Vocal training in Europe for Wesfarmers Arts Young Artist Jessica Blunt
Jessica Blunt has been part of the Wesfarmers Arts Young Artist program throughout 2024 and will continue her participation in 2025. She has just returned to WA after travelling for two weeks in Austria and Germany, immersing herself in intensive vocal training with some of the world’s leading opera professionals. Read on below to hear all about her experience:
"I spent my first week studying at the “Stimme, Leib und Seele” program in Großgmain, Austria, which is on the outskirts of Salzburg in the Bavarian alps. Here, I worked one on one with American coloratura soprano Brenda Rae, who was in between shows performing Gilda at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. I role studied Queen of the Night from Die Zauberflote, Zerbinetta from Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as other roles including Adele from Die Fledermaus and Mimi from La bohème. I also coached with repetiteur Marc Veter and had movement sessions with Elaine Brown, both who had both flown in from London for the week. The course is run by Austrian-based Australian conductor Jennifer Condon, and finished with a final live-streamed performance on the last evening.
I then travelled to Vienna to have lessons with Valentin Lundin, a Swedish tenor and voice specialist, focusing on the biomechanics of the body and accessing natural resonance with ease. Whilst in Vienna I also saw Ariadne auf Naxos and La bohème at the Wiener Staatsoper, and got to meet soprano Ailyn Perez (who sang Mimì) at the stage door.
I finished with a couple of nights in Munich, where I caught up with an old colleague from my time in London who is now singing at the Bayerische Staatsoper. He gave me a backstage tour of the house before I saw a performance of Un ballo in maschera, with the soprano role sung by Australian Nicole Car.
It was a truly fabulous and intense couple of weeks of ‘tuning up my instrument’ and I feel I have really gained so much new information that I can now process and develop back in Perth. I feel I've unlocked new levels of musicianship and vocal technique, as well as really working on the importance of the whole body and its role in supporting the voice, particularly when singing coloratura and the broader lyric repertoire. I’m incredibly grateful to WAO for supporting me on this trip and can’t wait to begin my second year as a Wesfarmers Arts Young Artist."
Jessica's study trip was supported by WAO's Principal Partner Wesfarmers Arts and philanthropic support from The Roberts Emerging Artist Program and Bendat Family Foundation.
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