Bienen senior Emily Amesquita won an encouragement award at the Central Region competition of the larger Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, a nationwide classical vocal competition helping to develop the careers of young opera singers, on Jan. 25.
The Laffont Competition has remained on Amesquita’s radar since she began singing opera seriously in high school, she said. However, she had not considered entering the competition before this year because she did not think she was vocally ready.
But with the competition taking place close to campus in downtown Chicago, Amesquita said she decided to enter with no expectations or pressure.
Prior to competing among other Central Region singers, Amesquita first had to win at the Illinois District level. Amesquita recalled the excitement she felt as she won.
“When the award ceremony happened, I was standing next to a friend, and they called my name, and I literally physically did not move because I was so in shock,” Amesquita said. “My friend had to push me forward to shake the hands of the judges and accept the award. It was really, really unexpected.”
According to Amesquita’s coach and accompanist at the Laffont Competition, Jonathan Gmeinder, her success was the product of hours of practice and having a “big appetite for information.”
Amesquita started the program off with an aria from Wolfgang Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito called “Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio,” which Gmeinder considers to be incredibly difficult.
“(The piece) has these infamously difficult triplets in the end passage that are really fast and really hard to sing accurately and also musically,” Gmeinder said. “She just crushes it every time. She’s terrific at them. I’ve maybe heard one person sing it as well or better than her in my life.”
Amesquita also offered three other pieces — “Wie Du warst!” by Richard Strauss, “Vois sous l’archet frémissant” by Jacques Offenbach and “Una voce poco fa” by Gioachino Rossini — that contrasted with “Parto” as options for her second piece.
In the Laffont Competition, the first piece is chosen by the contestant, Amesquita said, adding that the second piece is chosen from the other three prepared pieces on the spot by the judges.
Karen Brunssen, Amesquita’s vocal teacher of four years, said that Amesquita is a great actress and an interpreter of “the sentiment” of the piece.
“She’s really good at knowing what she’s saying, even in a foreign language,” Brunssen said. “And she can learn her music incredibly fast and accurately.”
Brunssen added that Amesquita worked on keeping her voice fresh and free during her lessons leading up to the competition.
Like Brunssen, Gmeinder applauded Amesquita for her outstanding talent.
“She’s got a beautiful voice and a natural musicianship — one of those unteachable qualities where it’s kind of intangible and hard to describe,” Gmeinder said. “It is really difficult to teach a student how to give themself over to the music and be in it, and Emily does it (naturally).”
Although Amesquita will not be moving further in the Laffont Competition, she said she is waiting to hear back from other competitions, such as the VanderLaan Prize through Opera Grand Rapids in Michigan and the Musicians Club of Women in Chicago.
Beyond that, Amesquita said she is preparing for her recital, tentatively scheduled for April, as she works on “Songs and Dances of Death” by Modest Mussorgsky, which tackles what it means to die, and “Camille Claudel: Into the Fire” by Jake Heggie, which tells the story of the sculptor Camille Claudel.
In the future, Amesquita plans “to wholeheartedly pursue an operatic career but not solely opera,” giving herself permission to explore her passions for singing in choirs and small ensembles as well as collaborating with artists outside of the opera sphere.
“There are many ways to pursue music,” Amesquita said. “I am just not quite sure which way I’m most excited about yet.”
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