#Staff accompanist position full

I judged the Met auditions here two years ago and a couple of the contestants were Delores’s students from the University of Maryland.Īnother singer then was Deborah Cole who went on to sing in the Met chorus and is now retired.ĮA: You also got to work with Mary Costa. She’s such a warm, wonderful person with a heart as big as anybody I’ve ever met. At a quarter to 8 that night she was ironing her dress in my apartment, and I said, ‘They really can’t start without us.’ I remember at that recital she sang like an angel. I met Cheryl when she came to do a Grace Moore Graduate Fellowship. KO: That was the time of the Nozze di Figaro with Delores as Cherubino and Cheryl as The Countess. I learned so much from him.ĮA: And you were with some really good students like Cheryl Studer and Delores Ziegler.

He knew operas, knew style, knew language. He was like no one we had ever seen before. I remember I was sweating a graduate paper and he said just play Chopin and compare it with Bellini’s Norma. He had studied in New York and was a real opera fanatic and a fabulous teacher. I visited him in the hospital after his heart surgery. He had a volatile Greek temper, but he had a very kind side. There are so many funny memories and the quality of performance was superb. As an accompanist, I earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from UT and stayed on for two years more working for the opera and playing lessons for Ed Zambara.ĮA: Those were heady years at UT Music. I never thought I’d be the next Horowitz, not that anyone is. I loved singers, loved playing for singers, but I knew I didn’t have the chops to be a classical pianist. I had played piano in church and studied with Dug Moye, a great teacher, so I auditioned and got into the piano department. When I got to UT, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Mary’s Hospital and grew up in North Knoxville.

#Staff accompanist position full

After many years in New York City, she and her husband, New York Metropolitan principal Gary Simpson, are now back in Knoxville.ĮA: Is it fair to say you’ve come full circle? As if that’s not enough to keep her busy, she is also the founder of Encompass Arts LLC, an artist management company which represents leading Broadway, film, stage, and operatic talent. Her extensive resume includes adjudicating prestigious vocal competitions, conducting masterclasses, and holding staff positions at such renowned institutions as Juilliard, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, UT Music, and the Orlando Opera. A sought-after opera coach and accompanist (Andy Wentzel says she was amazing), this Knoxville native has collaborated with some of opera’s biggest stars. The world of opera owes a great deal to the UT School of Music, and one of their most outstanding graduates is Kathy Olsen.