Love of song (and Potsdam) bring Met Opera's Blythe back to Crane
Metropolitan Opera star Stephanie Blythe is back in Potsdam this week for the 6th annual Fall island Vocal Arts Seminar. Blythe is an alumna of...
May 24, 2017 — Metropolitan Opera star Stephanie Blythe is back in Potsdam this week for the 6th annual Fall island Vocal Arts Seminar. Blythe is an alumna of the Crane School of Music. She's also and is founder and artistic director of the seminar, which brings together top emerging singers with leading artists.
The mission? To give the singers that extra boost, beyond vocal technique, according the Fall Island website, to “encourage autonomous artistry in emerging artist-level performers through the study and interpretation of art song by living American composers.” Blythe explains, "helping them to make informed decisions, so that we don’t end up just being machines that make sound, but artists.”
Why art song? “There’s something about the intimacy of song, Blythe says. “It’s so incredibly personal, and I was very keen to be part of something that would introduce that into more singers’ lives, and into the audiences’ lives.”
Why Potsdam? “This is where I learned that I loved that,” she says, adding, “This whole town is so very special to me. Every time I come here it feels like my whole year is beginning; it feels like a rebirth.”
The five day seminar incudes recitals and master classes, based on music selected by the singers themselves, and new music from American composers. It opens tonight (Wednesday) with a gala recital “Fall Island Celebrates New Works with Old Friends,” featuring a new commissioned work by Crane alumnus Daniel Mertzlufft.
