Part 2

There are many descriptions of the ideal state of mind for being creative. What is it like for you? What supports this ideal state of mind and what are distractions? Are there strategies to enter into this state more easily?

I definitely think that creativity comes from inspiration, but I also believe it comes from restriction. The fewer ingredients you have to work with to create a dish, the more you can think outside the box. If a director says to me, “stand there, sing the first half, then walk over to the other side of the stage and sing the second half,” I feel like they are giving me a blank canvas on which to paint all the emotional colors I want. I don’t really get distracted as easily as I used to. I started to use my social media less and I don’t really watch TV. We watch a movie or a show during dinner at home, with a glass of wine, but that’s about it. I think my life balance of finding time every day to spend outside, whether it’s for a run or a walk in a new city, and also time to spend studying and singing, plus ample resting time, is really helpful to me.

How do you make use of technology? In terms of the feedback mechanism between technology and creativity, what do humans excel at, what do machines excel at?

I do use social media as a professional platform to communicate with my friends and fans and keep up with my colleagues on their travels. It can feel lonely at times if you don’t have someone with you all the time, so I am lucky that I do. But even still, we are always starting over with every new engagement, so it’s nice to touch base with people that we have grown close to throughout our travels. I post about my singing but also about my running, as it has served me so well both personally and professionally, and many people write to me about running or health/fitness on a regular basis. It’s an important part of any lifestyle, but particularly for a performer. Machines I suppose excel at making humans more accessible. ha!

Collaborations can take on many forms. What role do they play in your approach and what are your preferred ways of engaging with other creatives through playing together or just talking about ideas?

I love picking brains. I have so many brilliant friends and colleagues it is so easy to feel like a complete newbie sometimes. I love to learn about others’ experiences but also am a sponge when someone shares their expertise. I love asking questions and that whole process of digesting input to come up with a new idea.

How is preparing music, playing it live and recording it for an album connected? What do you achieve and draw from each experience personally? How do you see the relationship between improvisation and composition in this regard?

Practice is forever. An album is a mastered, unchanging work of art. A live performance is over when it is finished, with no way to keep it. Luckily I have the opportunity to do all these three and the most exciting is always live performance. As long as you’re not sick, live performance is one of the most incredibly wonderful experiences in the world. Nothing beats that adrenaline. Time spent in the studio feels like an incredibly high pressure rehearsal, in which you try to achieve perfection by doing things over and over. In a live performance you only get one chance.

How do you see the relationship between the 'sound' aspects of music and the 'composition' and 'performance' aspects? How do you work with sound and timbre?

Sound is so affected by different settings and acoustics so it can be fickle. A small theater vs a large one, an open set as a opposed to one that has more of a backdrop … all those things affect how our sound is perceived. Because we aren’t amplified, there is not always a lot we can do to work with a bad acoustic. We just try our best to enunciate and cheat out!

Our sense of hearing shares intriguing connections to other senses. From your experience, what are some of the most inspiring overlaps between different senses - and what do they tell us about the way our senses work? What happens to sound at its outermost borders?

Sound hits people differently because I think everyone listens differently. When you are watching a movie, the director points the camera exactly where he wants you to look. And you get it. But in an operatic performance, you are getting a full orchestra plus a stage full of artists, and you can look wherever you please, or listen to whatever you want to focus on. I think people see what they want to see sometimes, and I also think people listen with their eyes sometimes. If you come to a show looking for something specific, you will either find it or be disappointed. But if you come with an open mind, you might get a different experience. As far as all those things triggering an emotional response, well that is usually what we are after. I’m so happy when people tell me that they cried during the performance or that they felt an incredible sense of joy … any feeling, really. It’s powerful what we do.

Art can be a purpose in its own right, but it can also directly feed back into everyday life, take on a social and political role and lead to more engagement. Can you describe your approach to art and being an artist?

I approach this work as something that I was put on this earth to do. I know that music changes lives. It changed mine and gave it purpose, and every time I hear something beautiful again I find renewed strength in this path. Art is a way to make a statement, whether it’s a political one or an emotional one, or a social one. We have to not only be speakers but also listeners. I think music if anything, teaches us to listen, and that’s something I’m grateful for.

It is remarkable, in a way, that we have arrived in the 21st century with the basic concept of music and performance still intact. Do you have a vision of music and performance, an idea of what they could be beyond their current form?

I hope that music continues to come organically by the hands of human beings. I don’t want it to become a machine’s property. I hope that it can forever be something that we do because we are blessed with the need for it and the ability to make beautiful sounds with just our bodies and a few instruments. To me, that is what will last forever.