Photo provided by LUCK MEDIA

Jasmine: You devoted most of your life to family and now you are devoting your life to music.  So, the most important question is, where do you find the energy?!  Please give us all some tips.

Tonia: I’m an early riser. I work out first thing in the morning. My days are divided between working on music and other responsibilities.  If I work at my desk in the morning, I sing in the afternoon. With a family as large as mine (and getting larger!) it can be overwhelming.  I try to get to bed at a reasonable hour and take a quick nap in the afternoon if I’m tired.

Sundays are church and family dinners. However, if I have a performance approaching, we skip family dinner. I try to keep my work load at a minimum during preparation time.

Performances require early to bed on the nights preceding and little to no socializing. I remain aware of my energy in the days prior to a performance, and don’t allow myself to become overly tired.

Jasmine: When you started singing again, what was the training regimen like? Did you have to practice several hours a day?

Tonia: Training was a tight schedule of voice lessons twice a week and vocal coaching once a week. In addition, I spent a good deal of time translating Italian, French, German scores and songs. I practiced daily for at least an hour and a half.

Jasmine: What was it like studying with Martin Rich?

Tonia: A wonderful experience! A masterful teacher and musician, Maestro Rich taught me volumes, all of which had to be sung stylistically correct. Fluent in Italian, French, German and English, he insisted that I know the exact translations and meaning of every note and word.

He accompanied on the piano stunningly so that the singer knew exactly what he or she would hear, not only as they sang, but also in the interludes between the vocal lines.  He taught dynamics – loud, soft, fast, slow, piano, forte, etc…and insisted that every song was sung correctly, both stylistically and dynamically.

I worked very hard each week making sure that I knew the music before my next lesson, as I wanted to learn as much as I could from him.

I shall never forget Maestro Rich. I still see his smiling face of encouragement before me at every performance. Knowing that he profoundly believed in me and gave me the confidence I needed to pursue a performing career. He always said to me: “You were born to sing!”

Jasmine: Did your other teachers believe in you despite your age?

Tonia: Age was neither mentioned nor discussed in all the years I worked with Maestro Rich and Florence Berggren. To quote Florence Berggren, “Age is only a number.”

They believed in me and urged me to take auditions, assuring me, “they will be very lucky to hear you.”  They taught me the most difficult of repertoire, always confident that I would sing it well.   They prepared me for a wonderful and exciting performing career. I owe it all them.

Jasmine: Did you tell them from the start that you wanted to pursue a career?  What was their reaction?

Tonia: Miss Berggren would not allow me to perform until I was ready. I had poor technique and was in need of voice training.  One year after I had been working with her, she announced that I was ready for vocal coaching and sent me to Maestro Rich.

I chose to spend time with Maestro Rich before I set out on a performing career. I wanted to be sure that I had learned the repertoire well. The final decision was made by Miss Berggren and Maestro Rich. When I was ready, they encouraged me.  Miss Berggren attended all of my local performances and always told me how proud she was of me.

Jasmine: Did you ever encounter discrimination or a negative air towards your age, in general?

Tonia: I knew I wasn’t “quite what they were looking for.”  However, it never held me back or prevented me from auditions. I just kept showing up.

Jasmine: I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about women in the classical music field whose agents and sponsors drop them because they decide to marry and have a family.  Do you think that still happens today?   What advice would you give to women who are juggling family and music? Is it one or the other?

Tonia: It’s a very hard decision for anyone to make–between family and a career. Balancing a life of family and music is difficult, but I believe it can be done. If you have a desire to do both, and you have support to be there when you can’t, it makes the decision easier. Without backup support, I think it would be difficult. But it can be done. Everyone must follow their own heart, and make their own decision.

Jasmine:  I know that you chose to put singing behind you and raise your family. If you could go back, would you choose to pursue music and raise a family simultaneously?

Tonia: I have no regrets about the decisions I have made.  I have a wonderful family, and I am performing. My children’s lives were always my life; their activities were my activities. Since my husband’s job required traveling, raising a family of six and singing at the same time would have been impossible for me.  Serving two masters often requires sacrificing one or the other, and I would not be comfortable doing that.  I am very grateful for both my family and my career.

