A series of 8 questions with soprano, Sarah Caulfield
What place were you born and where do you live now?
SC I was born in Chilliwack, BC. I moved to Edmonton last year, but have been enjoying the transient nature of auditioning/music making – home is where someone else’s cat is! Right now I’m subletting in Toronto with a cat named Farley (I promise this is relevant to the concert program!)
What is your favourite era/genre of music to perform?
SC Hard to pick one, but maybe the “long” nineteenth century (so the entirety of this program). I love the “big feelings” expressed by Romantic era poetry and orchestration, and physically it’s very satisfying to spin a long Bel Canto line with one’s voice.
Who are your musical influences and what do you love about their music?
SC My taste spans from Bach to Black Sabbath. ABBA and bluegrass introduced me to vocal harmony. Sopranos: Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne Price, Mirella Freni, Lois Marshall. Artists with distinctive sounds I love: Glenn Gould, Feist, Paul Robeson, Janis Joplin, Ella Fitzgerald. And, my teachers (I need a longer list!)
Your favourite food (only one!)
SC Because an only-chocolate diet might kill me… sushi!
Your most memorable performance? Where were you and who were you performing with and why was it memorable?
SC Most “unexpected” memorable was “jumping in” for an ill colleague in the second half of Così fan tutte in the Czech Republic, where I was performing with fellow UBC classmates/alumni. That production had another first for me: bumping a glass bottle and watching it roll downstage into the orchestra pit (somehow without breaking!)
Something unique or unusual about you.
SC In terms of “statistically” unusual, I am left-handed.
How long have you been a performer?
SC I sang incessantly growing up, but not publicly. Eventually I joined the improv team in middle school (which included a singing audition,) then jazz choir in high school (and the R&B band, and the steel drum band) and was bitten by the “opera bug” in Grade 10.
What are you most looking forward to about performing with VIS this year?
SC It’s an indescribable luxury to sing alongside a professional orchestra, and the repertoire includes some iconic “first act” arias that I’ve long dreamed of performing. The fact I get to do so in one of my favourite places, with family in the audience, is like icing on the cake!
