I think the other interesting aspect of the Hours is 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:22.240 that you're appearing with Renee Fleming and Kelly O'Hara, two 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:27.640 other iconic singers, needless to say, and I wonder what 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.200 happens when you get three divas together and what is 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:35.440 your working relationship like with the other two. It's been 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:39.920 extraordinary and and I have to say, the way this 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:44.560 piece has emerged is it feels like a huge ensemble piece. 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:47.240 So I know that we're the ones on the poster 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.520 and in the advertisements, and of course it's the story 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:54.039 of these three women, but we have eighteen characters in total, 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:58.520 and we have a huge chorus that essentially like a 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:02.800 Greek chorus treatment of it, and in many ways they're 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:07.040 the inner voices of these three women. And we've added 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:11.800 a dance ensemble as well that that becomes the link 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:15.560 between these three stories. And it was set up from 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.520 day one that this was really going to be a 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:22.760 community effort to bring this to life. So that's important 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:26.600 to understand the umbrella. But to go into the heart 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:31.760 of your question, I mean, I think it was paramount 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:37.839 that that you have equal and you have three women 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:44.080 that bring different strengths to these stories, but also bring 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.960 an incredible gravitas to each one of the roles that 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:50.400 they're singing, because they are three equal stories that merge 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:53.159 into want the end. And so I think it was 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:56.160 really quite brilliant of Peter Gelp and the met to 0:06:56.320 --> 0:07:00.880 really cast this in a daring kind of way, but 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:07.320 in a way that you're bringing not just actresses or singers, 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:11.680 but artists into these roles. And what I have very 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:17.000 happily found throughout my career is that the people that 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:20.520 rise to the very top of the industry are usually 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:23.880 the hardest workers and the ones that leave a lot 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:27.920 of space to learn and grow through their humility and 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:31.400 their generosity as performers. And that's what I have found 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:34.720 with the three of us in this room is we 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:39.560 want everybody to be extraordinary so that the impact of 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:44.400 the story is not just about a diva performance. It's 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:48.640 about what we really bring to life into the heart 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:52.360 of the listener. It's been a total pleasure to summarize, 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.800 you know, it's just an inspiration to hear you talk 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:00.840 about it in those terms. You know, was thinking about 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:05.000 what you said. It's not just three stories, it's three artists, 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:09.480 and I might add amazing artists. So what a what 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:14.120 a powerful production? How did all of this start? Let's 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:17.520 talk about Joyce a little bit. You grew up in 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:21.880 Prairie Village, Kansas, and you are now on the stage 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:25.960 of the Metropolitan Opera, and I wonder, and I'm sure 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:29.760 our listeners are so interested in knowing as well, what 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.640 was your childhood like? Did you spend your young years 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.840 just singing all the time, or you know what brought 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:39.719 you to these great roles and the one that we're 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:44.960 you've just described so brilliantly and vividly. I had a 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:49.360 in many ways an idyllic childhood and in many ways 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:54.480 a really challenging childhood. It was a very musical family, 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:59.280 very musical and all kinds of genres that definitely classical 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.680 music by um the heart of it, but older sisters 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:07.240 that listened to Broadway music and my older brother listening 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:12.320 to his hard rock and roll a C. D. C Um. 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.920 And I was a child of the eighties, so I 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:18.719 was very much in the pop culture of of Madonna 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:22.319 and Michael Jackson, and I lived for that, and I 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:26.839 had the blessing of of having an extraordinary choral experience 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:29.640 was when I was in high school, and so I 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:33.600 was very clear at eighteen, very clear that I was 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:37.040 going to become a high school music teacher, trying to 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:40.839 be the cool one and saving kids lives because it 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:42.959 was that's what it felt like it did for me. 