_{Artist of the Week} 20 Qs for Rachel Fenlon

When was your first singing lesson (and with whom)?
My first singing lesson was at 17 years old with Joanne Hounsell. It was a four-lesson crash course to get me into university as a voice major as well as piano performance, and it paid off! My languages were definitely questionable at that audition, but I sang Schubert with as much passion as I have for the guy today!

Drink of choice?
Coffee and negroni.

Favourite city that you’ve worked in?
I was just in Recife, Brazil a few weeks ago to perform Winterreise. Recife is an incredible city with such a rich culture, and there’s nothing quite like performing Winterreise and walking to the beach. Other favourite cities I love working in are Helsinki, Madrid and London.

If you weren’t a singer/instrumentalist/conductor, you’d be…?
I think I’d be interested in being a social worker – working with kids and young adults.

Top 3 favourite composers?
Bach, Schubert, George Crumb.

Which opera role do you want to be singing right now?
I just sang the role of Eurinda in an early Cavalli opera, La Doriclea, in November in Helsinki, and it reignited my love for Baroque opera, so I’ve been thinking about more roles of these early baroque composers like Cavalli, Gluck, Monteverdi. There’s so much musical freedom in those roles, and the character nuance is incredible.

I also play/sing a lot of Debussy songs and piano preludes, and I’m really curious about singing Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande. I feel like my voice and musicality is really ready for that right now.

Coffee or tea?
Coffee. I even travel on the road with my own beans. My boyfriend, who is also a travelling musician, is a coffee-holic, so we’ve been taking turns making each other morning coffees on the road this month or hunting for amazing coffee shops and baristas.

What was the first opera you ever saw?
The first opera I ever saw was Wozzeck at Pacific Opera Victoria with Tim Vernon conducting – with whom I went on to collaborate many many times as an adult. I was 15 at the time..

What’s your favourite non-classical band?
I’m obsessed with Radiohead. This year I’m making a dream come true and I’m performing some acoustic Radiohead songs arranged by Chris O’Riley in a show I’m performing in Austin, Texas at SXSW.

What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?
I just had one of the best meals of my life in Galway, Ireland this month, at a gorgeous restaurant called Anair. 24 courses, and they came with poetry. Every course felt like it had a story and so much care put into it. It was a profound experience that I didn’t know I could have with food!!

Are you happiest in the country or in the city?
I’m a country girl in my heart. I grew up in British Columbia, and I spend most summers on Saltspring Island. Berlin has been my base for 10 years, and while it’s an enormous, incredible city and a great base for a musician, I get really excited thinking about the moment I’ll trade in city life for a more rural home base. I love nature and hiking, and I’d love to spend days off gardening and cooking and practicing with a lot more quiet and nature.

Which album did you listen to last?
Ágætis byrjun by Sigur Rós.

What book are you reading at the moment?
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.

What’s a big investment for an opera artist, but totally worth it?
I would say: being okay with not making much money in the beginning of the career. It feels like an investment, because the input is huge and the output is so nebulous. But I think if you can get comfortable with not identifying your worth or happiness with your paycheque in the early years, it pays off in many unexpected ways. I’m recalling my early years when I moved to Berlin with one suitcase and not much of a plan. Slowly but surely, I was able to really build a career which really sustains me. There’s also something liberating about learning to live off very little.

Do you approach singing and/or upcoming projects differently today than you did at the beginning of your career?
Yes – I try to please everyone less, and myself more.

What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken for a production?
The biggest artistic risk I’ve taken I would say was undertaking Winterreise over the past two years. I debuted Winterreise at Ottawa Chamberfest, have since performed it worldwide, and this fall releasing the work as my debut album. Winterreise feels like the Everest of musical works, and playing and singing it – from the preparation, interpretation, to the execution of it all from memory and as both pianist and singer – has been huge. It is such an exposed work, with profound depth. So much of Winterreise lies in between the notes. This season I’ve been performing back-to-back performances on tour, which is extremely physically strenuous. I feel like I’ve never lost nor found so much of myself in a work as I have with Winterreise.

The music industry is tough, and filled with rejection. How do you cope? Does it get easier?
Great question. I think learning to embrace and learn from failure can be the source of our greatest strength. It absolutely does get easier. Rejection is a core part of being an artist, and oftentimes I’ve found that rejection can be a portal to something even more special, even more aligned with our dreams and artistic expression.

Something I’ve been practicing lately is the knowledge that I’m doing my job as an artist if not everyone likes me.

And in terms of coping, my method is: friends, friends, friends. I feel like I have an absolute dream-team of close friends and family who deeply believe in me, and whom I deeply believe in. That gets me through the toughest times, no question.

What does it mean to be brave with music?
What that means to me is leaving your ego and your fear at the door, both in the practice room and on stage. For me that translates to being able to shut off the negative voices, to silence the perfectionist, goal-oriented chatter, so I can really listen to the music.

The most profound musical experiences I’ve had on stage have been the ones where I feel I’m totally surrendering to the audience, to the music, to my voice and piano in the moment. Surrender. That’s when the magic comes alive.

What is happiness for you?
I’ve spent a lot of time in Finland this season for performances, and something the Finns live by has stuck with me – the idea of being content instead of searching for happiness.

What does success look like to you?
Continuing to make the music I love, with the people I love, and to support myself so I can live a simple, yet rich, life.