Jasmine: Musicians, today, cannot go without using technology for self-promotion.  I see you are on all the social networks. Are you learning a lot about Twitter and Facebook?

Tonia: Facebook and Twitter provide an opportunity to meet and connect with new and old friends. The social sites continue to fascinate me. I can’t believe how we can reach out to people all over the world by just touching a few keys on a computer. Visiting Facebook and Twitter is a learning experience, and I am becoming more comfortable with this new technology.

Jasmine: So, the older generation can learn modern technology. It’s never too late for anything! ?

Tonia: You are so right; it’s never too late!   I can’t believe that I am able to find my way on the sites! And, whenever I have a question or need direction, I call my children who educate me. ?.

Jasmine: Tell me about your latest album “Smile.”

Tonia: “Smile” is a very special album. After “What A Wonderful World,” I wanted to make another album. My daughter urged me to make a Christmas album. Needless to say, I would have loved to make a Christmas album and hope to do so someday. But I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to touch the hearts of my listeners in a very special way, to give them something that went beyond the music.

I was inspired to record an album about two things all of us have in common: feelings and emotions. It was with this inspiration in mind that “Smile” was born.  I very carefully chose ten songs, each with their own very special message.

Jasmine: Technique-wise, do you feel your voice has improved on this album?

Tonia: Technique is the same with all music.  Recording “Smile” gave me a wonderful opportunity to dig deeply into my emotions on every song.  In a live performance, the singer gives the emotions to the audience, and they give it back to us. A beautiful emotional transfer goes on between singer and audience.

However in a recording session, the singer has only themselves to rely on. One must present each song with the emotional content it deserves.  It is a different experience.

Jasmine: What song did you have the most fun singing?

Tonia: I enjoyed recording every song on the album.  What fun listening to and singing to the instruments in the headsets!

If I had to select a favorite, I probably would choose “What the World Needs Now.”  My producer and sound engineer, John Vanore, and I had a lot of fun working on this song.  I always tease him about how he taught me “Jazz 101,” tapping the beat with his pencil on the arm of his chair!

Jasmine: What have been the highlights of your career?

Tonia: I have had many wonderful moments in my career; two of which were especially memorable.

I shall never forget singing for Maestro Rich’s Memorial Service in Carnegie Hall. Returning to the hall in which he and I had presented my New York Recital Debut brought back wonderful memories.  Singing before an audience of his professional colleagues–conductors, instrumentalists, opera directors, and performers–was a special performance for me.  The only singer on the program who was  not on the Metropolitan Opera roster,  I felt honored to have been included.

The second moment was singing The National Anthem at the Inaugural Ceremonies for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge in 1995 and again in 1999.  Escorted from the Capitol Building by an Honor Guard,  onto a large platform filled with dignitaries, standing before a crowd of more than 15,000 people, singing with the Penn State Blue Band and seeing hundreds of American flags waving before me was a moment of great patriotism.  Every hair on my body stood on end.  I felt privileged to be a part of this moment in the history of my state.

Jasmine: Any tips or advice for the LateStarter Musician readers?

Tonia: We musicians have two things in common: our love of music, and our gift of a musical talent. And what do we do with gifts we received that we love? We cherish them, take care of them, and appreciate them. Musicians may follow many  paths. Some possibilities include performing, teaching, music therapy, or serving in administrative offices of musical organizations. However, life can take many turns and the normal predictable path doesn’t always happen. All musicians may not enter into any of these categories. Many often find themselves in an occupation totally unrelated to music. However, what makes anyone a musician is not they are playing first violin in a symphony orchestra or performing on the stage of Lincoln Center. What makes anyone a musician is his or her love of–and profound involvement with–music.

Stay in touch with your passion. Don’t put your instruments in a felt-lined case in a closet. What’s most important is that you never lose touch with your gift of and love for music.

Always remember that it’s never too late to reach for your dreams, to connect with your passion, or become what you might have been.

May 8, 2010in Interviews by Jasmine Reese 1 Comment »