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:46.720 I um, you know, I was the sixth of seven 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:50.760 kids Irish Catholic family, and by the time I was 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:55.760 in high school, you know, my parents were tired, my 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:58.640 parents were tired, and I was. I think me and 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:01.439 my little brother were sort of bles defend for ourselves, 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.040 and you know, we had a lot of financial difficulties, 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:10.440 and there was a lot of pressure for me to 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.880 help my parents, to sort of parent them. Actually, when 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:18.480 I was a teenager and the high school musical and 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:22.240 the choral experiences were the place where I just got 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:27.040 to be me and I got to really dream and 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:32.840 um fulfill things just for my sake. And I wanted 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:35.200 to give that experience to other kids. And so I 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:39.240 went to Wichita State to be a music teacher. And 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.520 you know, I was paying my own way through college, 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.400 and so I could get some extra scholarship money if 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:47.800 I joined the opera chorus. And I thought, that's an 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:52.719 extra two a year a semester, which is now is 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:55.480 sort of unheard of, but I needed that back then. 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:58.880 And uh, and I got into the opera and I 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:04.000 just my world exploded. Not from having watched it. I 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.640 didn't watch an opera and think I have to do that. 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:11.559 Mind came from the inside because I started to study 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:16.320 this music and sing it and it was such a 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:20.280 culmination of everything I wanted to be. I had to 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:27.600 address musicality, singing, the theatrics of becoming and losing myself 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:32.960 in another character, the human psychology, the human existence, which 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:39.560 is what Opera deals with, the huge emotions, and always, 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:45.240 for me, music connected me to something divine. You know, 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.080 I don't always know how to describe it, but that's 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.320 the word. I keep coming back to, something much bigger 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:55.880 than myself and something that feels elevated from you know, 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:01.600 the cement jungles that we travel in, and I just 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:06.800 I decided to go for it. And my journey was 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.559 a very slow burn. I was not a bona fide 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.520 star from the beginning, by any stretch of the imagination. 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.040 I didn't really start coming into my own until my 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:20.200 early thirties. But I kept working, and I kept with 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.560 a certain amount of determination because I felt there was 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:27.760 something inside that I was destined to express. Well, you 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:31.640 said it didn't come quickly, and it was a lot 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.680 of work that you engaged in to get where you are. 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:40.360 But you've been called perhaps the most potent female singer 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:44.280 of your generation, with a voice that is twenty four 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:48.080 carrot gold. Now that's high high praise. What did it 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.120 take to get that voice? You talked about it not 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:55.520 coming quickly, obviously, and how do you maintain it? You know, 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:59.880 it's so interesting to hear people of your extraordinary caliber 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:05.640 are such extraordinary performers in music. How do you project 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:09.719 your personality through your singing, because just listening to you, 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:14.679 you have a very powerful personality. M M. Yeah. Well, 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.240 and maybe that's why I chose opera, because opera is 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:23.280 sort of larger than life, you know. I, um, well, 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:26.720 the first part of your question. I've always looked at 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:30.680 myself as things that came very easily to me were 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:36.040 musicianship and theatricality. I was at home the first moment 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:39.680 I stepped onto the stage. Um. I think my first 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:43.600 play was Harvey. In high school, I played Vita Louise Simmons, 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.080 