_{Artist of the Week} 16 Qs for Taryn Plater

Who is a singer you admire that is currently working?
Cécile McLorin Salvant – I admire that she is inspired by a ton of different musical traditions but never boxed into one. Her swing version of Glitter and be Gay is my latest obsession.

Which role do you wish you could sing, but is not in your voice type?
Oberon from Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (pants role?).

What’s your favourite movie?
It’s a Wonderful Life.

Favourite place?
Nanoose Bay, BC.

Are you a cat person or a dog person?
Cat person! My cats are called Parsley and Rosemary, and they are perfect.

What was your childhood dream job?
According to my grade one yearbook: a fairy. I played one on stage, so I think six-year-old me would be pleased.

Which album did you listen to last?
Getz/Gilberto.

When did you know you wanted to be an opera singer?
After two years of studying engineering! I was given the chance to sing in the chorus of UBC Opera‘s La traviata the summer after second year, and I loved it. That fall, I applied to the opera program, and I started my music degree the following year when I was 21. Honestly, at that time I had no expectation that I would work as a professional opera singer, but I figured if I didn’t at least see what it was all about, I might always regret not knowing.

If you weren’t a singer, you’d be..?
An urban planner. (This is a little joke because actually I am one!) I’ve found balancing my careers as an opera artist and an urban planner to be so interesting and fulfilling. Both fields require curiosity and a willingness to learn from the world around you, but the day-to-days are very different which I love.

Do you enjoy cooking? If yes, what is your best dish?
I think my husband and I have perfected our cottage cheese dill pierogi recipe.

Do you approach singing and/or upcoming projects differently today than you did at the beginning of your career?
I am learning to focus my energy on projects that truly excite me. For example, I am more likely to prioritize a project that blends musical genres or artistic mediums, and less likely to jump at something because it would look great on a resume.

What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken for a production?
About five years ago I had the initial idea for a narrative art song recital that would explore cultural identity and memory loss. The idea grew into Pamyatayesh, a multimedia piece that uses film, theatre and Ukrainian art song to explore what it means to remember and pass on a cultural identity that is divorced from its physical place. It felt like a huge risk to trust that such a personal story could resonate with an audience beyond my family. I also needed to sell my idea in grant applications (I think I submitted six in three years and finally received two), motivate artistic collaborators and find the openness to portray myself and my baba in the piece.

Standing under the lights at the very first workshop performance last November, wearing my baba’s wedding dress and singing in the language that I never learnt to speak with her, I felt all those risks pay off. Now I’m working on expanding the piece and looking for presenters!

Who has been inspiring you lately?
I’ve been lucky to sing in a few dance pieces recently, and I have been endlessly inspired by the dancers I’ve worked with. Most recently, I was part of workshopping PROM NITE (epilogue) with Paper Rabbits (Elle Derkitt, Nathan Coburn, and Sophia Makarenko). I am thinking more about how to manipulate my focus on stage, how music and physicality interact, and balancing narrative (familiar to me as an opera singer) with more abstract expression.

 

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Does performing in different locations impact your performance?
Absolutely, and in so many ways! I think the way I understand a performance space has a lot to do with my urban design experience. The way a venue is configured shapes how people move through it as both performers and audience members. Venues also carry meaning tied to their history, architecture, location, permeability, etc. I don’t think a performance event can or should be separated from its place – I think it makes more interesting art when we lean into the context, limitations, and opportunities of the spaces we work in, particularly when they don’t look like a “traditional” opera stage.

What does success look like to you?
I still have a hard time separating my understanding of success from how the people around me see it, so I’m not sure what formula would lead to my feeling successful. I do know that I am the happiest when I am taking on new experiences – both as an artist and more broadly in my life – especially when those projects bring me closer to my friends and family.   🙂

What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Life is lived in the changes.