Oh, how easy it is to forget that extraordinary people engage in ordinary activities. And that regular folk can bloom to take the world by storm.
It was in an unassuming corporate apartment in Midtown where mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton ruled at a game of Taboo, clueing in her teammates to guess terms like Nelson Mandela, unicorn and cake. In the crowded space were her Houston Grand Opera Studio fellows, including baritone Scott Hendricks, soprano Jennifer Root and pianist Miah Im — and this reporter.
That was five years ago.
Since then, Barton earned the 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant and, most recently, a combination of awards that breaks a 30-year spell in one of the most prestigious vocal competitions in the world.
Barton was awarded two honors at the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in Wales: The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Prize and the Song Prize. The two laurels haven't been conferred on the same female singer for three decades.
Although hundreds apply, only 20 singers are invited to the live event in Cardiff. Five finalists were selected for the finale concert in which Barton raked in two of the top three prizes. Barton's loot comprises a £20,000 cash prize (around $30,300), two trophies, an opportunity to join BBC Radio 3's BBC New Generation Artists Scheme and the possibility of being invited to perform with the BBC and Welsh National Opera.
"Houston, while not my hometown, has had a tremendous effect on me as an artist and budding opera singer."
Barton's timber was described as "smooth" and "melting," her winning performance as "hautingly beautiful" (Wales Online) with a "imperturbable steadiness of tone, and a nobility of utterance," and compared to opera greats such as Kirsten Flagstad or Karin Branzell (The Guardian).
"The competition has been known to shoot singers to stardom," Barton tells CultureMap by email. "Just being in this competition would have advanced my career, but winning both categories is already seeming to have a wonderful effect."
The 30-year old, Rome, Ga., native made her UK debut in London's Barbican Centre with Elgar's Sea Pictures in 2012. The previous year, she was a favorite at the Lyric Opera of Chicago where she was cast as Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos, The Nurse in Boris Godunov and Voice of the Mother in Les Contes d'Hoffman in the same season. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York, she sung the role of Second Lady in The Magic Flute in 2009 followed by a repeat engagement in 2011. Barton will return to New York in September to rehearse for Bellini's Norma.
Houstonians will remember Barton from her time at the HGO Studio from 2007 to 2009, when she appeared in Beatrice and Benedict, Rigoletto and in the world premiere of Andre Previn's Brief Encounter. She's slated to sing Fricka in the first of Wagner's Ring Cycle operas, Das Rheingold, next year.
Barton has performed with Cantare Houston and is also a frequent soloist with Ars Lyrica, which featured the young star in a recording of Domenico Scarlatti's La Dirindina and the Grammy-nominated recording of Johann Adolf Hasse's Marc Antonio e Cleopatra.
"Houston, while not my hometown, has had a tremendous effect on me as an artist and budding opera singer," Barton says. "The Houston Grand Opera is responsible for having given me the chance to grow and learn my craft in an opera house that is known for innovation."
Barton credits that experience, in addition to coachings with Rice University's voice professor Stephen King, as having a big impact on her career.
"Houston, as a town, offers so much to those who love the arts," she adds. "Being a resident of Houston for four years afforded me so many performing and audience member opportunities. What a luxury for those who live there!"
Barton speaks the truth. No doubt Houston adores her.
Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton was awarded two honors at the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in Wales.
