On today’s episode of Creative Space, we have the pleasure of chatting with Melissa Joseph, an opera singer who is making her debut as Musetta in Opera Philadelphia’s spring production of La Boheme, which premieres this Friday.
Over the course of her career so far, she’s been awarded the Kristin Lewis Foundation Young Artist Award, was a 3rd place winner in Orchestra Noir International Virtuoso Concerto Competition, a Top 10 Finalist in the Franco-American Vocal Academy (FAVA) Grand Concours Competition, as well as a recent district winner of the Minnesota District Met Competition.
We cover a range of topics, including growing up in an immigrant household, her Haitian heritage, the role faith has played in her career, being accepted as a black soprano and of course, what it’s like working with Opera Philadelphia.
On today’s episode of Creative Space, we have the pleasure of chatting with Melissa Joseph, an opera singer who is making her debut as Musetta in Opera Philadelphia’s spring production of La Boheme, which premieres this Friday.
Over the course of her career so far, she’s been awarded the Kristin Lewis Foundation Young Artist Award, was a 3rd place winner in Orchestra Noir International Virtuoso Concerto Competition, a Top 10 Finalist in the Franco-American Vocal Academy (FAVA) Grand Concours Competition, as well as a recent district winner of the Minnesota District Met Competition.
We cover a range of topics, including growing up in an immigrant household, her Haitian heritage, the role faith has played in her career, being accepted as a black soprano and of course, what it’s like working with Opera Philadelphia.
To purchase tickets to La Boheme, visit: operaphila.org.
To sign up for the weekly Creative Space newsletter, visit: eepurl.com/h8SJ9b.
SHOW NOTES:
0:00—Introduction
1:13—What is a lyric soprano?
2:45—Growing up in Atlanta in a Haitian household
4:35—The fifth love language
6:12—The resilience her parents taught her
7:15—All it takes is one yes
8:27—The influence of Marian Anderson
9:20—Learning to balance pressure with grace
12:39—What is an art song?
15:06—Melissa’s definition of creativity
16:30—The role faith plays in her career
22:09—The day-to-day life of an opera singer
23:00—Being an artist and having a day job
27:00—Giving yourself time to rest
28:00—The greatest challenge she’s faced so far
29:00—The greatest rewards
30:30—Making her Opera Philadelphia debut
34:14—Melissa’s favorite scene in La Boheme
36:45—Being accepted as a black soprano
37:15—Where is opera going in the next 10 years?
38:30—What’s next for Melissa
Jennifer Logue:
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of creative space Podcast where we explore, learn and grow in creativity together. I'm your host Jennifer Logue. And today we have the pleasure of chatting with Melissa Joseph, an opera singer who is making her debut as Musetta in opera Philadelphia spring production of labo. M. Over the course of her career so far, she's also been awarded the Kristin Lewis Foundation, young artists award with a third place winner in orchestra new our international virtuoso concerto competition, a top 10 finalist in the Franco American Vocal Academy grand Concord competition, and a recent district winner of the Minnesota district net competition. Welcome to Creative Space, Melissa. Oh my gosh, so much for having me. It's such a pleasure to have you on the show. And I mean, thank you for taking the time. I know you're really busy. You know, preparing to make your debut is Musa and lava wham.
Melissa Joseph:
Yeah. I'm super excited, though.
Jennifer Logue:
Lovely. And for our listeners who may not be familiar with opera, you are a lyric soprano. Yeah. Do you mind telling us what that means?
Melissa Joseph:
Yeah, so lyric soprano is a soprano that has a particular quality in her voice. So typically, we have a warm yet bright, yet full kind of quality, mostly Sopranos. Mimi, who was also a character number one would be considered lyric, maybe even a full lyric. Was that that obviously? And so I would say the biggest takeaway from a lyric soprano somebody just with a very warm and comforting sound, but also have a little bit of the high stuff that we're used to hearing from what we call a coloratura soprano. But another conversation for another day.
Jennifer Logue:
Yes. We actually had a coloratura on in the very beginning of the podcast. Oh, nice. And so we learned that definition, if people are listening to all the episodes, it's like the high the really high sound like like Mariah opera.
Melissa Joseph:
Right. Right. Right. And so lyrics, we have a little bit of that top, but we have a very warm, bright sound kind of throughout the voice.
