Ten Questions with…
Kelly Markgraf, baritone
1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:
That the challenges and learning never ends.
2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is:That the challenges and learning never ends. And the travel. 🙂
3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:
James Taylor concert just a few weeks ago in Houston, where we live. He’s 66, still has his voice and all of his spirit. An amazing performer.
4. A few of my favorite films are:
The Lion in Winter, The Philadelphia Story, Contact.
5. Three things I can’t live without are:
My wife, my daughter, and tea.
6. My number one hobby is:
Discovering new teas.
7. If you could perform with any singer that is retired or deceased, who would it be?
Bobby Darin.
8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
Antique restoration.
9. What role do you wish you could sing that you could never sing because it’s the wrong voice type/gender?
Jean Valjean in Les Misérables.
10. Describe your favorite moment on stage.
During a season of summer stock theater in 2001, the lights in the theater went out. All power was down. The audience, refusing to accept that the show wouldn’t go on, went to their cars and procured dozens of flashlights. Some held theirs over the edge of the pit, some shone them from their seats onto the stage. One man even parked his car at the side door of the stage, shining his headlights through the open door and onto the stage. And the show went on. That was magic.
Come hear Kelly at Opera in the Park on July 26 at 8pm in Garner Park. FREE Admission!
Ten Questions with…
Sean Panikkar, tenor
1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:
All of the travel. I love seeing new places and experiencing new things while being paid to do so.
2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is:
All of the travel. Being on the road away from your home and family can be very challenging. People take for granted the little things, like sleeping in their own bed.
3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:
I saw Billy Joel and Elton John perform at the old Veteran Stadium in Philly and it was amazing.
4. A few of my favorite films are:
I love superhero movies, and if a Bourne movie is on TV, I can’t change the channel.
5. Three things I can’t live without are:
God, my family, and music.
6. My number one hobby is:
Home improvement projects. I was a double major in engineering and music, so that kind of thing feeds the other side of my brain.
7. If you could perform with any singer that is retired or deceased, who would it be?
Shirley Verrett. She was a professor at Michigan while I was there and I got to know her quite well, even though she wasn’t my professor. I am so thankful for youtube and the ability to see the greats do their thing. I was so sad when she passed away a few years ago.
8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
I would be in construction. My lifelong dream, prior to music, was to own a construction company that did not only the engineering/construction, but also the architectural design.
9. What role do you wish you could sing that you could never sing because it’s the wrong voice type/gender?
I would love to be a Verdi baritone. All of the Verdi baritone roles are so good.
10. Describe your favorite moment on stage.
My Metropolitan Opera debut was really special. I was just out of the San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship and I was performing Edmondo in Manon Lescaut. I was in my mid-twenties and I was so excited to be at the Met. James Levine was conducting and the production was simulcast into the movie theaters. That first performance at a place that you have dreamed of performing is really cool. ​
Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer).
Q: What is one of your quirks related to being a singer?
A: I am an obsessive germaphobe. Singers rarely, if ever, feel 100%. We all wake up and the first thing we check is whether our voice is ok. Being a germaphobe comes out of necessity. If we catch even a cold, we are at a severe disadvantage. I am constantly washing my hands. Even my 5 and 2 year old children know to cough and sneeze into the crook of their elbow.
Come hear Sean at Opera in the Park on July 26 at 8pm in Garner Park. FREE Admission!
Ten Questions with…
Wallis Giunta, mezzo-soprano
1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:
Exploring the depths of my imagination as I create and invade all of the characters I get to play. Whether it’s an opera role or just an art song, I get to escape and be a totally different person.
2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is:
Traveling and living alone most of the time – regularly asking for a table for one, and often having no one to share my incredible experiences with in the moment.
3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:Front row seats for Ray Lamontagne, unplugged, at Carnegie Hall.
4. A few of my favorite films are:
Well, I really like Will Ferrell, so I would have to say Anchorman, Zoolander, and probably Old School. Otherwise, I like Guy Ritchie films (Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smokin’ Barrels, etc.), and any kind of movie-musical!
5. Three things I can’t live without are:
My Moleskine diary, my titanium spork, and my Neti-pot.
6. My number one hobby is:
Reading!!! I could just read all day every day and be perfectly content.
7. If you could perform with any singer, retired or deceased, who would it be?
100% Giuseppe Giacomini.
8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
I would love to work in animal rescue and rehabilitation, most especially with small domestics. I am very fond of rabbits, and have some experience doing volunteer work with rabbit rescues around the world. So if the singing thing doesn’t work out, look for me where there are bunnies in need.
9. What role do you wish you could sing that you could never sing because it’s the wrong voice type/gender?
Oh, Iago in Otello! The Credo… the most epic aria.
10. Describe your favorite moment on stage.
I was covering Sesto in a production of La Clemenza di Tito at the Canadian Opera Company last year, and with about a half-day’s notice, I got the call to go on. It was the second perfomrance in the run, and I hadn’t even had a staging run-through for Sesto or music rehearsals with the conductor before that afternoon (mainly because I was busy singing the other pants role, Annio, at the same time). Even still, it was a big success, and the most transporting, magical night I have ever had on stage. The adrenaline, nerves, and everything else combined for an almost out-of-body experience.
Bonus: One question you wish someone ask you.
Q: Are you very enthusiastic about apple pie, the eating of said pie, and the making of it to the best of your ability, with an exclusively butter crust?
A: Yes.
Come hear Wallis at Opera in the Park on Saturday, July 26 at 8pm. FREE ADMISSION!
Ten Questions with…
Daniela Mack,
mezzo-soprano
Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking
1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:
Having the chance to embody a character who is different from myself. I love the process of discovering my character’s voice, and then learning how to communicate that through my own singing.
