Ten Questions with Nikolas Wenzel

Ten Questions with...

Nikolas Wenzel, bass
Sacristan in Tosca

1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:

The ability to go to work every day and pour your soul into something - to work collaboratively with others and create art is the greatest privilege we have as singers.  I am so grateful to be able to do this for a living.

2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is: 

The demands that having a career places on a singer are very high - the time away from home and family, the extra hours, and the travel all take their toll. There are many sacrifices that being in this line of work requires, and it’s a very delicate balancing act.

3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:
When visiting London with several high school classmates in 2001, I had the privilege of seeing the West End production of Les Misérables from the first row of the balcony. That I was finally able to see that show, and through it understand and experience all of the emotions that can be conveyed through live performance, helped galvanize for me that my future lied in music and in the theater. I will never forget that evening.

4. A few of my favorite films are: 

I am a huge Stanley Kubrick fan - so some of my favorite films of his are Barry Lyndon, Paths of Glory, and of course The Shining. Kubrick was an absolute master of the lens, and his work was truly groundbreaking with regard to the visual narrative. But - for me, it’s his incredibly insightful and pointed use of classical music in his scores that make his films what they are. He is able to take elements of existing classical works (he was a huge Beethoven fan) and craft them into their own subtle commentary on the story - even at points allowing them to serve as leitmotif. It’s absolutely fascinating.

5. Three things I can’t live without are:
1 - My beautiful family. 
2 - My iPhone. 
3 - I know this won’t be popular, but - DA BEARS.

6. My number one hobby is:
Most definitely photography. I’ve been shooting on and off since high school, and I’ve definitely been devoting more time to it since the birth of our first child. She makes the perfect subject.

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

Without a doubt, I would choose Cesare Siepi. Not just for the sake of actually being able to hear him live, in person -  but to be able to watch and learn from an absolute master of the Italian bass repertoire. If it were possible to sing the Leporello to Siepi’s Don Giovanni - there would be nothing that could ever top that!

8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
I think I would probably be in professional photography - wedding, scenic, sports -  or maybe even cinematography. I think that would be another career field that would be very fulfilling.

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

It would be great fun to sing The Queen of the Night from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. It’s one of those dream roles for singers - it features two of the most virtuosic arias in the rep, has minimal stage time, and is an incredibly fierce character. What else can a singer ask for?

10. Describe your favorite moment on stage. 

A few years back, I was singing Dr. Dulcamara in a production of L’Elisir d’amore. As I had begun singing the opening lines of his first act aria, I sort of...well, I let’s just say that I lit my hand on fire. Thankfully, it was quickly extinguished -  and somehow I didn’t miss a beat, and the orchestra and I went on as if nothing had happened. The best part?  The audience, and even some of my colleagues thought that it was a planned gag. Ahhh...there’s nothing like the magic of live theater!

Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer).

Where did you grow up?

I actually grew up not too far from here, in a town called Pecatonica, IL, just west of Rockford. I used to travel to Madison quite often to see concerts with my friends, and I’m thrilled to return to the area and make my debut here!

See Nikolas in Madison Opera's production of Puccini's Tosca November 1 & 3 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at just $18– why wait?

Ten Questions with Scott Brunscheen

Ten Questions with...

Scott Brunscheen, tenor
Spoletta in Tosca

1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:

Making art within a genre that has no “delete button”; once you sing and put that sound out into the world, there is no way of taking it back. It’s very exciting.

2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is: 

Convincing friends, family, or complete strangers that opera is beautiful, relevant, and entertaining and not just an elite novelty.

3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Verdi’s Otello at Carnegie Hall. The combination of artistic forces, acoustics, and excitement those on stage and in the audience created this indescribable energy; everybody knew they were part of something special.

4. A few of my favorite films are: 

Clue, V for Vendetta, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, Soap Dish.

5. Three things I can’t live without are:
Coffee, a good pillow, and cheese.

6. My number one hobby is:
Cooking - nearly any kind of cuisine.

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

Birgit Nilsson - though I don’t think anybody would hear me singing with her!

8. If you weren’t a singer, what profession would you be in?
If not for my voice teacher in high school threatening to drop me as a student if I didn’t pursue music, I would have gone to study architecture.

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

Lucia - or basically anything with a mad scene. (Maybe at some point I’ll get to do a Peter Grimes and go thoroughly crazy!)

10. Describe your favorite moment on stage. 

My most memorable moment on stage was during a performance in graduate school of Ned Rorem’s Three Sisters Who Are Not Sisters (such a bizarre show!). For our staging, Samuel got shot in the middle of his aria and spent the rest of the time “opera dying.” At the end, when I finally slumped over of a very intense performance, there was a moment of complete silence on stage and in the audience- until my 3-year-old niece said to my sister, “Oh no! Did he die?” We had a really difficult time moving on with our macabre quintet of “dead characters” without laughing.

Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer).

What book or movie should be made into an opera?

Clue! Of course, Wadsworth would be a lyric tenor. Yvette and Miss Scarlet would be Mezzos; Mrs. Peacock and Mrs. White, sopranos; Professor Plum, a countertenor; Colonel Mustard, a Baritone; and Mr. Body and Mr. Green, basses. Just think of the possibilities for arias and ensembles! During intermission, the audience could vote on what ending for that night…. Brilliant.

See Scott in Madison Opera's production of Puccini's Tosca November 1 & 3 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at just $18– why wait?

Ten Questions with Kenneth Stavert

Ten Questions with...

Kenneth Stavert, baritone
Sciarrone in Tosca

1. My favorite thing about being a singer is:

Getting to travel all around the world

2. The greatest challenge in being a singer is: 

Constantly adjusting to new living spaces.

3. A live music performance I’ve attended that I will never forget is:
Seeing my first opera when I was in high school, at Opera Pacific. It was Dead Man Walking with Maestro DeMain conducting, John Packard and Frederica von Stade. It confirmed for me that I wanted to be an opera singer.

4. A few of my favorite films are: 

Serenity, V for Vendetta, and Star Wars (I'm a Sci-fi nerd).

5. Three things I can’t live without are:My phone, my computer and my travel steamer.

6. My number one hobby is:
Surfing.

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

Sherill Milnes or Ettore Bastianini.

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

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

Tonio in The Daughter of the Regiment (only so that I could sing Ah mes amis).

10. Describe your favorite moment on stage. 

My favorite moment was probably the first time I sang Figaro in The Barber of Seville. They added in a confetti cannon without me knowing at the very end of the show. When it went off it was so loud that I jumped really big and had about 3 seconds where I had no idea what had happened. My look of confusion was I'm sure quite apparent but thankfully the curtain was on the way in. The only time I've broken character in opera...even if it was only for a few seconds. It taught me to expect anything.

Bonus: One question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer).

What is the scariest part of singing in opera? 

Absolutely the first musical rehearsal. It's when you prove you are ready and that no mistake was made in casting.

See Kenneth in Madison Opera's production of Puccini's Tosca November 1 & 3 in Overture Hall. Tickets start at just $18– why wait?