Cheryse - Page: 1 of 1

EDITOR'S NOTE: I met Cheryse McLeod, by chance, one day between performances of the Connecticut Opera Guild's 50th Annual Scholarship Competition in Hartford Connecticut this past May. Actually, I met her briefly earlier, only she didn't know it. I was in the audience and she was on stage performing an aria on a judge's request. The song was: "A secretary's aria" from Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Consul." The song ends abruptly with the words, "It's cold in here. I must complain to the janitor."
She broke into a self-conscious smile when it concluded, bowing ever so slightly as if to say, "That's it!" The audience laughed, and that's when I met her for the first time.
She's a tall woman, educated, slim, elegant, and has a great, infectious ready smile.
Our first meeting, the one described above, was one of those moments that opera fans, reviewers and judges look for -- the personal glimpse of the person behind the voice that speaks to us in ways that music hopes to bring out, but doesn't always. It was at that moment that she made personal contact with her audience and, as it turns out, was justly rewarded for her efforts. She won "The Judith Bardi Rosenthal Award", finishing, second.
Our next meeting was when we talked in the hallway after her performance. We spoke for fifteen or twenty minutes about opera, her background, schooling, and learning the language of opera. I made a mental note that she had a sense of humor, which I found attractive. I commented about how I laughed when she ended her aria with the very thought I was thinking as she sang. It "was" cold inside the Wallace Stevens Theater that day, and hot and humid outside. I told her I thought she scored high -- at least in my view, and wished her well. We exchanged cards and I mentioned that I would like to feature her in a Spotlight article for OperaOnline.us. She agreed, and the article below is a snapshot of a very talented singer and stage presence that is bound to leave a lasting impression.

Her web site is a pretty good indication of how seriously she takes the competitive business she has chosen: it's a professional, well-organized and informative site, and points in a direction that says she's ready, mentally and otherwise, for the next step in her career.

As McLeod recalls, the realization that she was meant to be a singer came early, while in the eighth grade in Greensboro, North Carolina, her hometown. He mother heard something special in her daughter's voice one day that told her her daughter had a gift. "After hearing me sing," McLeod remembers, of recital at a church Christmas play, "she asked me if I wanted to take voice lessons. I had not really thought about voice lessons before, but after she mentioned it, I wanted to sign up."

She started those lessons at the Greensboro Music Academy while a freshman in high school, and has been studying and singing ever since. "My high school years were definitely the time when my love for singing, acting, and performing really grew and developed to the point where I wanted to pursue performing as a career." It was her junior year, specifically, she says, when her interests became most focused, and when one teacher, in particular, saw what her mother saw, and encouraged her to go further. His names was Fred Meads. "He was the person who first mentioned the possibility of pursuing a degree in vocal performance in college."

Throughout high school McLeod sang. She was involved in two community music theater organizations, a high school drama club, a church choir, and the school's Madrigal Singers group. "Singing in this group," she says, "was a uniquely memorable experience for me because we performed madrigals in the traditional a capella style, wore period costumes, and had the opportunity to tour a great deal." Two trips, in particular, stand out in her mind: a trip to sing at Disney World, and her performance at both the White House and National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

By the end of her junior year in 1993 she was selected to attend the Governor's School for Academically Gifted High School Students in North Carolina. While there she focused on developing her acting and performing skills.

It was just natural that McLeod would pursue both areas in college. She enrolled in and was accepted at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But being a talented singer covers a lot of ground, and as McLeod notes, even though she received accolades for her voice, she hadn't yet decided what aspect of her voice she wanted to cultivate. Would she study music theater or classical voice? She enjoyed both and decided to focus on majoring in voice performance -- a little of both. "I decided to be a voice performance major in college instead of a music theater major so that I could study and sing both classical music and music theater." It turned out to be another wise decision, because all voice majors were required, in addition to singing, to take four years of dance and three years of acting. "Being able to act, dance, and move well on stage," she notes, correctly, "are just as important as being able to sing well."

While at Carnegie Mellon, McLeod horned her skills in language, studying Italian, French, and German as well as English diction. "Translating, studying, and understanding foreign language texts" she points out "is an ongoing part of being a classical singer." She applied herself, she said, to the various techniques for learning music: eurhythmics, solfege, ear training, sight singing, music theory and other skills. Add to these her continuing education in acting and singing, and the transformation and direction of her life was obvious -- even if not obvious to her at the time.

While her junior year in high school turned out to be a pivitol point in her early and formative years as a young girl, her junior year in college proved to be seminal as she matured into a young woman. It was after her junior year of college that she made the decision that brought her to where she is today. "I decided to focus solely on classical music and opera." During the summer, after her junior year, she attended a six-week program at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria where she participated in the opera studio.

Today, McLeod says she is in the young artist/emerging professional phases of her career. When in North Carolina, she studies with Carla LeFevre at the University of North Carolina, and Marion Pratnicki, of the North Carolina School of Arts. While in Connecticut she studies vocal with Constance Rock of the University of Connecticut -- Storrs. It's a busy lifestyle that often requires that she be on the move nine months out of the year. "This is both a benefit and a drawback for me at different times," she explains. "I enjoy traveling, being in different parts of the country, and meeting and working with a lot of different people, but sometimes I miss my family and close friends."

Like professionals everywhere, especially in opera, where language skills are so important and so inextricably intertwined with the music, McLeod says she spends hours practicing vocal techniques and repertoire. "A lot of my vocal preparation" she says, "takes place without actually singing. The time that I spend learning, studying, or memorizing music or an opera is in addition to the time that I spend actually vocalizing or singing."

And its not just the music or language she must -- and wants -- to master. It's the history, as well. "I try to study the historical background surrounding the opera and read the novel or play on which the opera is based if there is one. I think about my character in the opera. I study the libretto, text, and language of the role. I also study the translation of the text. Then I begin to work on the role musically, learning the rhythms and the notes."

Having just completed the Resident Artist Program of Connecticut Opera, McLeod says she is now ready to make a full time commitment to opera, concerts and recitals, but that her singing is not an end unto itself. There's more. "It is very important to me to be involved in giving back to the community by sharing classical music with young people and adults who might not otherwise be exposed to classical music and opera," she says, adding, "I view my ability to sing as a gift from God for which I am truly thankful. Each opportunity that I have to sing is a blessing. So, when I sing, I try to remember to enjoy the opportunity that I have to share the gift that I have been given."

I said to Cheryse the day we spoke that I thought she had that "something special " people connect to when they attend the opera, and that it wasn't just in her voice -- which is strong and self-assured. She has charisma that reflects a genuine person inside: committed to her craft, committed to her colleagues and audience, and what I liked most, committed to doing the right thing as a way of saying "thank you" to God for giving her such wonderful ability.

As with all our Spotlight young talent we will check back with Cheryse from time to time to tell our readers how she is doing -- that is, those who don't read the reviews and see for themselves.