POPPY GAROFALO
Staff Writer
Inside the crowded Bovard Auditiorium at University of Southern California, 25 Pepperdine students cheered from the audience for a rising opera singer, who is both a friend and peer on the Malibu campus.
Senior Christin Wismann, an applied vocal music major, was one of four top winners in the Western region finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Wismann entered the auditions by submitting an application to the council. The competition is nationwide, with the applicant pool divided into districts throughout the United States.
“This is one of the biggest competitions for opera,” Wismann said.
Separate district auditions were held in each of the four western regions, and 11 finalists were chosen from more than 100 applicants.
Wismann competed in the Los Angeles district and was among the finalists.
For the western region finals, each vocalist was required to prepare five arias, a solo vocal piece, for performance. Their selections had to come from different styles and be performed in a variety of languages.
“We were allowed to choose our first performance piece,” Wismann said. “After having reviewed, the council decided what we would perform next.”
Wismann also received the Special Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council. This included a $1,000 award, which was presented at the finals.
Wismann has been singing for much of her life, beginning with her first voice lesson at age 9. However, she never considered opera until she came to Pepperdine and met Kathleen Roland, an adjunct professor of voice.
“She encouraged my interest in opera,” Wismann said. “She thought that I’d be really good at it.”
Roland said she heard a unique sound in Wismann’s voice and sensed a real presence in her.
“She has a tremendous ability to communicate with her audience,” Roland said. “She has an amazing work ethic.”
Roland said she does not usually guide students toward a career in opera, in which vocalists are required to be both musicians and actors. Opera singers need to have knowledge of many languages and must be physically fit to perform, she said.
“It is a hard road to have any kind of a career as a singer,” Roland said. “I look for intelligence, an amazing voice and a diligent work ethic as important qualities.”
Wismann’s training has included private voice lessons and classes such as music theory. Opera is typically performed in French, German, Italian and English.
While Wismann said she does speak a little Italian, she is not fluent in any foreign language.
“We have to know exactly what we’re singing about,” Wismann said. “I do understand the verbs and conjugations. For the pieces we sing, we have to know the meaning of every word.”
Wismann also noted the importance of performance experience.
Two summers ago, she performed famous opera scenes while abroad in Heidelberg, Germany. She also performed the role of Marian in Pepperdine’s fall musical production of “The Music Man” and appeared as Despina in the Flora Thorton Opera Program production of Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte.”
Wismann was showcased along with three other vocalists by the Opera Buss at the Colborn School of Music. On Nov. 16, she will perform as Violettta in Verdi’s “La Traviata” for the Palm Springs Opera Guild.
Wismann is the third Pepperdine student in recent years to be honored as a finalist in the Western Regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions.
Jessica Rivera, a 1996 graduate, and Jessica Tivens, a 2003 graduate, were finalists in the 2002 competition.
After graduation, Wismann said she plans to pursue a career in opera. She plans to continue her education by getting a master’s degree in vocal performance and make more connections through summer programs.
“I would love to be picked up by an agency that could schedule performances for me,” Wismann said. “Then I could appear in opera houses both nationally and internationally.”
Angela Price, adjunct professor of voice, said there is never really a time that Wismann is not studying because she is always asking questions.
“This is not something that she does,” Price said. “It is part of who she is.”
Price also observed that Wismann’s talent makes people take notice.
“She has an incredible instrument and a great stage presence,” Price said. “She’s the whole package.”
11-03-2005