Jennifer Logue:
So lovely. Oh my gosh, the more you know. So on the podcast, I love starting at the very beginning, like digging into an artist's early life. So, you know, where did you grow up? And what was your childhood like?
Melissa Joseph:
No, I was actually born in Pennsylvania, which is it's really nice to be making my debut in the state that I was born. And where a lot of my family is that I grew up outside of Atlanta, Georgia, we moved during the 96 Olympics, showing my age a little bit. And actually, from my tablet, I remember a lot of music. I don't think there was a time where there was not music being played or music being sung or has been church in hearing music. Music has always been a part of my life. I'm the product of two immigrant parents that came from Haiti. So I grew up singing Haitian hymns, or Haitian folk songs. And my dad actually was a huge classical music lover. He had tons and stacks and stacks of CDs, if you want to know what those are of Bach and Beethoven and Mozart and you would play them all the time. So classical music was something that was never like weird or different to me. I just I always knew it. My sisters played violin. So family Oh, yeah, my mom was also a singer is a singer still. And she sang opera in Haiti. She sang in her church. I went against the grain and said I don't want to play piano or I don't want to play the violin and I wanted to sing. So yeah, your AML still saying it's
Jennifer Logue:
so cool. Um, what do you love most about your Haitian heritage? The food Tell me more.
Melissa Joseph:
There are a lot of things that I love, but I love the food. Have you ever heard the five love languages? Yes, if there was a six it would be cooking is truly a love languages. partially for my mom, and all of my like, aunts and stuff. There's just so much done around food. When someone passes away, we break bread together when someone gets married, we eat and rejoice together. When someone wants to apologize they cook for you. So yeah, I just I love, love, love patient food. And I'm lucky to be in Philadelphia right now where there's a huge patient population. And I can like order home cooking, or have access to some of the ingredients and cook them myself, which is really nice.
Jennifer Logue:
What's your favorite dish? Oh,
Melissa Joseph:
there's too many too. But my go to, we have this very delicious black rice. That's called seeds on John John. And I love John John. And I like to eat it with macaroni okatie, which is a special type of like macaroni and cheese.
Jennifer Logue:
Oh, that sounds really good. Okay, I wanted to try that now.
Melissa Joseph:
Oh, for sure. There's plenty of patient restaurants around so you got to try it. Awesome.
Jennifer Logue:
Um, so back when you were a kid, who are your biggest inspirations?
Melissa Joseph:
Ooh, ooo, as far as music is concerned, or just like in life.
Jennifer Logue:
We start with in life and then go into music. Sure,
Melissa Joseph:
oh. And my biggest inspirations growing up. Honestly, my parents, they taught me how to just get it done, then, like, the older I get, the more I realize how hard it must have been to leave everything you know, and come to a country where you don't know many people, maybe two, if you're lucky, you don't know the language that will or at all. And you just come here and you figure it out. And I think that sort of grit and that sort of self resilience is something that my parents have definitely passed on to me. That has gotten me so far in this career and in this industry. So yeah, I'm super grateful for that.
Jennifer Logue:
And how do you think that's impacted your life as an artist, like that resilience?
Melissa Joseph:
A lot. I get a lot of nose, a lot of nose, I do a lot of auditions, I fill out a lot of applications. And I get a lot of nose. And it's very easy to let that defeat you. And I'd be lying if I say that it hasn't for me because it has. But there just comes a point where you're like, Okay, well, are you going to quit? No, no. So you going? It takes all it takes is one yes. Yes, it? It just takes one yes.
Jennifer Logue:
Love it, we have to talk more, as we go on into the episode about like, a day in the life of an opera singer and like, what it entails, you know, it's there's so much that goes on behind the scenes that I don't think the average person realizes, you know, absolutely. And musically who are your biggest inspirations when you're growing up?
Melissa Joseph:
Growing up, I knew of only one opera singer, well to Potter audio, of course. And then I discovered Marian Anderson when I was in fifth grade. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is really cool. But I didn't really quite conceptualize what opera was or if it was something that I would ever be interested in. But I was just like, oh, wow, she was a singer who just kind of like, broke through and broke the mold. And as I've gotten older, I've referenced her a lot in applications and personal statements. And her being the first to do a lot of things. And as a Haitian soprano, I too am the first to do a lot of things. And although that sounds like super great and in, in Nice. It's really hard to be the first in a lot of situations a huge learning curve. A lot of times I can only imagine what it was like for her.
