Internationally recognized singer and scientist Heidi Moss Erickson was told she’d never perform again in 2007 after a rare injury. However, she took the stage at Northwestern’s Galvin Recital Hall Monday evening, sharing her voice and her story.
The audience watched as Moss Erickson appeared in the doorway with her operatic voice filling the space. Singing as she walked down the aisle, she began the show before even reaching the stage.
After earning dual degrees in voice and biology at Oberlin College, the soprano won the New York District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, was recognized in the Liederkranz Awards and won the Best in the Bay Award in 2019 for her Richard Strauss recital.
However, seventeen years ago, Moss Erickson was diagnosed with life-altering Bell’s Palsy –– an unexplained, temporary paralysis of one side of one’s face.
“I thought it was over,” Moss Erickson said.
Moss Erickson explained that it was difficult to grapple not only with the physical and mental challenges accompanying her illness but also the potential permanent loss of her career.
Moss Erickson turned to her passion for science to get her voice back. Through rehabilitation and studying the connections between the voice and the brain, she became an expert, sharing this knowledge with others, and eventually gaining national recognition.
Between songs, Moss Erickson and her husband Kurt Erickson shared their personal connections to various pieces of music. Kurt Erickson composed and accompanied Moss Erickson on the piano for many of the songs she sang.
The two presented the first eight songs of the show together. They spoke about Moss Erickson’s condition and the long road to recovery, sharing their struggles and successes with the audience.
“Sometimes there’s a divide between a performer and the audience, but because she was directly addressing the audience, she created a connection with the audience which I haven’t really seen before,” Weinberg and Bienen senior Aurora Jablon said.
As a music student, Jablon said she felt inspired not only by Moss Erickson’s performance but also by her storytelling, both through spoken word and song.
From “Song of Regret” by Kurt Erickson to “Addio Del Passato” by Giuseppe Verdi, the music selection was diverse. Weinberg and Bienen senior Ismael Perez noted this variety is one of the reasons Moss Erickson’s show resonated so strongly with her audience.
“I really value that the performer tonight really broke down everything, connecting different pieces of literature,” Perez said.
Moss Erickson said she lost a perfect fourth of her vocal range due to her illness and shared that she has not been hired as frequently since healing. However, Moss Erickson said she does not feel discouraged and still loves music just as much as she always has.
She concluded her performance with advice to aspiring musicians at Bienen.
“We have a responsibility to tell stories in the right way,” Moss Erickson said.
After she concluded her conversation, Moss Erickson and Kurt Erickson took a final bow together.
Communication Prof. Nina Kraus came to the show with high expectations and said she left satisfied.
“As our world becomes increasingly noisy and visual, we’re forgetting how to listen,” Kraus said. “This was a beautiful, beautiful time for listening.”
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