For some people, the unfavorable reputation of opera scares them away from ever trying it out. Maybe they’re worried about being bored out of their mind for hours in an uncomfortable concert seat, or afraid of getting hissed at by senior citizens for breathing too loudly. But that’s the opposite impression that sophomore Claire Sloss was left with after her first experience with the Seattle Opera.
“You always come out of a performance feeling like you saw something beautiful, and you’re always impressed by that crazy sound coming from a real person in front of you,” Sloss said. “I was so blown away when I got to experience that.”
Sloss has been part of her schools’ choir programs, as well as other choirs outside of school since 6th grade. To challenge herself after so long in choir and musical theater, she began to sing for the Seattle Opera at the beginning of this year, playing Maid Marian in the Youth Opera’s production of Robin Hood. Despite never having sung opera before, she quickly decided she wanted to stay.
“The Seattle Opera is a really, really, really amazing community of people that are so dedicated to making everyone feel like they can belong,” Sloss said. “They’ve made it such a beautiful, welcoming environment that you feel like you have a role in.”
It wasn’t just the community that made her fall in love with the art form. The Seattle Opera stood out for its ability to incorporate a modern flair into traditional performances.
“During this year’s production of The Magic Flute, the singers were set against a backdrop that featured projections of hundreds of hand drawn animations, so they were interacting with the cartoons. They also had a modernized version of the Barber of Seville with a Harlem Renaissance feel to it,” Sloss said.
In Sloss’s eyes, the Opera’s contemporary approach to telling stories was able to breathe new life into an old medium, conveying messages that the world could relate to.
“The Opera is dedicated to making art relevant to our world right now while staying true to a classical music style. They work to make sure that opera can create change through works about social justice and human rights, and I’ve been really, really impressed by that,” Sloss said.
Currently, Sloss is a part of the Seattle Opera’s Teen Vocal Studio program, but she’s not just learning the technical aspects of opera with the other students.
“I’ve learned so much more about what I can do, and that I really am capable of a lot more than I thought I was,” Sloss said. “I’ve learned so much about the power that opera and art have to legitimately make impactful changes in the world.”
From her short time with the Seattle Opera, she knew she had discovered her lifelong passion.
“I don’t ever want to stop doing opera,” Sloss said.