and uh my, there was one moment I had to 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.160 cry on stage. And my older brother continues to take 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:52.680 credit for that because he used to torture me and 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:54.920 I learned how to fake cry to get him off 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.240 of me because he was trying to do, I don't know, 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.800 tickle me or something, and uh that sounds more nefarious 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:05.600 than it was. But I did learn how to fake cry, 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:10.400 and he claims credit for that, but the actual vocality 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.280 is something I had to work on UM and I 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:20.080 continue to work on it actually because what I need 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.800 from my instrument, from my voice, is I need it 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:28.280 to be absolutely at my back and call for what 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:33.320 I want to express emotionally and musically in theatricality theatrically, 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.040 and so that's that takes a lot of technical work, 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:40.720 very much like athletes that are trying to hone their 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:45.520 golf swing or tennis stars that are, you know, working 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:49.200 on the tiny refinements to their serve to get that 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.520 one extra mile per hour UM. And that's the kind 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:56.440 of work I continue to do vocally. But I that 0:14:56.600 --> 0:15:01.640 really has been my end, the sort of engine behind 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:07.040 what I do, because I've seen firsthand how transformative a 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:12.240 huge musical experiences for the human spirit. Maybe it's somebody 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:16.560 who is discovering their voice for the first time, it's 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:20.080 somebody who's listening to it and they're feeling things that 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.840 the world doesn't normally allow them to feel in the 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:29.640 course of their day. And I know that it's a 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:35.480 force that can be extremely potent and extremely healing and 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.600 extremely transformative. And so that's why I continue to work, 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:42.440 and that's why I choose my projects or create my 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:48.480 projects today so that they invite people to go deeper 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:54.000 then normal things in a modern society require of people. 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:58.000 And I think it's it's genuinely where people want to 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.160 go if they feel safe. They want to take that 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:06.560 trip inside if they feel safe. And that's what music 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:09.920 and the kind of music that you are engaged and 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:13.040 can do to the human spirit lifted up in ways 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.440 that it can sore. And you talk about that so deeply, 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.760 you know. I heard you talk about how this didn't 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.520 come easily and how you have to work to keep 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:27.560 your voice in good form. And I know you've also 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:32.360 encountered many stumbling blocks in your career. At one time, 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:36.120 you were told you didn't have much talent, which I 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:40.720 find extremely hard to believe having listened to you and 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:45.520 knowing of your extraordinary abilities. You couldn't get management until 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:49.040 you were twenty nine. So how did you keep going? 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:54.880 That's a good question, you know. I um, I'm not 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.280 sure how much of it was me and how much 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:03.360 of it was a stubborn this and a frustration. That 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.240 comment came to me when I was twenty six years 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:09.320 old and I was on a At that point, I 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:13.320 was starting to be on a track um a young 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:17.240 artist track in the opera world, which means it's it's 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:21.760 like the top apprenticeship before you land the big lawyer 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:25.360 job or something. It's it it's you're not quite over 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:27.520 the hump, but you're nearly there, and you're on a 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:32.760 track to get there. And of course it devastated me 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:36.280 when that comment came in, But as I look back 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:39.679 on it now, I know why it was made and 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:43.680 it wasn't necessarily in error. It wasn't very kindly stated, 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:48.199 but it was true because I I wasn't yet at 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:50.560 a place where I had released a lot of my 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:56.040 walls and a lot of my um the barriers I 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:59.400 had constructed to protect myself. I mean, I'll tell you, 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:03.720 