Q&A with Met Opera hopeful Jacqueline Brecheen

Don’t let Jacqueline Brecheen’s sweet appearance fool you. Her youthful and innocent appeal comes with a big voice.

“She has a full, lyric soprano voice with coloratura that carries with ease in a big hall,” said Costanza Cuccaro-Penhorwood, chancellor’s professor of voice at the Jacobs School of Music.

Brecheen, a first-year doctoral student, competed in the Indiana District Auditions for the annual Metropolitan Opera National Council on Jan. 9. The annual auditions are designed to discover up-and-coming opera singers.

On Saturday, Brecheen, along with other winners from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, will compete in the Tri-State Regional Auditions in Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University in Indianapolis.
 
IDS: How frequently do you audition?
Brecheen: Last semester, I did 15 auditions, maybe more. I traveled to New York twice, Chicago three times, Cincinnati, Santa Barbara, Ohio and a couple in Bloomington.

IDS: How did you discover your love of opera?
Brecheen: I didn’t even know I could sing until high school. My best friend was going to audition for choir in school, so I tagged along.

IDS: Are you excited about the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions?
Brecheen: I am so excited, I’ve never done Met auditions before. I always chickened out or got sick.

IDS: How did you get started into music?
Brecheen: I took lessons with Scharmal Schrock every few weeks and dilly-dallied with it. I was in a band in high school and early on in college. I sang top-40 songs, like Guns and Roses and Sheryl Crow. I never growled in rock songs and I sang with a clear tone. It wasn’t that hard to transition into classical style, it came more or less natural to me.

IDS: What is a typical day for you? How do you practice? How frequently?
Brecheen: I wake up in the morning and I try not to sing too early. Usually, I try to hum around the house a while. By lunch I try to do some scales and some arpeggios. My teacher gives a new exercise every week, I have a little book of exercises and I try to run through all my exercises every day. I practice every day by myself for a total of an hour to an hour and a half.

IDS: What is your favorite aria to sing?
Brecheen: Right now my favorite to sing is “Oh! quante volte” from “I Capuleti e i Montecchi”, which means ‘Oh! how many times.’ Basically it is sung by Juliet and she is supposed to get married. She is looking for Romeo. It goes on for eight minutes.
IDS: How do you prepare for an opera role compared to an opera recital?
Brecheen: It’s different. You have to become that person, basically, and it is very detailed. You go through all the lines and there are very specific words that make up the character you are. You have a personality and emotions that come across in the music.

IDS: How costly is your profession?
Brecheen: It’s an absolute money pit. A school teacher is included in your tuition. You have to buy the musical score (the book of the opera all music and all the lines), regular textbooks, dresses ... an accompanist any time I want to sing with one and application fees. Going to auditions is very expensive. I easily spent $2,000 this year just going to auditions.

IDS: What do you say to people who say opera is not their type of music?
Brecheen:  When people say, ‘Opera is not my thing,’ I ask them how many operas they’ve seen. They usually say none. When I see people go to the opera for first time they say that it was amazing, they wonder why they haven’t been doing this the whole time.

IDS: What is your ultimate career goal?
Brecheen:  To run a children’s singing school. I love to teach children to sing. They are like little sponges and do the cutest, funniest things. They are willing to try anything.

IDS: Do you ever get overwhelmed with your work load?
Brecheen: I haven’t done competitions since I’ve been here. The academic load is so heavy, auditions are so crazy. I’d rather get a job then a get a 100 bucks. Different singers push themselves in different directions, they push for everything that comes along and they get tired and aren’t performing at their best.