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By
AUDREY McAVOY
LOS
ANGELES (AP) — They slide, run and leap, morphing into
anxious cops and wily robbers.
It's
a grown-up version of the classic playground game that
forces the up-and-coming opera stars to think on their
feet and react quickly to fellow performers.
The
eight singers and one pianist are at the LA Opera for
a new program that immerses budding artists in vocal,
acting and dancing lessons until they're ready to appear
on stage as professionals.
The
competition to join this elite group is fierce: Only
about 2 percent of the more than 450 who applied this
year were admitted. Their presence has generated a bit
of a buzz within the tight-knit opera world for the
Los Angeles company, as they offer a new place to showcase
the next big star.
"The
people in that room, you won't be able to afford in
three years. They're amazing, amazing talents," Brandon
McDonald, a professional dancer with the Mark Morris
Dance Group, said after teaching the crew a dance class.
Other
major U.S. opera companies have had young artist programs
for decades. The San Francisco Opera's dates to the
mid-1950s, while the Chicago Lyric Opera started one
in 1974.
Placido
Domingo, the celebrated tenor who is also the LA Opera's
general director, launched the Los Angeles program in
2006 to help artists through the difficult early stages
of their careers. Many struggle because they need to
enroll in pricey lessons to prepare for professional
life while at the same time pay off their school loans.
Some are also trying to raise families.
The
LA Opera insulates them from some of those pressures
by paying them a stipend to cover living expenses. The
company would not divulge how much is paid to the students,
who are also supplied with a steady stream of lessons
and given chances to work with the masters of their
craft.
Domingo
said he wants to help the artists overcome early obstacles
they may face.
"I
remember the challenges of providing for my own young
family while paying for voice lessons during my early
career," said Domingo, 67. "It is very important to
provide young artists with personal guidance during
the critical stage between the end of their formal training
and the onset of a steady professional career."
In
return, the LA Opera hopes the artists will return to
perform major roles later in their careers.
Karen
Vuong, a 23-year-old soprano, already has at least one
job lined up after she becomes one of the first to graduate
from the program in May. The Kentucky Opera in Louisville
has tapped her for a supporting role in their November
production of Jules Massenet's tragic romance, "Werther."
She'll play Sophie, the younger sister of the main female
character.
During
a recent acting class, teacher Michael Goldstrom had
Vuong practice singing Ann Truelove in a scene from
Stravinsky's "Rake's Progress." He told Vuong to pace
the room in rhythm with the brooding, solemn music.
He asked her to describe to him the bleak scene where
Ann stood alone in front of her house, at night, after
discovering her lover had left her.
Vuong's
voice soared. Her eyes welled, and tears trickled down
her face.
"That
was the first time I ever cried in the piece," Vuong
said. "I was like, oh, that was interesting. And I tried
to explore it and use that."
Goldstrom
said he pushes singers to connect with the rhythm and
the words of the music and use their imaginations to
interpret their characters.
"It
is exhilarating to see these people transform," Goldstrom
said.
Vuong
said the young artists program has helped her develop
a step-by-step process to learning roles. And it's helped
her cultivate more mundane skills such as time management.
"It
forces you to reach another level with yourself," Vuong
said.
The
artists have been drawing attention from other U.S.
opera companies.
Karen
Ashley, director of the young artist program, said visiting
officials have asked to hear them when they stop by
the LA Opera. Many are interested in "who are the next
people who are going to become the stars of tomorrow,"
Ashley said.
Janice
Mancini Del Sesto, the Boston Lyric Opera's general
director, said she watches young artist programs closely
to spot singers who could perform at her company.
"Some
of these artists, we've talked about, heard about,"
Del Sesto said of those currently at the LA Opera. "In
some cases, we are, in planning seasons out, looking
at what their schedules are like."
Goldstrom,
a longtime New Yorker, said the program shows that Los
Angeles is developing high art.
"The
center of the opera world I think is probably considered
to be New York," Goldstrom said. "The power of this
program is that ... it's shifting attention onto Los
Angeles."
This
article was picked off the AP Wire on Thursday, April
17, 2008 by The Washington Post, MSN.com, Fox News,
The San Fransico Chronicle, Seattle Times, Examiner.com,
Mercury News, North County Times, Yahoo News, and AOL
Entertainment News.
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