there is very few things in life that are as 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:09.000 frightening as opening up your voice without a microphone and 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:13.800 singing masterpieces in front of people live. You know. I 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:20.680 we sing Mozart and Strauss and and shoe Berts and 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:25.120 Rossini and handle and it's like a painter saying, here, 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:29.040 paint this Rembrandt live in front of us. If they're 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:34.439 masterpieces that require great care and attention and reverence, but 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.359 at the same time we have to make them feel 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:41.719 as if they're being created on the spot with our voice, 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:47.000 with all its limitations, with all its glory, with all 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:52.720 its instabilities, with all its strength, everything, And we know 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:54.959 this when we speak. If you're asked to get up 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:59.000 and speak in front of a crowd, your voice betrays 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:04.639 every insecurity you have, every fear, every shape, every quiver, 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:08.800 every dryness, every emotion. If you start to become emotional, 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:13.200 your voice quivers. It is such a naked state of existence. 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:18.000 And so then you you are bringing these masterpieces to 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:22.919 life with your voice, and people are there to listen. 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:28.919 And it is an extreme state of vulnerability, and at 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:33.320 the same time it requires complete and total abandoned and 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:37.560 strength because you've got to project over seventy piece orchestra 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:42.240 into it four thousand seat house. So it's this incredible 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:48.919 battle between vulnerability and strength, between embracing where you are 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:51.720 on that day, whether you rested well or had a 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:53.359 good meal, or you might be a little under the 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:59.080 weather um and just putting yourself out there. And that 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:04.119 is a long process to learn as a human being. 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:11.560 I knew my music, I was technically proficient, but there 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:17.720 was this personal barrier that was inhibiting my total expression. 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:20.360 To come through, and that's why people were listening. Yeah 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:24.320 the voice is fine, Yeah, her languages are good. She's fine, 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:27.479 but there's not much talent. So I understand where that 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:31.480 comment came from. And I continued to work vocally, but 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:36.760 I really believe that the real work was at a 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:45.280 deeply personal level for me and continues to be. Senecas 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:47.760 one hundred women to hear will be back after this 0:20:47.840 --> 0:21:01.280 short break. You know, Joyce, that was so fascinating and 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:05.919 as I've been listening to you, you have this ability 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:10.399 to fully understand what your work can do for someone 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:13.280 sitting there in the audience, what it does to the 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:17.600 human soul, if you will. And I know you gave 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:23.000 this extraordinary commencement speech at Juilliard where some of that 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:26.320 came out, I think, and one of the messages that 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:30.359 you had for the graduates was something very moving. You 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:35.359 are here to serve humanity. What does that mean for 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:39.640 a classical singer? Why did you say that? And how 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:45.320 do you understand that? So? I said it for two reasons, um. 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:49.959 The first is that I know that the road in 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:53.840 classical music, in any arts, really, but certainly in classical music, 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:59.560 is quite tumultuous. It's incredibly demanding and difficult and all 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:02.920 kinds of challenges and trying to get your music out 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:06.359 in front of the public. It's even compounded now after 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:09.960 you know COVID, it's even more treacherous in a way. 