I spent the next few years doing a variety of things. I conducted church choirs and a Polish Women’s Choir, I taught piano lessons, I worked for a small music publisher, and I was the assistant conductor to a symphonic chorus. I enjoyed what I did, but was still floundering a bit, trying to find my way. Then, in 2004 when Donald Nally announced he was leaving (then) Opera Company of Philadelphia, he encouraged me to "throw my hat in the ring" for the job. Not knowing if they would ever consider someone with so little opera background, I applied for the position. I was selected as one of several candidates to come and audition, and I had the privileged of preparing the chorus for The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein in the spring of 2004. As they say, the rest is history… or, in honor of Women’s History Month, I might say the rest is HERstory!

I’ve spent the last 13 years working at Opera Philadelphia, surrounded by the most amazing colleagues, conductors, directors, pianists, singers, and most of all, the best, most talented, most giving, most amazing human beings: the Opera Philadelphia Chorus. (I know I’m biased, but the chorus at Opera Philadelphia is a real treasure. They sing fantastically, they are willing to try ANYTHING on stage, and really, they the nicest most genuine people one could ever have the pleasure of working with. I am truly lucky to lead this wonderful chorus!)

I joked that the rest is ‘HERstory’ – and in fact it is one woman’s story, ‘her’ story – my story – about getting into opera and becoming a chorus master and conducting. But in fact, the field of conducting, be it as chorus master or conductor, is really still predominantly a man’s world. If you look around at the top opera companies in the United States, most of them have a male chorus master. There are a few other women chorus masters, but we are still somewhat of a rare breed. The same holds true for conductors – there are some really talented, special women conductors out there working in opera (and in other musical genres), but they are definitely in the minority. I hope that women continue to go into conducting, be it choral or orchestral, and that in the years to come it won’t be so rare to have a female conductor or chorus master.

One place where it will now be a little less rare to see a woman conducting an opera will be right here at Opera Philadelphia. This fall, as part of our festival, O17, we’ll be presenting David Hertzberg’s The Wake World. There are so many things that will be special about this opera: it’s a site specific work, being written and conceived to be performed at The Barnes Foundation; it features in a very prominent role the wonderful Opera Philadelphia Chorus; and it will be the third production ever at Opera Philadelphia to be conducted by a woman. I’m thrilled to be conducting this piece, and I can’t wait to share it with you this fall. I had the joy to conduct a workshop a few weeks ago where we got to explore the first part of the piece with the chorus and two principal singers, in the presence of the composer and the director. It was a special experience, and I can’t wait to dig into this piece, and see how it will take shape musically and dramatically.

I’m happy to have been able to share some of my story and some of my thoughts with you, and thanks to Opera Philadelphia for letting me take over the blog for a bit! This company is an amazing place to be, and I’m looking forward to so many of our upcoming ventures. Hope to see you at the opera!