ALEXIS SEBRING
Life Assistant
If you are driving around one day and hear an opera singer in the car behind you, it is most likely senior Amanda Gregory. This talented and driven young woman has studied voice since she was 7 years-old and began opera her freshman year in college. Graduate school is just around the corner for her, and her performance, “Bartered Bride,” at Pepperdine is even closer. Gregory brings fellow students insight to the details of the musical life of an opera singer.
Why did you start singing opera?
“I thought originally that opera was too traditional for me, then I heard music from composers like Schoenderg and Ricky Ian Gordon and they had modern operas that fascinated me. I came to school in L.A. so I could do acting. I was doing background acting and modeling. When I found out that classical was now one of the most important things for acting, I became interested in that. What struck my interest was that in the ‘Fifth Element,’ there’s a scene where there’s a blue alien that sings a fast techno opera song. She sings crazy and so I thought, I’ll do opera as long as one day I can paint my body blue and sing. And it looks like that’s a strong possibility now.”
Where are you applying to graduate school?
“Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, USC, Cincinnati Conservatory, Boston University, University of Maryland. I have two more auditions – I enjoy auditioning a lot because these people have never heard me, so they can’t possibly be bored of my voice yet.”
Do you take private lessons?
“I have taken private lessons since I was 7, then I got into dance and I just did choir outside of school and talent shows and little girl stuff, and I wanted to be a contemporary Christian singer. When I was in eighth grade, I did theater and singing with an ensemble.”
Opera singing is loud, so where do you practice?
“It is loud, so you’re not allowed to have a microphone when performing – it’s looked down upon. You have to project really loudly. It’s uncomfortable to practice anywhere but a practice room. I have a convertible and I thought I could practice in there, and I totally thought nobody could hear me singing but the other day I was driving and someone I knew was in front of me at the stop light and they told me they could hear me. So now I can’t practice in my car anymore.”
Do you find it attractive when guys can sing?
“Definitely. I would never date a guy who was pursing voice as a career, but I think it’s rare to hear a guy with a really good voice because it’s a female – dominated industry. It’s exciting to hear a deep voice sing like that.”
What Pepperdine performance are you in?
“It’s called ‘Bartered Bride’ and it’s the Czech National Opera, but we sing it in English because we don’t have subtitles. I play the Bartered Bride. It’s mainly about this woman who is in love with this other character and her parents are basically selling her to a rich farmer whose son needs to be married. She has to consent– so does her lover– to her marrying someone else. He makes a deal that she has to marry the son of the rich farmer but he is the eldest son of the farmer so she gets to choose who she marries, and she chooses her lover.”
How much time do you dedicate to preparing for rehearsals?
“It’s tough because I have four classes and it’s tough to sit in a practice room for an hour whenever I have a paper due. I practice on my own an hour a day. We have rehearsal for three to four hours every night. To prepare for auditions I practice by myself for 30 minutes to an hour a day. You can only practice so much vocally or you wear yourself out. A lot of singers will do a lot of research and listen to music. They spend more time listening to their songs and learning them and translating the languages and learning diction.”
Why do you like singing so much?
“I was adopted at birth so I guess I can look at it like I always thought my biological parents were famous singers or something, because I love singing so much. Then when I met them at 17 and I found out no one in my biological family was a singer at all, it became something that we all thought was a gift. It’s something special and it seems so destined. When I was a [high school] student I had all the opportunities to pursue my dreams, and it would be a shame not to fulfill my dreams because the opportunities I have and all the sacrifices my family has made for me.”
Who’s your biggest inspiration in this field?
“Anna Netrebko. She is a Russian opera singer. She got an audition at this opera house in Russia where she was a cleaner, and she made breakthroughs in opera because she’s so beautiful and she’s such a riveting actress. She’s so involved and connected in her character, and she pushes the limit and pushes the envelope in what’s expected.”
See Gregory perform in “Bartered Bride” on Feb. 28 and March 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Smothers Theater.
02-21-2008
