Stephen Paynter
Full-time Chorister and Assistant Chorus Manager, Metropolitan Opera
After twelve years at the Met, Stephen Paynter gives an inside look at a career in the chorus. Stephen received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. While in graduate school, he sang with Cincinnati Opera, and the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati. Stephen now sings in the Metropolitan Opera Chorus, where he also serves as the Assistant Chorus Manager. He resides in Teaneck, NJ, with his wife and two children.
| Q: | What was the training and career path that brought you to your full-time chorus position at the Met? | | A: | I was very blessed with great teachers during my training. Sandra Cryder gave me a good start to developing a solid technique in college. In graduate school, I studied with John Alexander, and later with Karl Resnik, who owns and operates an independent school in Cincinnati called the Musical Arts Center. He was a wonderful teacher who really put it all together for me and taught me to sing. I now study with Fred Martell in New York, who helps me keep everything in line and working properly. As a full-time chorister, we do a lot of singing, and it is imperative to sing with good technique, or one won’t even last through the week, not to mention the season. Of course, my experience with Cincinnati Opera was very valuable, as it gave me a real sense of what being a chorister would be like on a full-time basis. |
| Q: | What are the primary differences between a chorus career and a career focused on singing principal roles? | | A: | They are really two different career paths. As a soloist, at least at the Met, the voices need to be quite sizable in order to fill that large space and cut through the powerful orchestra, and the pressure is great. The chorister, while still needing a strong instrument, needs to be able to blend with the other voices, and not stick out. Sometimes a voice can be too big and unwieldy to make a good chorister.
Also, good musicianship and the ability to learn a lot of material quickly is imperative, as well as good facility with languages. A soloist has the luxury of focusing on a few roles at a time, where a chorister will see as many as seven or eight operas in one week, and as many as twenty different productions in any one season. The good news there is that a chorister doesn’t have the same level of pressure as a soloist, and can drop a word here or there without disaster, but they still must have a good grasp of the material. The first five years or so are particularly challenging for a young chorister, as they learn the standard repertoire pieces. After that, many of the operas repeat, making the job much easier.
Again, I mention that very solid technique is essential to be a good chorister. We sing as much as nine or ten hours a day. There are many soloists who could not pace themselves to healthily make it through that kind of schedule. |
| Q: | Have you found any vocal or acting challenges that are unique to singing in an opera chorus? | | A: | Some opera choruses can be very challenging vocally. We first tenors in Lohengrin, for example, sing something like 74 high A’s and a couple B’s and C’s in the course of the evening. Language can also bring special challenge to the job. Last year’s Satyagraha was written in Sanskrit. Not too many of us have experience with that language. I had never sung in Russian when joining the chorus. Khovanshchina was my first stab at that beautiful but difficult language. Next season brings us a Czech opera by Janacek, House of the Dead. There are sounds in that language I’ve never made before. Of course, I’ve only mentioned pronunciation. I haven’t even mentioned translation. We need to understand basically what is being said for dramatic purposes. Thankfully, our Chorus Master, Maestro Donald Palumbo, is very good to give us translations and phonetics for each opera we do, which is very helpful.
Dramatically, all kinds of interesting challenges come up. In my first season, I was assigned the task of blowing up and tying off a balloon in Mefistofele in a very limited amount of time. I was then to hand the balloon off to Sam Ramey, who then used it to illustrate the world. In the final dress, I was having trouble getting it tied, and as I struggled to finish, the orchestra held a lengthy fermata, with the eyes of James Levine and Sam Ramey on me to finish so the opera could continue. As I finally handed off the cursed balloon, I was thinking, “I’ve never had a class in balloon tying!” |
| Q: | Would you recommend that young singers seek opportunities to perform in an opera chorus before pursuing principal roles? | | A: | Some amount of opera chorus experience is great for all young singers. It offers good exposure to a lot of major works, and affords a young singer to hear a lot of singing, which is great in the development of one’s own craft. However, it is a mistake to think of the Met Opera Chorus as a stepping stone to a solo career. We have had a couple of choristers who have gone on to have solo careers, but those examples are few and far between. Plus, we are looking to groom young singers as choristers. We expect the investment we make in breaking in a new chorister to be paid off with years of dedicated service to this highly skilled craft. |
| Q: | Describe a typical work-week for a full-time Met chorus member during the season. | | A: | During the work week, we typically have staging rehearsals from 11 to 3, or musical rehearsals from 12-3 for upcoming operas. Frequently, we then have what are referred to as “gap rehearsals” from 3-6. These are either musical preparation or “room rehearsals”, or “C-Level” rehearsals, which are rudimentary staging rehearsals, before a production is moved to the main stage. After a dinner break, it’s back to the theater for a typically 7:30 dressing call before the evening performance. Saturdays see no rehearsal for the chorus during the regular season, but we have a matinee performance, as well as the evening show. Typically, we perform between five and seven shows a week. The men’s chorus works more than the women’s chorus, simply because there is more music written for the men than the women. |
| Q: | Is it realistic to pursue other singing opportunities while holding a full-time chorus position…perhaps during your summer break or between productions? | | A: | Some choristers do find it satisfying to sing outside of the Met, either doing recitals, other ensemble work, and sometimes in a completely different genre than opera. Personally, between time with my family, and my duties as Assistant Chorus Manager, the only other singing I am interested in is at my church. |
| Q: | As a career opera singer, working with many of the world’s greatest voices, could you share two or three pieces of encouragement or advice for emerging opera singers? | | A: | First, you must be realistic. When I taught, I used to tell my students that you should only pursue music if it is the only thing that will make you happy. Trying to make a living can be very frustrating, and you must be able to handle rejection. Your grit and determination must be very great, especially when getting started. Those who are fortunate enough to find work are required to constantly travel, spending three months in this city, and two months in that one. Relationships are very hard to maintain, and one can find oneself very lonely in that kind of lifestyle. Many people along the way, even those seeing some success, decide the sacrifice is too great, and the payoff too little to continue pursuing their career. The assumption frequently made at that point by many is that the singer failed. I would propose that such a decision rather demonstrates an evolution of sorts, where one is smart enough to realize that happiness trumps any success where the byproduct is bitterness and loneliness.
Really, I believe the Metropolitan Opera Chorus to be the best kept secret in the industry. We work very hard, but are compensated very well financially, making a better living than most principal artists. What’s more, we always know where the next paycheck is coming from, and can sleep in our own beds every night. I sing with the greatest singers in the world nightly, and consider it an honor to perform onstage in that company. For me, it is the perfect fit. |
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