Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaarin Cecilia Phelps.
Kaarin Cecilia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am from Ashburnham, Massachusetts, a rural town about an hour outside of Boston. I grew up surrounded by music. My grandmother was from Puerto Rico and adored dancing and singing along to music and her maiden name was Del Pilar. The Del Pilar family made quite famous classical flamenco guitars in Spain and our ancestors came from Zaragosa and the Canary Islands before they found themselves emigrating to Puerto Rico. My grandfather was a first-generation Finnish-American and his family was also very musical. When I used to go to church with my mom as a child, I would sing the hymns with complete fervency and excitement and I loved when people from our community would complement my voice or tell my mom how lovely my singing was. When I was in the third grade, I decided to start taking trumpet lessons and ended up playing all the way until the age of twenty. I was in jazz band, concert band, marching band and even toured the country for five summers in a row (ages 15-20) with the Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps and the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps. I was a featured dancer and soloist in many productions.
When I was fourteen years old (a freshman in high school), I began taking voice lessons. This is when I first was introduced to classical vocal music. I sang art songs in Italian, English, German and French and after about one year of this, I was sure I wanted to sing classically as a professional. I took part in the school musicals, choirs and the District and All State Choirs in Massachusetts. When it came time to apply to college, I wanted to find one that would allow me to continue to play the trumpet as well as study classical voice. I received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and began as a Freshman there in fall of 2011. After a month of studying, my voice teacher introduced me to the woman who first let me sing opera. Kathleen Flynn, a soprano still living in the Boston area, was not my voice teacher at the time but she took me into her studio to consult with me. She told me I should be an opera singer, and I believed her. She gave me my first two arias, “Voi che sapete,” from The Marriage of Figaro and “Che farò senza Euridice?” I began studying with Kathleen as well as applications to transfer to a conservatory program where I could get a more comprehensive operatic and stage training. In the fall of 2012, I transferred to The Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut. It was there that I met and studied with soprano Maureen O’Flynn. Maureen introduced me to an entire world and I owe my love of opera to her and her husband Claude Corbeil (also a voice teacher at the Hartt School).
At Hartt, I performed my first operatic roles and coached intensively with the incredible Eric Trudel. By the time I graduated, I had performed Olga Olsen in “Street Scene,” the Third Lady in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” the Mother in “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” and La Ciesca in “Gianni Schicchi” (Gianni Schicchi was my professional debut with Opera Connecticut). I took a gap year after graduating in December 2015 and studied with the woman to whom I owe the bulk of my vocal technique. Her name is Valerie Sorel and she lives in North Haven, CT. Valerie gave my voice the wings I needed. In 2017, I began my master’s degree at the University of Houston, Moores School of Music. While at Moores, I studied under mezzo-soprano Melanie Sonnenberg and coached with Brian Suits and Kevin J. Miller. With Melanie, I made many vocal discoveries that will serve me for the rest of my career. At UH, I sang in an opera production every season, often as a lead role. These roles were Clarissa in “The Love for Three Oranges,” Lady Sneerwell in the world premiere of Robert Nelson’s “The School for Scandal,” Isabella in “L’Italiana in Algeri,” Augusta Tabor in “The Ballad of Baby Doe,” Hansel in “Hansel and Gretel,” and Carlotta Vance in William Bolcom’s “Dinner at Eight.” I was busy.
I graduated in May 2019 and since then, I have sung and taught locally in the greater Houston area. I have performed with Opera in the Heights in the professional premiere of “Yeltsin in Texas!,” Operativo Houston’s production of Pauline Viardot’s “Cendrillon” as Armelinde, and Handel’s Messiah as the alto soloist with the Houston Masterworks Chorus. I will perform Beethoven’s Mass in C with the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with the Houston Masterworks Chorus in the fall (postponed because of COVID-19).
In the fall, I plan to move to Paris with my boyfriend and pursue a career in opera in Europe.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My brother struggled with mental health and addiction issues from the time I was about 12 years old. My parents did everything they could for years to try to have him diagnosed and treated, however the battle was heartbreaking, difficult and extremely costly. After many years of struggle to get him into a rehab facility that could also treat his mental health issues, we were able to get him to agree to treatment at Gould Farm in Monterey, Massachusetts. This place is amazing and owes my brother his life! The facility came at an incredible financial burden to my parents, who have truly been left with nothing and a gigantic mortgage on their home… but it doesn’t matter. He is healthy and has been clean for many years now. This struggle made me stronger and is one of the reasons I will continue to work hard and cherish the health of my body and mind for as long as I am able.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a mezzo-soprano. This is the vocal range that lies between soprano and contralto, which gives me a richer, more meaty sound in the middle of my voice. As a mezzo, I am super lucky because I get to play the most interesting characters. The majority of characters written for mezz0-soprano in operas are old women, witches, or boys. Yes, I said it. Boys. Mezzos often sing trouser-roles, in which they perform a male character. Some of my favorite trouser roles that I would love to perform or perform again are: Hansel from “Hansel in Gretel,” Romeo from “I Capuletti e i Montecchi,” or Ruggiero from “Alcina.”
I believe my best assets are that I love to act and integrate my singing into the way I move around the stage. I do a great deal of prep work into this part of the process of learning an operatic role. For example, the character of Augusta Tabor which I performed at UH, is based on real historical figure. I did readings and looked up many photos of her in order to get an idea of who she really was as a person. I believe my detail work makes me a better actress which makes my singing better and more integrated. This makes me very proud.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My PARENTS! My dad is my number one fan and brags about me to everyone- he always has. My parents flew to Houston THREE times in the past two years to see performances.
Maureen O’Flynn and Claude Corbeil taught me my love of opera and made me value genuine acting in opera.
Eric Trudel – my first coach who remains a figure in my life. He is the reason I know who I am as a singer.
Valerie Sorel – my teacher in 2015 and currently. The engineer of my sound. The woman who knows everything about how my voice works and how to fix the parts that don’t. Plus, just an amazing soul and hilarious woman.
Melanie Sonnenberg – my fabulous teacher from Graduate School at UH who gave me wings to soar into a professional career and continues to encourage me on my journey.
Brian Suits – The fabulous coach and collaborative pianist at UH whom I was so so lucky to work with and remain a colleague to.
Kevin J. Miller – a wonderful coach who has believed in me since our first working session together.
Erick Lowe – my boyfriend who reminds me every day how talented he thinks I am and how he knows I will have a fabulous career. He comes to every performance.
Clare Demer and Joe DiVito – my best friends and my rocks.
Pricing:
- Voice Lessons – $1 a minute Skype of in person (in person postponed until the COVID-19 pandemic wanes)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kaarinceciliaphelps.com
- Email: kphelps.mezzo@gmail.com
- Instagram: kphelps.mezzo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaarinceciliaphelps
Image Credit:
Elizabeth Hoard, Pin Lim
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