Ten Questions with Elizabeth Caballero

Ten Questions with...

  Elizabeth Caballero, soprano
   Donna Anna in Don Giovanni

1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:

Traveling. I love going to new places and meeting new people. Then I love getting to make beautiful music with all these new people in these great new places.

 

2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is:
Traveling. I hate airports. Too many people and lots of lines. I hate long lines. Another thing I hate about traveling is how much I miss my own bed and pots and pans. I'm a big home body.

3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:
When I first started studying voice I went to a recital by soprano Aprille Millo. I was blown away by her commitment to the drama and her amazing voice. One of the final pieces she sang was L'atra notte from Boito's Mefistofole. She just knelt in front of the piano and cradled a make believe baby. At the end of the aria my skin was all goose bumped and I said to myself this is what I want to be. To this day I still remember that amazing performance.  

4. A few of my favorite films are: 
Moonstruck - obvious reasons; Steel Magnolias - someone needs to make it into an opera; Forest Gump - makes me happy; The Shining - creepy Jack Nicholson.

5. Three things I can’t live without are:
My TV. I'm a TV addict. 

My phone, don't you dare try to take it away from me. 

Can't really think of a 3rd. I'm quite simple really. I love my electronic gadgets, and my phone has everything in it. It's my camera, computer, and iPod all in one, so I guess my phone can count as a lot of things. 

6. My number one hobby is:
Music! I feel so blessed that my hobby is my job. 

7. If you could perform with any singer, retired or deceased, who would it be?
I have always admired Mirella Freni. I wish I could go back in time and be her Contessa to her Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. Then in the mean time, take notes for whenever I get to sing Susanna again.

8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?I'd love to be involved with animals, either medically as a vet or else rescuing abandoned and abused animals.

9. What role do you wish you could sing that you could never sing because it’s the wrong voice type/gender? 
I'd love to sing the role of Scarpia in Tosca. He is just so deliciously evil.

10. Describe your favorite moment on stage. 
My favorite moments on stage are when I'm with a colleague or several colleagues and we connect so well that we forget we are singing/performing and when the applause come, it kinda shocks me. It's electrifying when that happens. It's a feeling like, oh wait, you were listening. Oh yeah! I'm singing. I love that! 

See Elizabeth in Madison Opera's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni April 26 & 28 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at just $18– why wait.

Ten Questions with Matt Boehler

Ten Questions with...

Matt Boehler, bass
Leporello in Don Giovanni

1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:

Getting to make something new every time we step out there.

 

2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is:

Dealing with a cape. Especially when there is a sword involved. One could devote a whole semester of study to this in conservatory.

3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:Seeing Annie on Broadway when I was very young. We visited my Nana in Jersey, and she took me to see it. Apparently I stood up and started flapping my arms, imitating the conductor. Nana tried to get me to sit, and a woman behind her said, "Looks like you've got a musician on your hands."

4. A few of my favorite films are:Airplane!, Clue, North by Northwest, Critters 2 (it's much more fun than the first installment).

5. Three things I can’t live without are: 

Oxygen, water, food — in that order.

6. My number one hobby is: 

Reading.

7. If you could perform with any singer, retired or deceased, who would it be?
Carol Channing.

8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in? 

Trust me: if I knew, I'd have done it already.

9. What role do you wish you could sing that you could never sing because it’s the wrong voice type/gender?
Tossup. I'd either sing Violetta and turn out a totally fierce Sempre libera, or sing a totally disgusting Herod in Salome and chew all the available scenery.

10. Describe your favorite moment on stage.
That moment after the curtain drops, and you're all backstage right before the bows, kind of stunned that everyone made it through all that.

See Matt in Madison Opera's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni April 26 & 28 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at just $18– why wait?

Ten Questions with Kelly Markgraf

Ten Questions with...

  Kelly Markgraf, baritone
   Don Giovanni in Don Giovanni

1. My favorite thing about being a singer is: 

The flexibility of our daily lives. Being your own boss and crafting your own schedule is not something a lot of people get to do.

2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is: 

Maintaining discipline in the face of that flexibility. I had a teacher once who pointed out that you have to train like an Olympic athlete.

3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is: 

In recent memory, the best live performance I've heard was tenor Jonas Kaufmann singing Cavaradossi at the Met. I found myself unwittingly muttering expletives of disbelief at the sheer beauty and technical agility of his singing. Definitely something I will remember for a long time to come! 

4. A few of my favorite films are: 

The Lion in Winter (Hepburn and O'Toole), The Philadelphia Story (Hepburn, Grant, and Stewart), and Summer Stock (Gene Kelley and Judy Garland).

5. Three things I can’t live without are: 

Tea, my wife, and my daughter.

6. My number one hobby is: 

Tea. The delicacy, the art of creation... it's a phenomenally fascinating craft.

7. If you could perform with any singer, retired or deceased, who would it be? 

Renato Bruson, if I'm in an opera mood, or James Taylor, for all the other days.

8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in? 

Probably law, or owning my own tea company

9. What role do you wish you could sing that you could never sing because it’s the wrong voice type/gender? 

Carmen. For. Sure. I would be fierce! 

10. Describe your favorite moment on stage. 

My favorite moment is possibly one from summer stock theater in Cape Cod. We were performing Titanic, the Musical (good show!) and a storm took out ALL the electrical in the theater other than the red glow of the exit signs. After debating what to do, or if we could even proceed, most of the audience fetched flashlights from their cars. Some shone them into the pit onto the players' stands, others shone them onto the stage; another brought their car to the side of the theater and shone their headlights in the side door and onto the stage. We finished the performance! What a memory that is! 

See Kelly in Madison Opera's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni April 26 & 28 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at just $18– why wait.