Jennifer Logue:
Is there a pressure that you feel when you're the first to do something?
Melissa Joseph:
Absolutely. But I'm learning to balance that pressure with grace and realizing that it was it is okay to make mistakes. It is okay to not get it. All right. And I heard something from a friend the other day that's been sticking with me that when the moment you stop growing, you stop becoming an artist. So just allowing myself that space and that grace to grow and taking that pressure off of myself. Yes, yes,
Jennifer Logue:
because every day is a step forward. As you know Only a learning experience. And so when did you first start singing?
Melissa Joseph:
One of my earliest memories is me singing. I remember singing in my godfathers church. My grandfather was a pastor in the Haitian community. And I remember singing a hymn in French, I believe it was. But I didn't know it was French. It was just to me at that point, it's just sounds that you've learned to replicate what you're saying. But I think maybe around third, fourth, fifth grade, for sure. I was like, Oh, I can sing. And I can sing well, and I think this is what I want to do. I wanted to be Britney Spears, but it didn't happen.
Jennifer Logue:
I think a lot of us wanted to be Britney Spears. Right? If we saying you know?
Melissa Joseph:
Well, yeah, I've known pretty much my whole life that I want to be a singer. So cool.
Jennifer Logue:
When did you know? You wanted to make it a career? Like was it that early
Melissa Joseph:
on, I knew, but I knew that it was going. Part of me was very naive, like, I thought I could just be a singer, right? I couldn't conceptualize bills and health insurance. Stability, right. I just knew I wanted to sing. I went as far as to like major in music, vocal performance in college, and I just knew I was going to be a singer. And I just knew that I would make it work, call it naive, call it, whatever. But yeah, I just knew. But I remember a very specific day, maybe my sophomore, maybe junior or senior year of college, my voice teacher at the time, said, You have to make the decision of what you want to do with your life. And you're either going to do this being opera and music and be fully committed, or it's just a hobby. And I knew that I didn't want it to just be a hobby. I've spent my entire life like engulfed and invested in music. So I think around that time, I was like, Nope, this is it, and we're gonna figure it out.
Jennifer Logue:
Cool. And when did you know you wanted to do opera? When did that happen for you?
Melissa Joseph:
So that happened, like the last two weeks of senior year of high school. Wow, I actually wanted to pursue musical theater. Okay. And I went to a very great performing arts high school outside of Atlanta, Georgia called pebblebrook High School, and they would bring in pretty big college like musical theater, people from different colleges like Michigan, Ohio, FSU, etc, and we would have masterclasses with them. And I went into this masterclass by saying, Your daddy son from Ragtime. And the man from Ohio said, I don't know who he is. I don't know if he's still around. I hope that I meet him one day again. He goes, that was really nice, but I don't know, I just think your voice is headed in a different direction. And I remember thinking like, Who's this guy think he is? I obviously like the hottest thing ever. I'm going to be musical theater. So yeah. And he asked me to sing like an art song from there's this book called The 24 Italian arts, art songs. And he asked me to sing something from that and I'm like, okay, whatever. So I sing it. And then he goes, okay, but now, Humor me, sing this how you think an opera singer would sing this? And I'm like, I'm a good actress. So let me just be an actress for a second. And so I do it and he was like, you're supposed to sing opera. Ah, it was like, no, no, this guy is crazy. doesn't know what he's talking about. 10 years later, here I am singing.
Jennifer Logue:
I love it. Oh my gosh. And I actually don't know this. What is an art song?
Melissa Joseph:
So an art song is music that is typically set to poems. Okay. So it's not a part of like an opera where an opera tells a full story. They're characters where they, you know, they have text or there's like a plot. art songs are typically poems that are set to music.
Jennifer Logue:
It's like more of a in a more of a classical style. Would you say?
Melissa Joseph:
Okay, absolutely.
Jennifer Logue:
And are they traditionally sung an operatic style? Yeah, so Okay, cool. That is so cool. don't have to like, dig into that more. So. So this is creative space. And I love asking this question of everyone. But what is your definition of creativity?
