Click here to listen to the episode on Spotify
In the nineteenth episode of the third season of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University’s Elizabeth Futral. Futral begins by detailing the myriads of ways individuals new to opera come to find the artform compelling. Some people are initially drawn to the music. Some people are drawn to the costumes. Some people are drawn to the storyline. Some people are even able to appreciate all of these dimensions of opera and more during their first encounter. Futral then shifts to discussing the experiences which allowed her to appreciate the potential she had as a vocal performer during her undergraduate years at Samford University, her graduate years at Indiana University, and as an apprentice at Lyric Opera Chicago. Along the way, mentors such as Eleanor Ousley at Samford, Virginia Zeani at Indiana, and Ardis Krainik with Lyric Opera provided Futral with the guidance and counsel she would need to sustain a vocation as a coloratura soprano. That career took Futral to perform in the world’s leading opera houses in roles in history’s most widely recognized operas as well as some of the most recent operatic compositions. While performing as a soloist, Futral would often lead master classes, experiences she came to appreciate and led her to understand that her calling would eventually include preparing the next generation of vocal performers at an institutional home she has now come to appreciate at Peabody. Futral then concludes by discussing ways the Church proved supportive of the performing arts, quiet ways that support continues, and ways it may increase in the years to come.
Todd Ream: Welcome to Saturdays at Seven, Christian Scholar’s Review’s conversation series with thought leaders about the academic vocation and the relationship that vocation shares with the Church. My name is Todd Ream. I have the privilege of serving as the publisher for Christian Scholar’s Review and as the host for Saturdays at Seven. I also have the privilege of serving on the faculty and the administration at Indiana Wesleyan University.
—
Our guest is Elizabeth Futral, the Marc von May Distinguished Chair of Vocal Studies at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today.
Elizabeth Futral: It’s my pleasure to be with you, Todd. Thank you so much for inviting me.
Todd Ream: I’m admittedly risking oversimplification here, but when seeking to cultivate an appreciation for opera, experts seem to offer one of two forms of advice. Either a person should first immerse oneself in the music apart from the storyline, or a person should first immerse oneself in the storyline apart from the music.
Are you in favor of one of those two options, or perhaps is there a third, fourth, or fifth option you might recommend?
Elizabeth Futral: So opera is sort of the most all encompassing art form. There is an orchestra. There is often a chorus. There are solo singers. There are costumes. There are theatrics. There is a set, you know, there are all of these elements that other art media, you know, maybe offer only one of. And um, so, so that’s the kind of unique thing about opera, I’d say.
And I, I would also say yes, maybe you’re oversimplifying a bit, but going into an opera from the perspective of the story, for many people, is sort of the way in reading the story, learning what it’s about, and then going to hear how the music, you know, delineates that story and illuminates that story. That could be a way in, for many people it is. Um, other people are really wowed and, and overwhelmed by the music itself and lured, I guess I should say by the music itself.
Some people I’ve heard comment, I have no idea what that story was about, but I love the music, you know, and, and I sort of understood about the story without actually knowing the specifics of it or knowing the language. You know, they’re often in foreign languages. So, yeah, those are two ways in.
Other people, you know, are really visually captivated, and so the set and costumes lure them in. I’ve had people comment on sets and costumes and not say a word to me about the music or the singing, you know? Um, and, and that’s fine. I think any way in to opera is valid, and there are many ways in.
Todd Ream: Thank you. In terms of someone who was overwhelmed the first time she heard it, former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of the most public and vocal supporters of opera. And she claimed her love for opera, again, dated back to when she was 11 and attended a performance of Amilcare Ponchielli’s La Gioconda or The Mona Lisa, remarking that the combination of high drama and beautiful music just overwhelmed her.
At what age, if any, would you recommend introducing a person to opera?
Elizabeth Futral: Oh goodness. I mean, I, you know, first of all, sidebar, um for, for the lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg I was fortunate enough to have met her several times because I sang in Washington many times. And she was always there, and she often came backstage and where I would go to a little party before the opera or something and she would be there, or after the opera. Yes, she was one of the most enthusiastic and supportive fans of opera that our generation knew really. Um, and so I love that about her.
