Monthly Archives: November 2012

Huldah Niles

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The Proust Questionnaire is a questionnaire about one’s personality. Its name and modern popularity as a form of interview is owed to the responses given by the French writer Marcel Proust. At that time, it was popular among English families to answer a list of questions that revealed the tastes and aspirations of the taker.

A similar questionnaire is regularly seen on the back page of Vanity Fair magazine, answered by various celebrities.

This week’s Proust Questionnaire profiles Huldah Niles, a substitute violinist in the Opera Orchestra. “Thanks for thinking of including the orchestra in this!” said Huldah. “We may not be on the stage but we provide the lush colors that support the singers and set the moods.”

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

I believe the “lowest depth of misery” to be the belief that one is all alone in the world.

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

Complete forgiveness of yourself and others.

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

Spongebob Squarepants is my hero. I think he truly understands the beauty of simple joy and happiness.

Your favorite painter?

Vincent Van Gogh is my favorite painter. I recently read an article that suggests he was color blind and that is why his color palette is so unusual. Whatever the case may be, I always want to be a part of the world he depicts.

Your favorite musician?

Erik Satie is my favorite musician. I love how simple and elegant his music is. It was meant to be background music; to simply be a part of the world, not the focus.

The quality you most admire in a man? The quality you most admire in a woman?

I love people that are truly a part of the present moment. They give you their full attention and you can really connect. Sometimes I feel like we are all so weighed down by our past and planning for the future that we forget stay awake to what is going on around us.

What is your motto?

Love is all there is!

Do you have a website, Facebook fan page, or a Twitter for everyone to follow?

http://www.millcityquartet.com

How long have you been involved with opera and what drew you to the art form?

This is my 6th season with the Minnesota Opera Orchestra. I’ve always loved the human voice. I think it’s what drew me to the violin as well. I don’t have any vocal skills but my violin helps me come close to having that same warmth and emotion. I’m also drawn to the timelessness of opera. These operas have been watched for centuries and there is always truth to be found in them.

Favorite behind-the-scenes memory…

One of our guest conductors had a false front tooth. During a PERFORMANCE said tooth went flying out of his mouth and landed on a violist’s foot! The best part of the story is that the violist and the rest of the orchestra never missed a beat while trying to stifle our mirth. You would think the conductor would have been so embarrassed he would have found a solution to his problem but no….the tooth popped out a 2nd time at the very next performance!

Visit Minnesota Opera’s blog every week for Feature Friday.

Q&A on Orchestra Negotiations

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I’m sure that by now, most of you have heard that both Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians are locked out. I’ve had several people approach me lately and ask how the Minnesota Opera might be affected.

I thought I might use the blog this week to get people more informed.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

Q: Will the orchestra lockouts have an impact on Minnesota Opera’s season?

A: No. Minnesota Opera engages its own ensemble, the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, for its performances, and will not be affected by work stoppages at Minnesota Orchestra or Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Q: What is Minnesota Opera’s relationship with its orchestra/unions?

A: Minnesota Opera has labor contracts in place with both its orchestra musicians (through the local chapter of the AFM) and with its stagehands (through IATSE), and has good relations with both. The orchestra is in the fourth year of a four-year agreement, and the stagehands are in the fourth year of a five-year agreement.

Minnesota Opera has a core orchestra that is employed on a pay-per-service basis each season, and its musicians are offered an average of 55-60 services per year.

Q: Are there Minnesota Orchestra or SPCO players in the Minnesota Opera Orchestra?

A: Although there are many musicians in the Minnesota Opera Orchestra who freelance as subs for Minnesota Orchestra and/or the SPCO, none are regular members of those ensembles. Some have spouses who are Minnesota Orchestra or SPCO musicians.

Q: Will labor strife at the SPCO make it more difficult to raise the remaining money for the Arts Partnership campaign?

A: The Arts Partnership has continued to raise funds throughout the recent public discussion of the labor issues surrounding the SPCO and its musicians, and those efforts will continue. Funders understand that the concert hall and access endowment are long-term solutions for the health and vitality of all four organizations, as well as the Saint Paul and the community at large, and that the Arts Partnership work must continue no matter what any individual organization is going through in the short term.