Melissa Joseph:
This is something I'm like, actively trying to define and redefine. But I think, for me, creativity is one being brave enough to let your walls down. And just explore and being inhibited, uninhibited to just like let your mind run free and see what you come up with. I think, for me, I have a lot of I'm just constantly thinking technique language, be here, be there look up. And I sometimes miss out on the opportunity to be creative in my storytelling being creative in within the vocal line in so I'm trying to work on just letting the walls down and just being free. So cool.
Jennifer Logue:
I think that's a challenge for most artists, no matter what stage they're in, like, it's just so easy to have those walls up. Oh, for sure. Like if you're going through a stressful period, or like the world is, can be so stressful. But that I love that definition, letting your walls down. How does your faith impacts your creativity? I love talking about this.
Melissa Joseph:
Well, I like what you said how it impacts my creativity. Because I think how it impacts my creativity and how it impacts my career. Two very different things. Actually haven't thought about how it impacts my creativity. But just thinking about it. Right now, I think that act of letting the walls go down and being brave is really an act of trusting the Holy Spirit. Yes, that can be so scary. Yes, it's like walking on a tightrope. I'm actually reading this really great book right now called wild goose chase. I can't think of the author at the moment. But he talks a lot about irresponsible responsibility and just how chasing the the art of, for lack of a better word art of pursuing a relationship with God and like trusting the Holy Spirit can feel like a wild goose chase, if you let a wild goose out of it, and just went chasing it around, you just don't know where you're going to end up. And so I think for me like that visual speaks a lot to me wanting to be more creative and just trusting that the Lord has given me a gift. Yes, if I just let the walls down and just be and just sing and do what I know how to do and what he's interested in equipped me to do. I'd be unstoppable.
Jennifer Logue:
Yes, it's so true for all of us, you know, and it's just something that I've I'm starting to get comfortable with myself. I'm definitely checking out that book tonight. Because it's hard
Melissa Joseph:
because the name and send you the the author's name. Thank
Jennifer Logue:
you because it can be hard to hear the voice clearly. Because you're like, Wait, is this the right thing to do? Or is this it? Or is this it like you have so many options? And figuring out what that clear guidance is from the Holy Spirit? Yeah. So how would you say your faith impacts your career than,
Melissa Joseph:
again, something that I'm actively defining and redefining? I think if anything, it's funny, I had a really great conversation with my mom about this the other day, I think just always approaching every room every person every space with love. With grace with kindness, the fruits of the Spirit. Yes. gets you so far in this industry. I will work with a lot of people who we will never see eye to eye on certain things. But that is okay. I can still work with you. I can still be in a room with you. I will still love you. Let's do our jobs. Let's love each other. And yeah, I think it's it can be tough. I have an experience recently where someone and I did not get along because we didn't see eye to eye on anything political or religious, whatever. But we our personalities just for whatever reason, did it but I had I had to pray. I had to go and pray not only for myself, but for this individual. And although things weren't necessarily resolved, like you know, like we didn't have a kumbaya and hug it out. I'm, I felt a piece. Yes. It's out of my hands. I don't have to have an explanation or an answer for it. But I know that as long as I lead with love or respect, kindness, gentleness, patience, I'll be okay.
Jennifer Logue:
Yes. And you know, the saying like, worry about nothing pray about everything. Yeah. If anything, just giving up the control of the situation and just, you know, being the best person that you can be in that situation. And like, yeah, it gives you so much peace. To let it go. And I love having these conversations. It's for sure,
Melissa Joseph:
for sure.
Jennifer Logue:
So, what is the creative process of an opera singer? Like what's your creative process?
Melissa Joseph:
Um, my creative process, one, so I've accepted a contract or gig, I get the music. The first thing I do is download, like a digital score and electronic score. And I give him my score, and I highlight everything. If it's in another language, I'm going to translate everything. I'm gonna mark everything, all of the tempo markings, the dynamic markings, like, am I singing loud? Am I singing soft? Am I, you know, those sorts of things. And then I just started to learn the music. Some people would say they sit with the text, they talk it through, they figure out who the character is. I like to do that afterwards. And I don't necessarily have a reason why. I like to learn the music. And I think that as I learn the music, I start to learn more about this character, what are they trying to get across? What have they been through? Where what is the end goal? Why are they saying these things? So yeah, I like to learn the music and then go back and do the the character work and put on the layers because that will then inform how I actually sing it. I like to learn it first and then sing it in my actual words.