There is no really, there is no age that is optimum except I would say I love it when children go see opera. So I love it that she saw an opera when she was 11 because she had no preconceived notions about what it was going to be. And I think the older we get, you know, the more we learn about this and that genre of music, you know, we, we, we get sort of locked into, oh, I like this. Oh, I don’t like that. And that can be because you heard that from your mother. Oh, opera, it’s terrible, or your friend, or whatever, and you never even heard it, you know? So you have these ideas, these notions of, of I should or shouldn’t like it.
And when you’re a kid, you know, you don’t, you don’t have that and you’re just open. And so she responded viscerally to the art form. And no one told her to. She was just, you know, she was receiving and responding to what she saw and heard. And, and I love that.
I was not quite that young, I think when I saw my first opera, but I felt the same way, you know. And I was a music person. I, you know, was studying piano and I’d always been singing since I was two years old, you know. And so for me, maybe, it seems more natural that I responded to it, but I remember it very vividly. My mother had community concert tickets and one time some touring company, probably New York City Opera, was touring Madam Butterfly. And, and we went to see it. And I still, to this day, Madam Butterfly is one of my favorite operas and you know, mostly because it just, you know, it gets me right here. The combination of the power of the music and the power of the story and how that was so completely effective.
Todd Ream: Madam Butterfly then may be one of the ones that you would offer, but are there operas that tend to overwhelm broader groups of new audience members?
Elizabeth Futral: Yeah, I think Madam Butterfly is one of those. And another one would be La bohème of Puccini, also, same composer. Um, those are called verismo operas. And they, they were, you know, early 20th century turn of the century, Italian composers who wrote operas about common people after a period of time when operas were more about the elite and um, and aristocrats and stories that, you know, maybe the common person couldn’t relate to as, as easily.
So verismo means realism. So these were real stories and real emotions of real people. And you know, La bohème is about these poor young artists, you know, trying to make a living in Paris. And, and the, you know, the stories of their lives. Um, Madam Butterfly is a, a whole different storyline but could have happened, you know, and, and probably did happen that, that story, so there, there were stories that people could relate to.
That doesn’t mean I don’t love lots of other stories. And, and for lots of different reasons, opera is presented nowadays in many different formats. The older operas are often updated and redone in a way that does make them a bit more accessible to all of us. Um, if we can’t quite understand 18th century, you know, France or Italy or whenever some of these things were written and don’t have a, a, a, a connection to that, they’re, they’re often updated and to, to great effect. So there’s a lot of, you know, variety going on in how operas are presented.
So for that reason, it’s really hard for me to pick one that would just pull people in because different things pull people in. And I’m often surprised, oh my gosh, you liked that? Yeah, this is how they did it. You know? And so you know, some crazy Handel opera, which I love Handel operas, but those are not everybody’s taste. But the way they’re produced and, and directed these days can be completely compelling.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Thank you. We’ve talked about the music, we’ve talked about the storyline, we’ve talked about the pageantry. For you, if you had to choose where does the greatest beauty of an opera reside? How do you know when it catches you right there and what are the qualities of it or perhaps the confluence of qualities that do that for you?
Elizabeth Futral: Oh, that’s a hard question, Todd. Well, so for me, it really is when the elements of drama being fully convincing and the element of singing being completely fabulous. I, I won’t say beautiful because singing is not always beautiful. Sometimes it’s harsh, but also effective, you know? So when, when the singing really rises to that top level, the drama rises to that, to that top level, and the delineation of the music through the orchestra all come together.
So for me, those elements, the orchestral underpinning of the vocal, you know, potency and, and the drama all come together, you know, in a pinnacle moment to create what is really, you know, sort of undeniable power and emotion. Those are the moments for me in opera that are the most effective.
Todd Ream: Yeah. While full appreciation of what opera can offer is likely a lifetime pursuit, at what point does one know that he or she is beginning to appreciate all of the critical facets that an opera can offer, really beginning to sort of take it in for what it’s worth, in its beginning in its fuller form or fullest form?
Elizabeth Futral: You know, I mean, everybody has a, a different experience with, with that, I think, and I don’t know that there’s, you know, I don’t know that there’s a point at which you, you know, one reaches, like, I got this, you know? But I think when one walks out of the theater taking, you know, a strong sense of that story, a strong sense of, you know, a a, an emotional state to which that that story has carried you and the opera has carried you being in an opera that when one is really immersed in all of the elements, it’s transcendent, I think. And it’s transformative in a way.