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:14.040 But I wanted. I think one of the big issues 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.600 I see in particular with singers and the singers that 0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:21.600 I don't tend to respond to emotionally, are the ones 0:22:21.640 --> 0:22:24.760 who make it all about themselves and are really trying 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:29.040 to ultimately, I think, and I understand this. I'm sure 0:22:29.040 --> 0:22:32.480 I went through this myself. They're looking for love. They're 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:35.240 looking for the audience to tell them that they are 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:39.399 good or even extraordinary, and that they are loved. And 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:44.919 so they come onto the stage and their mindset is 0:22:45.000 --> 0:22:48.639 all about them and how they sound and how they look, 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:52.119 and they're looking to the audience. They're doing these things 0:22:52.160 --> 0:22:56.040 to garner huge reception from the audience to say tell 0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:01.760 me I'm great. And I understand it. It's attempting, understandable thing, 0:23:01.880 --> 0:23:06.040 especially when you're younger. That's not my kind of performer, 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:11.400 and I don't think you have a right to do that. 0:23:11.520 --> 0:23:17.119 I consider the stage is really a sacred place where again, 0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:22.000 you're dealing with masterpieces, and you're dealing with the extremity 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:28.800 of the human condition, and especially in we need a 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:32.720 space where we can explore that safely and where we 0:23:32.760 --> 0:23:40.760 can encourage people to aspire to what classical music can inspire, 0:23:41.359 --> 0:23:47.159 which is beauty, truth, participating in something that is bigger 0:23:47.160 --> 0:23:51.640 than yourself, that requires other people to get out of 0:23:51.720 --> 0:23:56.720 your ego driven self. And what I found in my 0:23:56.840 --> 0:24:01.199 own journey is the more I concentrated on what I 0:24:01.280 --> 0:24:05.280 intended to give to the public, the easier it became 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:08.000 for me, because it wasn't so dependent on whether I 0:24:08.080 --> 0:24:10.760 was liked or not, or whether I was good or not. 0:24:11.160 --> 0:24:14.800 But if I made them feel something, or even intended 0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:18.879 to make them feel something, whether it was a great 0:24:18.920 --> 0:24:22.280 show or not, I felt good about what I did. 0:24:22.520 --> 0:24:26.520 And so I wanted to encourage that class and the 0:24:26.560 --> 0:24:30.560 other artists that go back and revisit that speech to say, actually, 0:24:31.000 --> 0:24:33.399 it's a good thing for you to get out of 0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:35.520 your own way and out of yourself and not make 0:24:35.560 --> 0:24:39.040 it about you. When you get onto the stage, every 0:24:39.080 --> 0:24:41.960 moment before that has to be about you. You have 0:24:42.080 --> 0:24:44.879 to be narcissistic in the way you prepare your voice, 0:24:44.880 --> 0:24:46.520 and the way you study and the way you take 0:24:46.560 --> 0:24:49.960 care of your body. It takes a lot of personal attention, 0:24:50.400 --> 0:24:53.680 but all for the fact that when that curtain comes up, 0:24:53.880 --> 0:24:57.440 you are in service of the message of the beauty 0:24:57.480 --> 0:25:02.000 of the music and at this same time, so I 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:04.120 wanted to give them a gift. But the second part 0:25:04.160 --> 0:25:06.960 of that is that I just really feel like it's 0:25:07.200 --> 0:25:11.639 what the world needs. What the world needs now is 0:25:11.920 --> 0:25:16.000 I mean, it's it's a little cheesy, but I really 0:25:16.040 --> 0:25:20.879 believe it. You know, there are very few places left 0:25:21.600 --> 0:25:27.400 where people are invited in to feel something as a community, 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:32.520 because an opera is still a community, communal experience of 0:25:32.600 --> 0:25:37.360 two thousand people, four thousand people, and there is power 0:25:37.480 --> 0:25:41.400 when people sit side by side from all different backgrounds, 0:25:42.280 --> 0:25:46.600 all different categories, and they agree to pretend for a 0:25:46.600 --> 0:25:49.919 couple of hours and be carried away, usually around a 0:25:49.960 --> 0:25:54.760 story about love or loss, and they collectively sort of 0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:57.600 hold each other's hands through that. I want more of 0:25:57.640 --> 0:26:00.280 that in the world, and so that that is what 0:26:00.400 --> 0:26:02.720 I was trying to charge those students with as well. 0:26:03.320 --> 0:26:05.240 Beautiful and we all want to see more of that 0:26:05.280 --> 0:26:09.480 in the world. Needless to say, you know, the statement 0:26:09.560 --> 0:26:15.280 about you are here to serve humanity also reflects how 0:26:15.400 --> 0:26:18.399 you proceed in your own life, not just as the 0:26:18.440 --> 0:26:22.639 professional artists that you are, but I know you teach music, 0:26:23.160 --> 0:26:27.240 you do prison outreach. You're involved with something called the 0:26:27.320 --> 0:26:30.840 Lullaby Project. Can you tell us about that and what 0:26:31.000 --> 0:26:36.520 inspired it? Oh, this is a fantastic project. UM. That 0:26:37.280 --> 0:26:40.960 was UM that I encountered through Carnegie Hall and their 0:26:41.000 --> 0:26:46.720 Wild Institute of Music. They do such tremendous work going 0:26:46.840 --> 0:26:49.480 into the community and it's sort of I love it 0:26:49.520 --> 0:26:52.440 because it turns that question of how do you get 0:26:52.440 --> 0:26:56.880 to Carnegie Hall practice practice practice? It turns that question 0:26:56.920 --> 0:27:00.320 into how can Carnegie Hall get to you and not 0:27:00.440 --> 0:27:03.360 just the people that can afford opening night gala tickets, 0:27:03.440 --> 0:27:06.760 but to the people of the community here and beyond. 0:27:07.359 --> 0:27:10.560 And this is one of many programs that they have 0:27:11.040 --> 0:27:15.480 built up that I just am deeply inspired by. It 0:27:15.560 --> 0:27:21.560 was the idea of looking at different challenges in society 0:27:21.600 --> 0:27:25.080 and say, Okay, how can Carnegie Hall serve or help 0:27:25.720 --> 0:27:30.040 and and to ameliorate this situation through music. And they 0:27:30.040 --> 0:27:35.000 were looking at the issue of teenage moms single teenage moms, 0:27:35.880 --> 0:27:41.119 and there was science around the issue that single teen 0:27:41.240 --> 0:27:45.240 moms have a much more challenging problem to connect and 0:27:45.280 --> 0:27:50.680 bond with their children for all the imaginable reasons. Financial, 0:27:51.040 --> 0:27:55.120 they're being shunned by society, stressed, they're also very young, 0:27:56.080 --> 0:28:00.840 and they came up with this idea of helping these 0:28:00.840 --> 0:28:06.680 single moms write a lullaby for their child. And so 0:28:06.720 --> 0:28:10.600 they bring in a teaching assistant UM who will talk 0:28:10.640 --> 0:28:13.280 with the mom, get the mom to start sharing her 0:28:13.320 --> 0:28:18.560 feelings about her child, which turns in quite quickly to lyrics, 0:28:19.440 --> 0:28:22.040