Jennifer Logue:
Because the music itself is a language. So learning it is like really helping you internalize it. Oh, for sure. For sure. That's so interesting. What is a day in the life of an opera singer?
Melissa Joseph:
What's it like? I love this question, because I won't say I'm not like a typical opera singer. But outside of singing, I work a nine to five like a day job, oh my God, for a nonprofit. And I help students and families fill out their FAFSA and complete the financial aid process for college. I absolutely love my job and the impact that I have on students and families. When I will say balancing both jobs, Wow, can be a little bit of a of a tight rope act.
Jennifer Logue:
Yes. You know what, I'm so happy. You're talking about this, because there are a lot of artists who I will say, I mean, a lot of artists have day jobs, and they'll go off the record and talk about them. But then on the record, they're like, you know, let's not talk about my day job or whatever. Like, let's just focus on my art, and I'm cool with it. I have a day job. I work in advertising right now. You know, like, yeah, it's it's just the balancing act is there. And I think it's important for people who are creatives out there to know that a lot of us have day jobs, so many talented actors I know, are working like, you know, it's not just the actors working as waiters or so it's it's a grind, especially in our country.
Melissa Joseph:
When healthcare is as expensive as it is. I need a day job.
Jennifer Logue:
Yeah, health care alone. I mean, I just had to get my car worked on and like, oh, I want to pay the bill. And like, all right, hit me. I was like, oh, yeah, yeah,
Melissa Joseph:
it's like because I'm extremely fortunate to have a another source of income. Yeah, that also pays for my my health care and my health insurance. And that was not the MO going in. Right. I'm just extremely blessed in that way. And I will say that when I am upfront with opera companies that hey, I work this remote gig. They are usually very accommodating and I'm also very blessed that my day job is extremely accommodating. I love it partially because we're a fully remote organization, but also because they recognize that like, there is a such thing as work life balance and there is such a thing is like your life your job is not your entire life. And so you are allowed to have other passions. And as long as you are getting this work done with quality You know, now I know that like, I work a unicorn of a job. So I will not be like, Oh, creatives will hit you with a job. It is rough. Oh, it is, it is extremely rough I've been? Well, some things I won't say on the record in case someone provide jobs here this way. But just know I always get the work done. But it does come at a huge sacrifice at times. But it is a sacrifice that I'm willing to make if it means that I can pursue my life's passion, but also have impact on on students and families and also be able to take care of myself and sustain myself.
Jennifer Logue:
Yes. And you know, you'll eventually, opera will be the full time thing. Exactly. You know, you're building something you're absolutely and that's fueling. I feel like I'm happier in my day job when I have when I'm pursuing my passions.
Melissa Joseph:
Yeah. Yeah. You have something to look forward to after work.
Jennifer Logue:
Yeah, it gives your life meaning, you know, so thank you for sharing that. And and then the day to day stuff. I mean, you're submitting for auditions you were talking about earlier. And yeah.
Melissa Joseph:
So my lunch break. I'm usually like jam packing it with like, emails, applications. I like to write down my text on little index cards, I'll like write down my text. Sometimes I'll have a voice lesson during my lunch break. Zoom lesson, or when we did used to work in person, I would take the train to Boston University and have a voice lesson come right back. Just a few trade stops. Yeah. So it's like, surely the grind never stops.
Jennifer Logue:
Incredible. But it's also preparing you for when things get really, you know, when your career is busy, it's going to be the same thing.
Melissa Joseph:
Absolutely. Absolutely. So you know, day in the life can really be anything, some days, I just don't have the bandwidth, or, like the physical strength to say, and so I might just look at the music. And sometimes I don't, I'll just be fully invested in my day job, get off, hang out with my family or watch a TV show and go to bed. And I'm allowing myself more grace to like do those things, you know?
Jennifer Logue:
Yeah, I saw this really interesting. Drawing. There's this artist I follow on Instagram. And he shows bricks, and the mortar. And the bricks are all different sizes. And that's the art you're creating. And then the mortar is rest. Yeah. Like, ah, it's the glue that you need those little spaces to re acclimate yourself.