For me as an artist, it certainly was that more often than not. Um, and I think for an audience member, I think that’s what we hope for. That’s what we hope that we are, we are bringing an audience to, to a point of transcendency and transformation.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. I want to ask you now about some of your own biographical details and how opera and vocal studies became so important for you. You grew up in Louisiana, Covington, Louisiana, I believe in particular, and attended college at Samford University.
In what ways did your time in Birmingham contribute to your vocational discernment as a singer?
Elizabeth Futral: Well, that was a pivotal time in my life for sure. I went to Samford to study music education and, and with a voice concentration. And because that was largely because I was the daughter of an English teacher, my mother, and a daughter of a Baptist minister. My father was a Baptist minister. And so education and church were important things to me.
So I went to Samford, was Baptist, is a Baptist school, and that was logical, but it also had a strong music program. Music education seemed safer than performance. I didn’t know anyone who was a you know, full-time performing artist as an opera singer or, or a singer at all. So, and that was just a world I didn’t know that really was something I didn’t know was possible. So I thought, well, like I can teach this thing that I love to do, right?
So I went there and I luckily was able to study under the mentorship of Eleanor, my voice teacher. And she was really the first person in my life who kind of sat me down and said, you know, you could actually be a professional singer, I think. I think you have the potential to be a professional singer if you chose to do that. Do you really want to be a teacher? And I said no.
Well, I mean, at that age I did not, you know? I did not want to be a teacher. And when I learned that.
Todd Ream: We’ll get to that arc in your career in a few minutes.
Elizabeth Futral: Yeah, well what, what I learned when I learned that was in this Jan term we had, when you sort of as a MusEd student, you get to go into the school and get a taste of what it’s going to be. And that little taste was frightening to me. I thought, oh man, I am so not equipped to do this teaching thing right now, you know?
You know, I loved singing. I really, really loved singing, but I hadn’t ever said, heard anyone say to me, you can be a singer. You can actually probably make a living as a singer. Now that’s a big promise, and she didn’t promise that to me, but she did promise with a lot of hard work that there was potential for that, and that was all I needed really for me to just drop that MusEd degree and, and go the performance route.
Um, but you know, I think all of my life, I have been learning how to teach through what I was doing and learning how to teach by those who were teaching me. And she being the first really important mentor in my life.
Todd Ream: Yeah. In what ways, if any, during that time was operatic performance and operatic singing perhaps part of what was also on your mind?
Elizabeth Futral: Well, we had a small, you know opera department there at Samford, and I was pretty much involved in the opera every year except my, my first year, my freshman year. And I loved it. That’s where I learned that I really loved being on stage. Um, I didn’t have formal acting training. Um, I had done a little bit of, you know, I’d done some theater work in high school, but nothing extensive. Although my mother says, well, darling, you were acting since you were two years old. So like but anyway, I think I came by some of that naturally. But once I began to work on stage at Samford, those were important moments for me because I realized, oh, I also love this part of the opera, the opera world.
And in my senior year, I was able to be Susannah in the opera called Susannah. It’s a contemporary American opera based on the apocryphal story of Susannah if you remember that one or have read that you know, where the elders see Susannah in a bathing in a stream, and that they’re so lustful after her that they, they decide to blame their lust on her and exorcise her from the community. And it, none of it is her fault. She just happens to be having her innocent life and, you know, is blamed for the evils of these other people. So it’s a, it’s a, it’s a retelling of that based in this in the South and in Kentucky, I think maybe somewhere Kentucky, Tennessee, somewhere in the, in the mountains.
But anyway, that was a really important moment for me because it was an opera in English and, about this person that I could sort of understand very well, you know, as I was talking to you about opera stories that sometimes are not as relatable. Well, this one was very relatable, you know, and so it struck chords deeply within me. Um, and I was able to connect with it on a level that I hadn’t really experienced before. So again, that was inspirational to me going forward in wanting to pursue this career.
Todd Ream: How often, if at all, do you get back to Birmingham?
Elizabeth Futral: Well, I went back a couple of times to do recitals and master classes for them particularly when, when my teacher was living and then I, as she was aging, I would go back really just to visit her in her late years. Um, she died during COVID year. Yeah, so I don’t really have occasion to go back much these days, but um, after I graduated, I went back kind of with regularity.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Thank you.
After you graduated from Samford, you studied vocal performance at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
In what ways did your experience in Bloomington contribute to accelerating that vocational discernment as a singer?
Elizabeth Futral: Well, you know, you must know something about Bloomington and their music school. We call it the Opera Factory of the Midwest. It’s such a strong program and, and a big program. And they’ve had a, a track, a great track record of, of producing not only great opera singers, but musicians in general. You know, it’s just, it’s, it’s such a great place to be.
That was eye-opening for me, I must say. Um, you know, where at Samford, I was kind of a big fish in a small pond. That was the opposite at, at IU. Yeah, talk about small fish, feeling like, oh my goodness, do I belong here? Do I deserve to be here? You know, those kinds of things that I hear now from my students a lot, you know, imposter syndrome stuff is really rampant among musicians.
Uh, so, so that was something I grappled with the whole time that I was there, and I think it was important for me to do because that is real. Once you get out into the real world and the professional world and begin auditioning and, and really trying to compete which it is a competition, you know? No matter what anybody says, you are definitely competing for every little job you get, you know, particularly in the beginning. So learning that competitiveness, you know, healthy competitiveness and resilience and thick skin, kind of developing that thick skin was in important for me, and I think that’s, that’s where I learned it.
I also had a wonderful mentor teacher there as well, Virginia Zeani, and she had had this wonderful career. She was Romanian and she taught me about the career really. You know, she, she shared lots of stories with me and she you know, just talked about kind of like, was an insider look into how it might function, you know, which no one can tell you unless they’ve actually done it, you know? So that was an important gift that she gave me. Um, in addition to lots of other, you know, musical and vocal foundations.
But, yeah, and then I luckily got to do some, some operas there. That opera stage is the same size as the Metropolitan Opera. So I mean, it’s just crazy. You know, what they have there at IU the facilities and the technical abilities and the costuming. I worked in the costume shop while I was there because I grew up sewing and I loved sewing. And so that was, that was really fun to be backstage doing that kind of thing. But you know, it was great, it was a, know, it was a fraught, that time. It was fantastic and it was also really challenging, you know, so.
Todd Ream: How often do you get back to the Opera Factory of the Midwest?
Elizabeth Futral: Well again, I’ve gone back to do concerts, recitals for them. Uh, I don’t know if I did a master class when I was there. I think I might have also. And then in more recent years, my husband, who is a conductor has gone there to conduct an opera. And so I went to see his opera and was able to kind of reconnect with a few people there.
My connection there is less going there and, and rather just sort of staying in touch with some of the teachers there because we, you know, we trade students back and forth. They’ll send a, you know, an undergrad who’s just graduated sometimes to us for grad school, and we do the same, you know, swapping back and forth. So we stay in touch, kind of, you know, about those students and whether that might be a good fit back, back and forth.
Todd Ream: Yeah, yeah. After you graduated from Bloomington, you received an apprenticeship with the Lyric Opera Chicago. Before I ask you about the ways that apprenticeship impacted your vocational discernment, would you please share what vocal abilities define a coloratura soprano? At what point in time did those abilities sort of shape your discernment as an operatic singer?
Elizabeth Futral: Well, I would say that every singer’s voice is sort of meant to do a certain thing, right? And, and, and equipped to do a certain thing. It’s our job to, to unlock those abilities, you know, but they’re, you’re sort of born with some natural tendencies, I think. And, and so your voice as you build your voice and as you free your voice, it sort of shows you where you should go, in which path you should go. So, you know, you can’t just decide you’re gonna be a coloratura soprano if you’re not a coloratura soprano if that makes sense.
And so a coloratura soprano is the highest voice type there is. Um, so among all the voice types that, that’s the one that has, that goes the highest. And so it’s a high soprano. The coloratura aspect of it is, coloratura meaning fluidity ability to move the voice quickly, so that also that label sort of defines what roles you would sing. Um, so that’s what it is.
And that, you know, when you learn that your voice is a certain weight and can do those things, and you then are able to execute those things, then you naturally get move into certain repertoire that requires those things. And the repertoire is you know, defined by the label.
Todd Ream: At what point in time did you recognize that about your voice? Perhaps it was back as early as your undergraduate years, but perhaps it came later?
Elizabeth Futral: It was developing in my undergraduate years. You know, you have, you, you have your teacher who is encouraging and, and looking for, you know, your abilities and your the way your voice shows itself the best, you know and helping you understand how to recreate that.
And then you also have friends. And one of my best friends was Christy Chiodras, and she was a coloratura. I mean, like, she could get up in the morning and sing, you know, the top of everywhere, I mean, she just, her voice just went off this scale as we say. You know, it went to the top and over and so easily, and I didn’t have that easily actually because we would, you know, kind of be down in the practice rooms, trying things out together and she’d be singing. I’m like, how do you do with that? And, and I, she probably can just do that. And, and so then I would try to do it and I couldn’t do it.
Well, what it was, is that I hadn’t learned yet how to access that part of my voice. Um, she was actually a higher soprano than even I, but so I had to learn how to open up my voice and, and release tension that maybe I had already accumulated somewhere along the way, and so that my voice could do what it was supposed to do. So that was part of, part of the learning process then in undergrad.
But then in graduate school, even more, I began to unlock what my voice was supposed to do. And you know, you, you sort of, I am reading a book called The Musician’s Mind right now, and it’s kind of mind over matter, you know, how you practice and how you practice in a way that you’re not creating tension, but releasing the tension and finding control, but releasing control and all these, you know, dichotomies of the, the brain to physicality work that is very interesting and, you know, amorphous in a way.
Todd Ream: The time that you then spent with Lyric Opera Chicago, in what ways did it shape your sense of discernment as an operatic singer and performer?
Elizabeth Futral: Well, those years were again, very critical and in a different way. For me, I was sort of on my way vocally, technically through, you know, the training I had had, but that you, you never stop. That’s one of the things about singing is you never stop learning and growing. And since your body is your voice, you know, your body is constantly changing as you age, so you have to keep accommodating those changes as a singer. So I learned that and, you know, just kept kind of growing.
But the, the, the things that I learned that were so critical at, at Lyric Opera Chicago were many more things about the business of singing, the business of being a musician, how to my comport myself, you know, in, in, situations when, you know, I’ve got a very famous conductor or director or, you know, these intimidating situations, how, how to, how to really be a player, a team player in those situations. And, you know, how to deal with difficult personalities, all of those things.
And then also how to get my next steps going. And so, you know, really making connections and keeping in contact with these people and reminding them that I’m there. This is all really important for a young musician who’s trying to just get a foot in the door professionally. I mean, while being at Lyric Opera, you know, it was a paid position. You know, it in terms of being a professional artist, I still had some years to go to really break into that world.
So I was, you know, luckily and, and, and gratefully connected to some important conductors, directors, impresarios of operas, those impresarios of people who run the opera companies. And I don’t even know if that term is used anymore, but I like it, so I’m using it. Um, so, but being connected to those people and being introduced to them by somebody else who had some clout, so the people at, at Lyric Opera, Ardis Krainik, who ran the company and was a wonderful female role model of mine was very important. She validated me, so other people bought that from her. You know, I must be something worth taking a look at or listening to.
Todd Ream: Thank you very much. That career then did take off and over the course of your career, you performed in some of the world’s greatest opera houses, including London, Berlin, Florence, Vienna, Tokyo, Geneva, Prague, Brussels, Chicago—I’m going to take a breath here—Washington, DC, New York, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and that’s just 14 of them there. Do you have a favorite?
Elizabeth Futral: Oh, that’s tough. That’s tough. Well, I have favorites, but not a favorite. You know, every opera house is a little bit different in size, but also in audience. So some of my favorites I think would be European opera houses, and that’s largely because opera is a much more, I don’t know, it’s steeped in the culture in many of those European cities in a way that it’s not quite here because we’re younger and we are also very competitive with lots of other genres, lots of popular music and jazz and all, you know, all kinds of other wonderful things that go on here.
But opera is, you know, competing for an audience in America, I’d say, and always, always has been to a degree. But in Europe, the audiences really come and they really know their opera, Todd. They have learned about their opera. They’ve seen, you know, La bohème twenty times and Magic Flute. You know, I did Magic Flute in Berlin. That was one of my favorite moments, and a man afterwards—um, so Magic Flute, it’s by Mozart and it, it was premiered, no, it wasn’t premiered in Munich, but it’s been done there for many, many, many years.
And it also has spoken dialogue in German and I was very nervous about doing that because I’m not a native German speaker and I’m not, you know, highly fluent in German. But I learned my stuff and I did it. And a man afterwards came and gave me a postcard of the Munich Opera House, and on the back of it, were all the people who had sung my role over the years and the historical, you know, collection of all the people who had sung Pamina in Magic Flute. And I was so moved by that. I just, mean, my name was last one, you know, it was really cool.
You know, things like that that happen in Europe or sort of singular and, and, and very unique. Um, then you, you like an opera house for its historical significance to you as an American. And for me as an American, I think the Metropolitan Opera was like, you know, the top of my list and, you know, very high on the importance scale. And so my debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Lucia was a pinnacle moment and very important. It’s not the most gracious hall to sing in because it’s enormous, you know, but it has, it has great acoustics actually.
And so, you know, you, you, you know that about it and you learn to trust it. And try not to shout in there because, you know, it’s huge and it’s kind of intimidating, but it actually works pretty well. So, yeah, lots of, lots of favorites for lots of different reasons.
Todd Ream: Thank you. Comparable question then, over the course of your career, you’ve performed operas by many of the world’s greatest composers, including Rossini, Handel, Donizetti, Verdi, and Strauss, to name only five here. Um, do you have a favorite or perhaps do you have a couple of favorites?
Elizabeth Futral: I have a couple favorites.
Todd Ream: Okay.
Elizabeth Futral: I’m gonna get I, I’ll tell you some that, well, one you might not have even heard of, but I’ll, I’ll tell you about that. So one of them is Susannah in Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, and that is a comic opera. And Susannah is one of the longest roles in the canon traditional canon. And she’s on stage almost the whole opera. I mean, she’s just in and out and in and out. She’s, she’s a maid, you know, she’s, she’s the servant maid to the countess in the opera. And she’s marrying her, her guy who is also, you know, he’s the, he’s the butler to the count, the count. So the count and the countess, we are the, we are their, their first maid and butler. And, and and we’re getting married. This is our marriage day. And so it’s a very complicated plot. I’m not gonna go into that.
But Susannah is such a delightful character. She’s, she’s funny. She’s clever. She’s thoughtful. Um, she just has so many attributes that I love. And so for me, she’s just a dream to play and she’s so, she has so much fun on stage. You know, she’s as, as a maid, she’s, she’s very busy all, all night long, you know, and, and someone who’s getting married too while she’s working. Um, she’s planning her wedding that night. So anyway, she’s one of my favorites. And Mozart is, you know, magic and wrote so beautifully for the voice.
Another one that I love to play, both for musical reasons and dramatic reasons, was La traviata, Violetta in La traviata. And that’s largely because there’s such an amazing trajectory that this character journeys through in the opera. And I find that very fulfilling. I always found it fulfilling and, and the music, you know, so clearly elucidates the character and, and her emotional journey.
And so, so that for me was one that I did quite a bit and, and always loved and never felt when I returned to it that, oh, I, I know what I’m doing. I’ll just get up and do my Violetta there. No, it was always something more to try and to learn about her and both, you know, character wise and musically.
Um, and then I, I did one other opera that I love that I have to mention because, and you won’t have heard of it, probably. It’s a 21st century. I think it was premiered in the 21st century an opera called Émilie. And it’s based on the life of Émilie du Châtelet, a 18th century brilliant woman who was multi, you know studied in, in many different areas mathematician and a linguist and, notoriously you know, a sort of had a relationship with Voltaire. And that’s why people might know her.
But she had so many other she was self-taught and, you know, in an, in an age when women weren’t really given an education, but her father thought this was important and also made sure she was connected to mentors and teachers who gave her a brilliant education and, and philosopher and, you know. Anyway, this story was about her, and it’s a one-act, one-woman opera. So I was on stage for 75 minutes, I think 70 minutes, singing pretty much nonstop except there were musical interludes. And I just found that whole thing so gratifying.
It was by a woman called Kaija Saariaho, who was Finish. She passed away a few years ago and she wrote it in French. She was also fluent in French. And anyway, that, that was, was an important opera for me and, and completely fulfilling in every way.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Thank you. I warned you that we’d come back to talking about teaching eventually, and we’re at that point now. In addition to being a professional performer, at what point in time did teaching then also become part of how you discerned you would express your vocation?
Elizabeth Futral: You know, even when I was sort of early in my career, folks would ask me where, wherever I was singing, well, can you do a master class? You know, can you do a two-hour teaching stint with several of our students in our young artists program or at a college nearby or whatever? And at those early years was like, yeah, I guess, but I don’t know if I have anything to say. I’m just kind of still learning this myself, you know?
But you know, I was at a certain level that they thought surely I would know how to talk about it. And so I knew how to talk about it in, in, in a certain way, but I hadn’t really taught one-on-one with students at that point at all, did a little bit of teaching as a grad student at IU. So yes, I had some one-on-one teaching time and really enjoyed that.
So yes, I, I said yes to those master classes even though I didn’t feel like a master. And I enjoyed them and I learned a lot by doing them. And people seemed to learn something from me. So I thought, well, that’s validation. Maybe I’ll keep doing these things. So I would kind of seek out those opportunities when I was in, in various states and countries and, you know, work with people along the way. So that’s kind of how the teaching thing, you know, rolled out through my professional life as a singer.
And then, you know, as I was kind of nearing the end, I’m not singing anymore, and as I was making that decision to sort of let that part of my career go, I was thinking, well, what next? You know, and teaching of course seemed the obvious choice because I, at that point, had accumulated a lot of things that I wanted to say about singing and about the career too. You know, I think that that is a bonus that I can give my students is that I can talk about how to navigate the career or how I navigated the career or how not to navigate the career by watching other people that I worked with and pitfalls and all of those things. I, I can really speak to that and I, I like to speak to that. I like to be able to kind of open that window to people.
As I told you in the beginning, I didn’t know anything about professional singing when I started this whole journey. It might have been nice to know. In fact, I might have chosen not to do it if I’d known everything I know you know about it now. There, there was a lot. So I think the way that it unfolded to me was probably better for my personality and what I could receive in those early years. But I try to be pretty frank with my students now about all of that.
And yeah, so teaching seemed to be the logical choice. And I’m so grateful, you know, to um, Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins where I currently am, that they gave me this opportunity and I’m so happy where I am so very happy with that wonderful, old institution and our amazing students who come through year after year.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Can you talk about the ways that the vocational satisfaction as a performer intersects with the vocational satisfaction you derive now as a teacher? The ways they relate, what they give to you also as you were just sort of echoing there.
Elizabeth Futral: That’s interesting to think about. And I want to thank you too, Todd, for making me be reflective and sort of introspective, you know, about, I don’t often have time to think about these things, you know, it seems like I’m just pushing forward all the time.
But yes, the intersection of those two worlds for me has been interesting in how that sort of has morphed over time as I’ve really dug in my heels as a teacher. The satisfaction that I, that I gained and the, and the, I guess, fulfillment really as a performer is almost equal that I get from teaching. So it’s artistic for me, artistic and emotional and mental fulfillment. You know, I think it engages all, all of those aspects for me that I really was immersed in as a singer.
That is all required still of me as a teacher. And it’s almost like I’m channeling, you know, my artistry into my students now, whereas I would’ve channeled that to an audience before. Well, my students are my audience, I guess, if I can make them pay attention. Um, sometimes they do.
No, but I, I mean, it’s, it’s real, I figured that out somewhere along the way, that that’s actually what was happening and that, that is why I feel so comfortable and feel so you know, well equipped, I think, to do what I’m doing. It’s because I do have this, this world of, you know, artistry in which I was steeped and which I honed over the years which I’m trying to share. And that’s, you know, I feel so lucky.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Thank you. As we get close to being out of time for our conversation today, I want to ask you again, you mentioned when you were in Bloomington that one of the things you learned was being thick skinned, and when you think about the students that you work with today, what virtues are you trying to cultivate and create space for cultivation with them? And perhaps also against what vices are you trying to prepare them to confront that may come as they advance within their own careers?
Elizabeth Futral: Well, you know, this idea of cultivating thick skin is important. And I talk to them about that and I, and in such a way that hopefully is helpful. You know, you are not going to always be told in your life yes. You know, you are not going to always be the one chosen to sing the role, to win the competition, to get the job. Um, and that’s true in every field obviously.
