Stephanie Brink, contralto 2016 Respiro alum
Last week I was able to catch up with Respiro alum, contralto Stephanie Brink. Stephanie is living the musician’s life, juggling several musical gigs as she continues to pursue professional singing career. Stephanie is teaching at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Coming up this spring, Stephanie will be teaching as well as directing several of the school’s opera scenes. She will be soloist in the CC choir concert’s presentation of Mendelssohn’s Waldpurgis Nacht. This December Stephanie sings with the Denver Opera League as well as Opera Theatre of the Rockies’s holiday concerts. In March Stephanie will travel to Santa Fe to sing Principessa with Opera West. The following month, Stephanie has a unique engagement with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and The Voices of Light singing the solos for Joan of Arc, a silent film with music written by Richard Einhorn. Stephanie has a varied musical life!
In the spring of 2016, I asked Stephanie if she could join us for Respiro as we needed a mezzo. I had worked with Stephanie at the Vocal Arts Festival for several summers. Stephanie was happy to help out besides that she was eager to explore New York City. I always ask the alums if they think the description of course is accurate. Stephanie said absolutely, yes, plus she commented on how the program was so well run and organized.
Stephanie liked that Respiro’s main focus is the entire body, not just “the voice” or thinking of singing “from the neck up”. I was happy to hear that Stephanie is sharing the information she garnered at Respiro with her voice students. Stephanie commented that AT sessions were particularly eye opening for her. It not only brought more awareness while she was singing, but also illuminated how she was moving about in daily life. The new awareness helped her let go of a lot of tension she didn’t even realize was restricting simple movements.
Stephanie enjoyed the yoga but in hindsight, wanted a chance to discuss the poses and breath exercises in more depth with yoga instructor Barbara Fusco. I was happy to tell her we are now offering small group sessions so that those who have never done yoga before or have only done a little will feel more comfortable from the beginning.
Stephanie loved coaching with Roger Malouf. In fact, she said she has kept the music that they worked on together because she wanted to keep profound insights in front of her when she went back to sing the music. Stephanie also found coach/pianist David Holkeboer a wonderful source of information and positive energy.
I was happy to hear that Stephanie appreciated the comradery and support she felt from the other participants. She said it doesn’t always happen where you can form such a tight community of like minds in such a short time. She is still in touch with the singers from 2016.
Thank you, Stephanie for your insights! We wish you all the best! Come back to NYC!