Q: Should the SPCO be raising money for a new hall when its own budget is not in balance?

A: The Arts Partnership is raising money to fund the solutions that address the long-term challenges of access and affordability affecting all four organizations. As a member of the Arts Partnership, the SPCO won’t ignore either challenge.

Q: If the Arts Partnership is negatively impacted by labor strife, what would that mean for Minnesota Opera?

A: Minnesota Opera and each of the other Arts Partnership organizations receive a rent subsidy, which, in case of the Opera, represents a significant amount of operational funding. If that source of revenue were not available to Minnesota Opera, the organization would need to find other revenue sources to cover the costs of its programming. Minnesota Opera expects that the SPCO’s players and management will reach a resolution to their current differences.

Q: Has Minnesota Opera ever experienced work stoppages due to labor negotiations?

A: Yes. Minnesota Opera’s orchestra was on strike from the spring of 1993 and extending into its following season, which started later due to the labor situation. The issues were resolved and Minnesota Opera enjoys a very positive relationship with its orchestra players and their union.

- Colin Dickau, Tempo Board of Directors

Visit Minnesota Opera’s blog every week for Tempo Tuesday

Kyle Ketelsen

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The Proust Questionnaire is a questionnaire about one’s personality. Its name and modern popularity as a form of interview is owed to the responses given by the French writer Marcel Proust. At that time, it was popular among English families to answer a list of questions that revealed the tastes and aspirations of the taker.

A similar questionnaire is regularly seen on the back page of Vanity Fair magazine, answered by various celebrities.

This week’s Proust Questionnaire profiles Kyle Ketelsen, Enrico VIII in Minnesota Opera’s upcoming production of Anna Bolena.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

The loss of a child.  (Way to start a questionnaire, Proust!)

Where would you like to live?

In nature

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

Spending every day surrounded by the people you love (and who love you) the most

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

Consumption of chocolate

Your favorite musician?

Jack White.  Rock’n’Roller, modern-day Blues man, champion of the eclectic.

The quality you most admire in a man? The quality you most admire in a woman?

Integrity.  Standing for something, whether it’s personal or professional.  Living by a code.

Your favorite virtue?

Loyalty

Your favorite occupation?

Athlete

What natural gift would you most like to possess?

Dunking from the 3-point-line.  OK…dunking from anywhere.

Do you have a website, Facebook fan page, or a Twitter for everyone to follow?

http://www.kylek.net
http://www.facebook.com/kyleket
@kyleket

How do you eat your eggs?

Increasingly without yolk, but often wrapped in bacon.

How long have you been involved with opera and what drew you to the art form?

My mother introduced me to opera when she bought an “Opera Goes to the Movies” cassette, somewhere around 1986.  I found the music incredibly moving (particularly the Puccini excerpts from “Moonstruck” and “Fatal Attraction”), and it seemed familiar to me, though I previously had no idea what opera was.  I was in high school, and sang Sarastro’s O Isis und Osiris in state competition; at the time, I didn’t even know it was from an opera!  In my third year of general studies at the University of Iowa, I decided to take voice lessons, in order to keep my voice in shape.  I auditioned for the vocal faculty, and they suggested I become a voice major.  Having no other specialty in mind, I agreed.  Gradually, but on a sure course, I discovered I had the abilities to make a career.  I left grad school at Indiana University in 1999, and began working professionally.

Favorite behind-the-scenes memory…

In 2000 I was a finalist in Placido Domingo’s Operalia competition.  Before the finals concert, we drew numbers – literally out of a hat – to determine concert order.  I picked the number one, which is just death for a competition.  No one wants to go first!  However, since Placido was conducting, I had the great luck to wait with him before we entered stage at the beginning of the show.  While standing there he asked me if I sing Escamillo, and that perhaps I could for Washington Opera’s Carmen the following season.  I told him indeed I do, and so I was hired for a string of engagements in D.C.  Before Carmen, however, I debuted there as the villain in “The Tales of Hoffmann.”  In the audience was a man who’d become my European agent.  I attribute a great deal of my success in Europe to my experience with Domingo, and being heard in his competition.

Visit Minnesota Opera’s blog every week for Feature Friday.