Melissa Joseph:
Absolutely. Always.
Jennifer Logue:
So cool. What are the greatest challenges so far? In your career?
Melissa Joseph:
I would say honestly, the group or this challenge for me, is me. I especially being here offer Philadelphia, which is such an amazing opportunity. A lot of it is like a pinch me moment. And a lot of it is a straight up imposter syndrome. And I don't think I really no knew what that meant until I got here. I'm we're past it now. It was very awesome. I'm so glad. Yeah. We prayed our way through it. And I was like, No, you are here because you were meant to be here. Yes. But I would say a lot of times the biggest challenge is we, whether it's doubt or whether it's like, oh, man, I messed that up. And like, I know, I'm so much better than that. Like, I'm learning that it is okay to make mistakes. But I think I think a lot of creatives, especially opera singers, might say that they would identify with that, because it is an art form where every time you walk onto a stage, you walk into an audition, you are putting yourself in a position to be judged to be critiqued. It's tough and so you can't help but think like, oh my gosh, this is good enough. Oh my gosh, what are they gonna think? Oh my gosh, I messed that up. And some opera singers might say I don't care. I'm just gonna do it anyways. And that's the level that I'm trying to graduate to. Yeah. We I would say that's probably the biggest challenge is me.
Jennifer Logue:
Oh, my gosh, what have been the greatest rewards so far?
Melissa Joseph:
I think as I'm starting out in this career, being the being afforded the opportunity to travel and go to places that I probably otherwise wouldn't have gone to. Enough to sing with Opera Theatre, St. Louis a couple of times. I probably otherwise would have never gone to Middle America. To to St. Louis. This summer I'll be traveling to Illinois for a fellowship, just outside of Chicago. And I've heard that their campus is absolutely stunning and serene. And I'm just super excited to get to go places. And I'm hoping that I'll get to go to even more places.
Jennifer Logue:
Oh, are that's so that's beautiful to travel. Doing your art. Yeah, that is a dream. That's the dream and itself. That is a dream. Absolutely. Love it. So on April 28, you make your debut as Musetta and upper Philadelphia's lab om. So want to tell listeners about your role.
Melissa Joseph:
Absolutely. So Musetta in level M, is a feisty, yet caring, yet pragmatic character, I think a lot of times was that that gets simplified to just a cabaret singer who just wants to have her way who's just super flirtatious. But she's actually a woman who loves very, very hard, she's very, very loyal. And we see that in her toxic, yet beautiful relationship with Marcelo. And we see her loyalty when Mimi begins to get sick. And Musetta is willing to do anything, even sell her belongings to try and save money and help her back to health. So I'm super excited to sing this role. Because it's a little bit of a stretch, there are a lot of parts of music that are nothing like me, which were that creativity comes in and like just letting the walls down and exploring what that's like. But there are a lot of parts of music that are very similar to me. And so being vulnerable enough to let those parts of me show on stage. Ah, is is a challenge, but it's a good challenge.
Jennifer Logue:
I love that. How does it feel to be performing at opera Philadelphia.
Melissa Joseph:
amazing, absolutely amazing. I feel like an absolute Prince. They are just such a fun and amazing company to work with to work for everyone on the staff here has been nothing but smiles nothing but laughs on our first day we went around and did introductions and my stomach hurt from laughing. So I love it. And it's so refreshing because being a Southerner like that is just kind of what I'm used to like, everyone just kind of shooting the breeze and just you know, being super joyful and friendly with each other. So it's nice to know that that energy is here at this company. There's an amazing conductor here, amazing artistic director here that truly just want the best for us as artists and are willing to go above and beyond to make sure that we get those things but I couldn't be I could not have wanted a more perfect company to make my professional debut.
Jennifer Logue:
Oh my gosh,
Melissa Joseph:
I'm sick and they didn't pay me to see that.
Jennifer Logue:
Oh my gosh, I believe it. I believe I'm such a fan of opera Philadelphia. I mean, it's my favorite place to see opera. Like I've been blown away by every production. I've missed the imagination. That goes into it. It's yeah, man. We're so lucky.
