Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

Following your dreams can lead you to far away places. In the case of T&T singer Danielle Williams, her determination to forge a career in opera has led her to the Härnösands Folkhögskola (College) in Sweden, where she is pursuing a two-year opera studio program.

Originally published in the T&T Guardian on July 31, 2016

Willams began her studies at the prestigious school in 2015 and will be returning this year. She said the entrance test was nervewracking. “I had to sing an aria and an art song and take a difficult music theory test, an ear training test and there was an acting trial as well because it’s a full-on immersion program.” She was one of 15 persons selected for the intake from 60 applicants.
During August she will be attending the Härnösands Summer Opera Academy, where she will begin her journey into certification as a vocal pedagogue or teacher. Williams said she wants to contribute to the vocal science landscape of T&T, as she sees the need for it. “I would love to be able to assist and really help us build that capacity and train teachers in the future. I would ideally need to do my Doctorate in Vocal Pedagogy, probably in the US, or Vocal Science, but I would prefer to focus on singing health, because there are many singers and actors that have vocal issues, and we need someone that’s specialized not only as a speech language pathologist but also from the perspective of a vocal teacher to help people recover.” She is looking forward to studying with the legendary George Shirley, the second African-American tenor to perform at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as Dr. Kathrine Osborne, a vocal health scientist, and several other teachers. Williams will then shadow her teachers for the rest of the year.
In 2017, Williams plans to audition for schools in the US in January to do her Masters Degree, as well as other opportunities to perform in Europe and America, and competitions, which are very important to launching her career.
Williams said she applied to the school after exhausting what she felt were all available opportunities in T&T. “I studied at UTT and I’ve been taking voice lessons here for the past 15 years and working in productions, so I really felt that after I graduated with my artist’s diploma that there was very little room left for me to grow here, as much as I love T&T, this will always be home but I really felt that I needed to challenge myself as an artist.”
“I went to Sweden to do a MasterClass with my vocal teacher, Dr. Jean-Ronald LaFond and he recommended this particular program. It’s an opera studio program which is arguably the best program in Sweden. This year there were auditions for the Stockholm Opera Conservatory and out of the seven persons selected, five of them came from my program so it’s a really great opportunity. I’m one of the only foreigners there, it’s mostly Swedish singers. I had to audition and it was really very scary. I had to sing an aria and an art song and take a really really hard music theory test, an ear training test and there was an acting trial as well because it’s a full-on immersion program, like a real opera studio, so it’s very intense. They selected 15 persons, myself included, out of 60 that applied, so it’s really hard to get in.”
While Williams would have welcomed assistance from the Government, she said there are pros and cons to being funded by GATE. “It’s very challenging to come back and have to repay GATE when you’re supposed to be building a career, especially in time-sensitive fields like opera and musical theatre. You’re relieved when they pay for your education, but then you have to come back here for four years in the prime of your career-building time to work, often not in your field, because there are very few or no opportunities.”
To finance her studies, Williams has hosted a series of fundraisers, the latest of which is “Sip and Savour,” a four-course afternoon tea at the Ciao! Restaurant at the Hotel Normandie on August 6 and 7. “I’ll be performing an entire concert, songs from operas, art songs, Latin American songs, with familiar and not so familiar songs that are very captivating. In addition, there will be a violinist and a tenor, Jude Balthazar and Francois Harewood on the piano.” The door prize on both evenings will be a trip to any Caribbean island destination, courtesy Caribbean Airlines.
Williams said she is passionate about allowing Europe and the world to explore our Caribbean culture through our music. She is working on a collaboration with a steelband in Sweden and curating a concert of Caribbean art songs. “A friend of mine who’s a composer at the school composed a piece called “Trinidad” that fused Caribbean rhythms with European folk music and it premiered at a new music festival that we had at school, which was really exciting.”
In addition to returning to T&T to teach, Williams wants to help other artists to be able to follow their dreams and make viable careers. “It took a lot of courage and still does because it’s not the safe, conventional, easy path. I’m still trying to find ways that I can generate income and eventually “Sip and Savour” will be my income for now. I’ll have events in different places in Sweden and in London and I’ll be able to take some of the profits and donate it to other artists. I wish that in future I’d be able to earn enough money that I could sponsor somebody or generate enough revenue from fundraisers to be able to pay somebody else’s way, because it’s very hard. For me, it’s important to have a model so that people could look at it and see “I could really pursue my dreams.”