This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 10, 2011 - A young soprano named Corinne Winters is being honored today (Nov. 10) not so much for past successes, rather in anticipation of her future, which appears extraordinarily starry.
At a celebratory luncheon, Winters assumes first-class membership in a very special artistic society, one that constitutes a key element of the secret to Opera Theatre of St. Louis's success.
If you pay attention to operatic comings and goings nowadays, it is difficult to avoid the evidence. For example, on Saturday, I was at the Esquire Theatre awaiting Wagner's sprawling music drama "Siegfried" to burst forth from the screen. Part of the warm-up to "Siegfried" was a promotion for the Met's production of Philip Glass's opera "Satyagraha," to be broadcast live from the Met on Saturday, Nov. 19.
"Satyagraha" revolves around Mohandas Gandhi. The singer who brings the character to life is a silvery voiced tenor by the name of Richard Croft.
I knew Croft 30 years ago at Opera Theatre. In 1981, he appeared in the American premiere of an opera called "An Actor's Revenge" by the Japanese composer Minoru Miki. It was complicated; it was risky; it was triumphant. The show was very much a part of Opera Theatre's commitment to offering its audiences brilliantly adventuresome and challenging repertory. The commitment was sustained courageously in the company's production of "The Death of Klinghoffer" this season.
And so, as I watched snippets of Croft as Gandhi on the big screen at the Esquire, my heart swelled with pride for his accomplishments, and I was struck once again by the dynamism and influence not of the behemoth Met but of our own opera company, and how its 35-plus years existence literally has transformed lives of singers on its stage, of the conductors and stage directors who've brought the shows to its stage, and quite profoundly those of us who go to see the operas it presents.
To no small degree, it has served as a model for other ensemble companies, and has pumped high-octane fuel into the serious musical theater scene in America.
Winters -- whose career advanced dramatically when she was catapulted into the role of Melisande in the 2011 season's production of "Pelleas and Melisande" -- receives further distinction today. For besides being one of the artists firmly ensconced in the company's roster, she also is winner of the first Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation Prize. The $10,000 prize "recognizes extraordinary artistic potential in early-career artists and provides support for their continued artistic and professional development."
The Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation Young Artist Education and Development Programs at Opera Theatre back the award. Last year, Opera Theatre received a gift of $2 million from the Foundation, a huge boost for the company overall and its commitment to support the development of careers of promising young singers in particular.
Winters is from Frederick, Md., originally. In a telephone interview last week from Philadelphia, she said she was quite aware of the company's established tradition of nurturing young singers and taking chances on them by casting them in principal roles.
"The difference is," she said, "a lot of other companies say that, but don't follow through. " Winters' Opera Theatre debut was in 2009 when she sang as one of the gossips in John Corigliano's "The Ghosts of Versailles."
"Apparently," she said with a laugh, "I made a good impression." Although the company didn't have a principal contract for her at the time, it did have a sort of consolation prize -- its $1,000 Richman award. Then there was Melisande.
Besides, she also will sing the role of Micaela in Bizet's passionate "Carmen," which goes up in the 2012 season. While not the biggest part in the show, Micaela's is an important one. For example, she sings one of the most affectingly beautiful songs in all of opera. "I say that nothing," Micaela sings, "frightens me."
Winters isn't easily scared either. In our interview on the phone, she said before she'd received news of the $10,000 prize, she was faced with paying for a European audition tour, and had nowhere near enough money to pay for it. Because the tour was so important to her -- and indeed captured her the starring role of Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata" at the English National Opera in 2013 -- she decided to throw caution to the wind "and put it all on my credit card." In a deus ex machina moment, the confidential notice of the $10,000 windfall came to her, and the tour was on track, this time paid for.
Dr. Mabel Purkerson, professor emerita of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, is co-trustee of the Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation. The late Ms. Reeder was her aunt. The foundation supports a wide range of philanthropic interests, many having to do with education and the arts. Mabel Dorn Reeder was a teacher, Purkerson said, "and the prize fits very well with her interests, such as conservation, history, and the education of young people." The prize was established with money drawn from the Foundation's beneficence to the opera company.
"My aunt wanted to contribute to young people," Purkerson said, "and to bring along the talents they have and to see that the development of those talents is sustained."
"The prize, she continued, "is a wonderful thing. It was Tim O'Leary's idea," and an idea she supported enthusiastically.
The Mable Dorn Reeder prize contributes to the maintenance and extension of Opera Theatre's secret to success. O'Leary, general director of Opera Theatre, noted that 25 years ago, the Richard Gaddes Fund for Young Singers was established. Gaddes was the founder and first general director of Opera Theatre, and if anyone was responsible for the company's support of young American singers and their careers, it is he.
"The gift of the Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation," O'Leary said, "helps us to build on one of the most important traditions of Opera Theatre -- identifying young talent. Corinne is following in the footsteps of Suzanne Mentzer and Thomas Hampson" -- as well as other artists -- Christine Brewer, Erie Mills, Sherri Greenawald, Ashley Putnam, the late Jerry Hadley, Vinson Cole, Susan Graham, Dawn Upshaw, Rick Croft's brother, Dewayne Croft, Sylvia McNair, Judith Christin, Frank Lopardo -- the list goes on and on. Each, in some way or another, was affected by the encouragement given them by Opera Theatre. Every one of them added to the company's luminous reputation.
Winters said she wondered aloud to Opera Theatre's artistic administrator Paul Kilmer, "I don't understand how all this happens to me."
"And he said, 'We believe in you as an artist and a person.' "
"So, was I thrilled and honored to learn of the prize? To say that would be an understatement."
The St. Louis Beacon receives support from the Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation.