_{Artist of the Week} 15 Qs for Maeve Palmer

Favourite place?
My favourite place is probably my beautiful plant-filled sunroom in the home I share with my mother. (She eventually came around to love the fabulous pink velvet couch I got for a bargain second-hand!) 

Who is a singer you admire that is currently working?
Hands down Lisette Oropesa! I fell in love with her voice and persona through her online presence and then had the amazing opportunity to participate in her masterclass at Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity in 2024. Meeting and learning from her was certainly a highlight of my training. 

What’s your favourite thing about singing with an orchestra?
What isn’t! It’s a glorious feeling, all these artists working as one to create a magical sound world. It’s a little like swimming in salt water, buoyant, supported, free. And during the holidays, there’s nothing quite like singing before a swelling orchestra while the timpani and glockenspiels ring in the season!

What was the first opera you ever saw?
I remember seeing Roméo et Juliette in my local cinema, but what really sticks with me is the first opera I heard – a children’s version of The Magic Flute on CD called Mozart’s Magic Fantasy by Classical Kids. It totally captured my imagination as a child, and I was determined to one day sing in that opera!

When did you know you wanted to be an opera singer?
What really cemented it was visiting the University of Toronto Faculty of Music on a trip to Toronto when I was in Grade 9. I had the opportunity to slip into the back of MacMillan Theatre for a moment and catch a glimpse of their rehearsal for Ravel’s L’Heure Españole. The set, the voices, the orchestra, the costumes! From then on, I’d made up my mind.

Are there more musicians in your family? If yes, who, and what do they play/sing?
While I’m the only professional musician, my family is very musical. My dad grew up playing piano and organ, and my mom and her whole family have beautiful voices – which my brothers undeniably inherited!

What’s your favourite mind-calming practice?
Knitting! It’s my favourite way to relax and centre myself.

What’s the best thing about being an opera artist?
I love the variety in my career – there are days, weeks even, of solitude in practice and preparation, and then suddenly you’re thrown into an amazing collaborative experience with a ton of fantastic colleagues where you get to throw on incredible characters and create something magical.

What was your childhood dream job?
As a child I was dead-set on being a paleontologist right up until a third-grade speech competition inspired me to write ten-minute soliloquy on the day-to-day experience in that career. Turns out, it was not for me! 

When was the first time you cried at the opera?
I will never not cry at a Bohème or Suor Angelica – Puccini gets me every time!

Are you a perfectionist?
Absolutely – however, I wouldn’t count that a virtue! Perfectionism can be a hindrance as much as an asset.

What is the best advise you have ever been given? 
My teacher, Professor Lorna MacDonald, says “It begins in the brain,” which I just love. Whenever something seems unachievable, or I find myself struggling, I go back to that first principle and find my way again.

Which of your roles has had the greatest impact on your perspective?
Every character has something to teach me, but I think Zerbinetta may have taught me the most. She has an incredible ability to reconcile the coexistence of contradictory realities of human experience, like ocean waves over deeper currents – ebbing, flowing, both transient and eternal. 

What does it mean to be brave with music?
For me, being brave with music has to do with giving oneself over to flow and engagement. There’s a similar feeling in partner dancing; when you can relinquish doubts and forward or backwards thinking, and tune into exactly what you interpret in the present moment, then it feels like flying. 

Coffee or tea?
Both, please!!