{"id":8888,"date":"2020-08-04T14:48:40","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T14:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/13\/covid-19-and-the-gig-economy-three-opera-stars-press-onward\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T16:18:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T20:18:58","slug":"covid-19-and-the-gig-economy-three-opera-stars-press-onward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/covid-19-and-the-gig-economy-three-opera-stars-press-onward\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 and the gig economy: Three opera stars press onward"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soprano Alicia Russell<\/a> was set to debut at Chicago\u2019s Lyric Opera in \u201cBlue<\/a>,\u201d a timely modern work about police brutality, when everything changed for her and other artists. COVID-19 has scrubbed performing arts calendars for 2020 and left many artists wondering if \u00a0their normal professional lives would ever return.<\/p>\n

Now that shows have been postponed or canceled altogether, what do vocalists do with their time? How do they make ends meet? Is singing a career that they can expect to have after COVID-19 is behind us?<\/p>\n

Three opera alumnae at varying stages in their careers shared how they are wrestling with the current challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a very tricky place,\u201d said Russell, a 2016 vocal performance graduate. \u201cEveryone wants the show to go on, and opera houses are planning for the best, but the there\u2019s this looming dread that things might not get better soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn Stucker ’11. Photo: Jonathan Nesteruk<\/p><\/div>\n

Jacquelyn Stucker<\/a> \u201911, a member of Deutsche Oper Berlin\u2019s Fest Ensemble, was three days away from her debut as Pamina in \u201cDie Zauberfl\u00f6te\u201d when she was ordered to leave the country because of the pandemic. Her Boston Lyric Opera debut as Cleopatra in a new production of \u201cGiulio Cesare\u201d evaporated, and her lead role at Festival d\u2019Aix in \u201cL\u2019incoronazione di Poppea\u201d was pushed out to 2022.<\/p>\n

Meantime, Stucker, fluent in German and fresh from publishing her New England Conservatory doctoral dissertation<\/a>, is brushing up on the language online and learning her femme fatale dream role to one day perform Alban Berg\u2019s Lulu in the same-titled opera.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need two years to learn this piece,\u201d she said, \u201cand now I finally have the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth

Elizabeth Bishop ’89<\/p><\/div>\n

Elizabeth Bishop<\/a> \u201989, a mezzo-soprano on the roster at the Metropolitan Opera, saw the cancelation of seven months of shows in the wake of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

In what she calls the \u201cstillness,\u201d Bishop is catching up on her reading, teaching online at Juilliard, and exploring how she might be valuable to opera when it opens back up \u2013 \u201cin ways other than just singing.\u201d<\/p>\n

On top of the cancelation of performances, Bishop was forced to shutter her voice school Potomac Vocal Institute in Washington, D.C., a business she founded in 2015 that caters to elite young artists.<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth

Elizabeth Bishop ’89<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe one thing a vocalist can\u2019t give you is silence,\u201d said Bishop. Singing within the confines of an apartment through online instruction just wasn\u2019t going to work.<\/p>\n

Bishop, who holds a 2012 Grammy for her part in Wagner\u2019s \u201cThe Ring\u201d cycle, said opportunities can come in all shapes and sizes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done recession opera; I know what it\u2019s like to be gifted with unemployment.\u201d<\/p>\n

When roles began to wane as she became older, she founded the Potomac Vocal Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times your career is going to feel like this,\u201d said Bishop. \u201cDo you want it bad enough to wait out the lulls and do what needs to be done?\u201d<\/p>\n

For aspiring artists, she was frank: \u201cEven in the best of circumstances, this is a difficult business to get into. Under these strange circumstances, no one has any idea what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bishop said artists should keep their skills sharp and not be afraid of a side job.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing shameful or embarrassing about working at Starbucks and singing at night,\u201d she said. \u201cIf it\u2019s really worth creating the art, then we have to make the sacrifices to stay in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell characterized her side gigs as blessings. In addition to building her audition repertoire and taking online voice lessons, she also works part-time as a marketing consultant for a Charlotte-based firm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great to feel like I can still grow my voice and be working,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so easy to be negative and even harder to be positive, but I have to remember what\u2019s important, what things I can let go and how precious life is \u2013 how precious this gift (of singing) is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn Stucker ’11. Photo: Jonathan Nesteruk<\/p><\/div>\n

What\u2019s evident for these opera mavens is their ability to persevere through adversity. In their individual ways, they credit Furman for giving them a solid liberal arts and sciences foundation and an unshakable, never-say-die spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt that the education I received at Furman allowed to me to have that intellectual curiosity,\u201d said Stucker, a winner of only five spots awarded in 2017 for the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme<\/a> at the Royal Opera House. \u201cThe thing Furman is doing really well is encouraging people to be curious, to ask questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if there\u2019s one regret for her, it\u2019s that she did not take full advantage of the faculty and courses available, such as investing more in languages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many things as artists we need to understand,\u201d Stucker said. \u201cEverything from other fields informs what we do as artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bishop, who studied political science and music, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who are curious about everything make better filters for the art,\u201d she said. \u201cThe more we know, the more compelling we are as artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Alicia

Alicia Russell ’16 as Daisy Buchanan in Seagle Music Colony’s production of “The Great Gatsby.” Photo: Eric Kephart<\/p><\/div>\n

As a young singer, Russell, too, was drawn to the broad arc of a liberal arts and sciences education rather than a conservatory. The rigor and variety of Furman\u2019s program on top of a world-class music offering, gave her an edge when she was looking for graduate schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have so many friends from my master\u2019s program at Northwestern who are shocked that I got to perform as an undergraduate,\u201d said Russell, winner of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council audition in her home state of North Carolina. The stage is the best place to learn, she said, and not having to compete with graduate students for roles allowed her to gain more experience.<\/p>\n

If all goes well, Russell will take the stage in \u201cBlue\u201d in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to being part of a story that\u2019s so important for Americans to be listening to \u2026 from the perspective of artists and creators of color who want to convey what it\u2019s like to be black in America in a very turbulent time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hear the artists at these links:<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Bishop<\/a>
\nAlicia Russell<\/a>
\nJacquelyn Stucker<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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