But in, in the, in the arts, I think, you know, there’s, there’s a lot more nos that are going to come your way. And when you get the yeses, that’s, that’s gonna be great. So, you know, what does that mean? How do you receive that denial? You know, does that mean I’m being denied as a human being? Because as a singer you are that, that voice, you know?
And so it’s very hard to, I think, pull out, you know, separate, compartmentalize, no didn’t, they didn’t like my voice on this particular day. Maybe I didn’t sing my best. You know, there are all kinds of things. It does not mean you are a bad human being. It does not mean you are not valid and not supposed to be doing what you’re trying to do. So those kinds of issues I think are tricky, particularly for a singer.
Instrumentalists, I think experience it also on a certain level, but I think for the singer it’s much more sort of, know, psychologically complicated for us and, and that I learned, I think just by going through it. But I think giving a bit of, you know, historical context to my students is maybe beneficial for them.
The other thing on the flip side of that is when they are successful, does that also mean you’re a better person than the next person that didn’t win? You know, so it’s those kinds of things, those kinds of issues of do I then become prideful? Do I, do I then become self-important? You know, these are the things I think in my career that you could see happening around you and you’re thinking, no I don’t want to be that person. And I don’t want my students to be that person either.
Self-confidence is a different matter. That’s important and you have to have it. But sort of rising above everyone else is not a place I think I recommend. And so, you know that those are conversations we also have. You are a wonderful and fantastic person, but you’re not better than, you’re just uniquely you and you’re being validated for that, and that’s fabulous.
Todd Ream: Thank you. For our last question now, I want to draw back to your childhood in your earlier years here. You grew up, father was a Baptist minister, mom was an English teacher, you went to Samford, which was then historically and is historically tied to the Baptist Church and the Baptists in Alabama.
And at one time the Church was the greatest patron of the arts. In what ways do you think in the future, the Church could be of greater service to the arts, and perhaps the arts could be of greater service to the Church?
Elizabeth Futral: That’s a great question, and I think I do see that it continues to be both entities are serving one another. Um, when I was in college at Samford, the, you know, my first church job, my first job really was there and it was a Baptist church, but the minister there, Lester Barker, I mean the minister of music he would employ a quartet of singers. And that’s very common in many churches, but it wasn’t really common in Baptist churches at that point. So I, I, I, I appreciated that I was given this opportunity, kind of like a choral scholar, you know, I sang with the choir and also sang solos and this or that occasionally.
And um, but it was, you know, a paid position. It was sort of a leader, a section leader for the, for the choir. And so that was my first touch with the Church supporting musicians. And I love that. And I did that at IU too. I drove every Sunday to Indianapolis and sang at an Episcopal church there. And also with a quartet of singers. So those kinds of things continue.
Baltimore is a big church town. There’s a church on every corner here. And, you know, and they, pretty much, any of our singers who want to sing in a church choir in a paid position can find one. You know, they all do that and they all support. And so, and at different levels, you know of engagement, but so that is still going on.
I will also say that churches as venues for arts organizations to present, it’s quite common here in Baltimore and I think in many cities, and I think that’s a win-win for both entities because sometimes churches experience, you know, decline in their numbers. And this can really bring audiences into the space and introduce them to the space in a way that I think is really valuable.
We’re out of our big hall this fall because it’s being renovated. So we’ve had to go outside into the community to present operas and concerts, you know, orchestral concerts, choral concerts. I can’t tell you how many churches have brought us in, to give our choral concert, choral concerts and orchestral concerts. So it’s amazing. But, you know, many present concert series, series around here. I’m not sure how that is in, you know, where you live, but I think that kind of partnership is critical and also benefits both entities to a great degree.
Todd Ream: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Elizabeth Futral: You’re welcome.
Todd Ream: Our guest has been Elizabeth Futral, the Marc von May Distinguished Chair of Vocal Studies at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Thank you for taking time to share your insights and wisdom with us.
Elizabeth Futral: Thank you, Todd. This has been such a joy. I really appreciate having been invited and thank you so much for your insightful questions. It was really fun.
—
Todd Ream: Thank you for joining us for Saturdays at seven Christian Scholars reviews conversation series with thought leaders about the academic vocation and the relationship that vocation shares with the Church. We invite you to join us again next week for Saturdays at Seven.