Melissa Joseph:
Amazing orchestra just amazing. Everything 10s all around. Yes.
Jennifer Logue:
Amen. What do you love most about this particular experience working with opera Philadelphia.
Melissa Joseph:
I really like my cast members. They are just a bag of fun. Yeah, it's just everyone from the Artistics after the cast, like we're all just super supportive of each other. And yeah, they're just they're really good beans. And I would say the cast is probably one of the best parts.
Jennifer Logue:
Love it. Do you have a favorite scene? And I love it when we
Melissa Joseph:
I would say there's just so much a level one that's so good. Okay, one of my favorite scenes is a scene that I'm actually not in. Okay, excuse me. It is Mimi's ARIA don't delay it though she and not to spoil or tell too much about the show. But we mean lawfull are on the verge of a breakup. And Mimi sings this beautiful ARIA where she's basically saying okay, well you know, I'm bidding you farewell. Here are all the things you can find my my little pink bonnet here. I left a prayer book on the nightstand, could you pack up all those things and have them sent to me. And it's just so beautifully written and Cara who's singing, it just interprets it so well. And she's also just an amazing human. Well, yeah, that's probably one of my favorite scenes of this art of this opera rather
Jennifer Logue:
love it. Oh, my gosh, I'm gonna pay special attention to it this time. Absolutely. No. Since you began studying, how do you think opera has evolved?
Melissa Joseph:
I'll be honest, and say that I'm not 100%? Sure. I think when I started studying opera, as I mentioned before, I think I was kind of like, when to when, when to go out. Like, I knew I could sing, and I knew that I enjoyed it. But I wasn't really sure it's what I wanted to do. So my first times my first opportunities actually being in the professional setting was really kind of the only exposure to this industry that I had had or known about. I mean, of course, you hear a lot of things, but I try not to let people's opinions skew my own thoughts. I will say, from the time that I was studying in undergrad, and aspiring to certain programs, like young artists and resident artists programs, the amount of diversity in the people that they are, the artists that they are accepting into these fellowships has increased significantly, and I love it. That's beautiful. I think a part of me was always a little nervous of whether I would be accepted as a black soprano. But now, I feel like I don't question that nearly as much, or if ever.
Especially in a company like opera Philadelphia. I think they're a company that has historically always gotten it right.
Jennifer Logue:
That's wonderful. What do you see up or going, you know, the next 10 years?
Melissa Joseph:
So I think I have a couple of thoughts. I think, one, I think American opera is really going to see a rise, I think there will be a significant increase in a lot of American operas. And we're already seeing some interest in that from several different companies that are starting new work programs and fellowships, and we're starting to see more American offers being done across the board. And I also think that opera is going to, I'm hoping that opera will become an art form that is not just super stuffy, and for older, rich people, but then it becomes an art form that is truly for everyone. Yes. Even if you don't always understand the language, which is why I think American opera is going to be on the rise. Especially like, you know, for our American culture, but I'm thinking and hoping that those two things would be true.
Jennifer Logue:
That's wonderful. What's next for you?
Melissa Joseph:
Um, so after I sing was at that here, I will be headed to opera theatre of St. Louis, as a Jordanian artist where I will be singing Mrs. Gluten in Susanna by Carla Carlisle Floyd and covering the title role of treatment a show which has been reimagined by Damien Sneed, with the original opera being written by Scott Joplin are excited about and then afterwards, I'll be heading to an art song festival at Ravinia in revenue, Illinois, just outside of Chicago.
Jennifer Logue:
It's a very busy 2023 Very exciting, I love it. Love it, Melissa. Seriously, such a privilege to have you on the show. Thank you so much.
Melissa Joseph:
Thank you so much.
Jennifer Logue:
For more on Melissa Joseph. Visit Melissa Joseph sings.com. And for more on opera, Philly and Slava whim, visit opera fila.org. And thank you so much for tuning in and growing in creativity with us. I'd love to know what you thought of today's episode. What you found was interesting, what you found most helpful. You can reach out to me on social media at Jennifer Logue or leave a review for creative space on Apple podcasts so more people can discover it. I appreciate you so much for being here in the beginning stages of this. My name is Jennifer Logue and thanks for listening to this episode of creative space. Until next time,
