While their friends loll about on summer vacation, three local teenagers are writing history papers, studying Italian diction and doing yoga in the hopes of someday being in professional opera.
Margaret Tomlin, 17, of Potomac, Aram Balian, 15, of Chevy Chase and Isabelle Zeledon, 17, of Bethesda are all attending the Washington National Opera Institute at American University for three weeks, a program that focuses on more than just the musical side of the art form.
"It's really quite a rigorous three-week sort of boot camp for young singers, and what we try to impress upon them are the other aspects they don't usually think about when singing," said Cindy Oxberry, the stage director and drama teacher for the institute. "They can be a bit misguided that you just need a big pretty voice to have a career."
The institute, partnered with American University, brings in doctors to train the 15- to 18-year-olds about how to take care of their voices, language teachers to work on pronunciation and drama professionals to work with their actions, former conservatory professors to impart audition tips, all in addition to the individually-instructed music lessons.
And then, there's homework.
"It's really intense here, actually," said Zeledon, who explained the students are expected to have at least a familiarity with the music before a lesson, unlike other classes where learning the music is the crux of the session. "I think it's great because in the real world we're going to have to do that."
Zeledon once thought she didn't like opera, but became interested in opera her freshman year at Walt Whitman High School from watching the Kevin Kline version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which has an opera soundtrack.
"I just thought it was so pretty and I looked it up and it was opera," Zeledon said.
She said when she told her friends she was attending an opera camp, many had the same image she once did of the art.
"They were like, ‘Are you talking about the fat ladies wearing the horn hats making glass shatter? And I'm like, ‘Not quite.'"
It may be a rare passion among youth, but Zeledon, Tomlin and Balian were among 32 selected from a field of more than 100 applicants to attend the program. And while most, like Zeledon, are familiar with opera, some, like Tomlin, are newcomers to this kind of singing, which she said is "more than just the notes."
Tomlin said she has to keep her mind on what she's doing with her body, who else is on stage and focus on her breathing.
"I like it. There's a lot to think about and I'm getting used to being on my toes all the time," Tomlin said.
She said she doesn't feel at a disadvantage from the other kids who are more familiar with opera because she's participating to "get a taste of what opera is like."
"I'm here to learn," she said. "I feel like I'm only gaining from this."
That includes writing papers about opera singers and opera history, work Tomlin confessed she wasn't expecting, but which she thinks helps.
The program is in its 11th year, but this is the first time coach-pianists have also been invited to the institute, Oxberry said. Balian is one of the first two accompanists to participate in the institute, and while his lessons are piano, the rest of the day he's alongside the singers in the same workshops.
"When we go into class and they ask us to sing I feel sort of left out," said Balian, but he still tries.
Balian has already performed at Carnegie Hall, but has never done opera accompaniment and said it is "a lot more rigorous."
"With Carnegie I just practiced the piece over and over again, and here I learn new things every day."
For those who would like to see the students of the Washington National Opera Institute in action, there will be three free performances open to the public, culminating in a revue at the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage at which stand-out students front the first two performances will perform solos. An Italian Art Song Recital will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at the Abramson Family Recital Hall at the Katzen Arts Center at American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave., Northwest, Washington, D.C. An Opera Scenes Recital will be held at 7 p.m. July 10 in the same venue. The Kennedy Center performance will feature both art songs and opera scenes, and begins at 6 p.m. July 11 at 2700 F St. Northwest.