2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is:
Staying healthy. So many things affect the singer’s instrument: weather, travel, sleep, diet, hydration, allergies, over/under use, etc. Singers try to create the best possible environment in order to be healthy, but many of these factors are out of our control. The upside is that no live performance will ever be exactly like another, which leaves room for spontaneous and wonderful things to happen on stage.
3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:My first opera. I was 7 years old and attended a college production of La Traviata and was totally captivated. I loved the music, the costumes, the set, and was so mad at the end because I didn’t want Violetta to die! Immediately after leaving the theater, I locked myself in my room so nobody could hear me pretend to sing like an opera singer.
4. A few of my favorite films are:
The Goonies, Labyrinth, Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jone’s Diary, Batman movie (Burton and Nolan), Gigi, any Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, The Usual Suspects, any Gene Kelly film…I could go on and on 🙂
5. Three things I can’t live without are:
Love, my family, chocolate.
6. My number one hobby is:
Reading (but binge-watching my favorite tv shows is a close second!).
7. If you could perform with any singer, retired or deceased, who would it be?
Tatiana Troyanos, Frank Sinatra, or Jacques Brel.
8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
Education or Ballroom Dance.
9. What role do you wish you could sing that you could never sing because it’s the wrong voice type/gender?
Scarpia in Tosca.
10. Describe your favorite moment on stage.
The first time I’m on stage with the orchestra always overwhelms me with joy. The wash of sound and energy that rises up from the pit is so invigorating, and it always reminds me of how blessed I am to be able to do what I love.
See Daniela in Madison Opera’s production of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking April 25 and 27 at Overture Hall. Tickets start at just $18!
Ten Questions with…
Michael Mayes, baritone
Joseph DeRocher in Dead Man Walking
1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:
The look on someone’s face when you’ve reached down into them and plucked a seldom strummed heart-string. That look can make the mountain of work I’ve had to climb to get to that point seem almost insignificant in comparison.
2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is:
Being on the road full-time. I’ve been on the road for about 2 years this stretch…it wears on your soul. Not having a consistent “home” is really tough on your psyche ~ luckily I have some great friends and family in incredible places conducive to the recharging of one’s spiritual and emotional batteries. My folks live in Creede, CO ~ it’s a funky little mountain town 9,000 ft above sea level ~ the people and environs of that town really know how to hit the sweet-spot for maximum relaxation and decompression. One of the most gorgeous places I know.
3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:Standing on the stage only about 20 feet form one of my musical heros, Willie Nelson, while he sang “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.” I was there with my good friends Thomas Ryan Rhodes (of Fort Worth Opera) and his wife Logan. We’d gotten backstage access through my friends Amber Digby and Randy Lindley who make up Amber Digby and Midnight Flyer ~ a popular Texas Roadhouse Country Band. I was standing there with a bunch of other notable country artists ~ some of whom I had been listening to my entire life, while Willie crooned his way through one of my favorite songs with absolute perfection vocally, while his fingers worked their way across Trigger’s neck in counterpoint. Standing just behind him, and looking out over the enormous 4th of July picnic crowd ~ which was almost completely silent while he sang ~ the power of that moment was absolutely indescribable. It would have been easier to count the people without tears in their eyes, that those with.
4. A few of my favorite films are:
There Will Be Blood (Should be an opera)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
No Country for Old Men
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
The Searchers
5. Three things I can’t live without are:
Coffee. Music. Dog hair covering everything I wear.
6. My number one hobby is:
Playing folk and country music with my friends from other musical disciplines.
7. If you could perform with any singer, retired or deceased, who would it be?
Willie Nelson.
8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
I’d probably join the Peace Corps.
9. What role do you wish you could sing that you could never sing because it’s the wrong voice type/gender?
Mephistopheles.
10. Describe your favorite moment on stage.
The first time I did Dead Man Walking ~ it was the first performance in Tulsa, OK. I was fortunate to have Jerome Shannon, who is a great friends and colleague, in the pit. Jerry is the kind of conductor that learns the score so thoroughly that his eyes are always on you while he conducts ~ you’ll actually see him reach down, and turn 10 or 12 pages in his score while never taking his eyes off the stage…it’s really incredible. The last scene of the opera, where Joseph finally confesses his guilt to the parents of his victims, is an emotional pressure cooker. I was strapped to the bed, which then is released from the base, and stood up as to allow the condemned to address those gathered to watch his execution. While I am laboriously working my way through one of the most intense moments in the show ~ I look down to get my cue for the next phrase, and I see Jerry, looking up at me, with tears streaming down his face. I was crying, he was crying, everyone on stage was crying, the audience was crying ~ in that moment, we were all connected ~ we were all one, performance, audience, orchestra, conductor… it’s those kinds of feeling of interconnectedness that really drive me to keep doing what I am doing… that moment when Jerry’s tear-soaked eyes met mine and went right through me. It was all I could do to stammer out the last few words I had left to sing. In moments like those, I get it ~ and getting it ain’t always easy.
Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer)
Do you have any idea what I could do with this extra pile of money I have lying around?
Absolutely ~ here are my 5 favorite composers, directors (one of which is directing our very own Dead Man Walking), producers, and ideas for incredible operas. Get them all together in a room and lock the door until they come out with something unlike anything that’s been on an opera stage to date. Fund it and produce it in a combination of cities where their conception of opera is still stuck in the past and blow their minds so completely that they’ll never be able to look at opera the same way again.
See Michael in Madison Opera’s production of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking April 25 and 27 at Overture Hall. Tickets start at just $18!
