Today, we’d like to introduce you to Alice Del Simone.
Hi Alice, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I began my freelance voice performance, music education, and arts administration career in the San Francisco Bay Area. I served as Program Director of the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, where I also taught voice lessons and music theory. Additionally, I interned with Opera Parallèle in San Francisco, maintained a private voice studio, and performed across the Bay Area.
When the pandemic arrived, like so many of my fellow arts professionals, most of my freelance work disappeared overnight. I had been considering graduate school, but the opportunities for work kept dissuading me from committing to schooling that would require a move. The pandemic provided me the opportunity to make a move for school, and my husband, our cat, and I moved to Boulder in July 2020 so that I could attend CU Boulder for my Master’s of Music in Voice Performance and Pedagogy.
We have fallen in love with the Front Range over the last four years, and I have found a wonderfully supportive arts community here. I am now pursuing my DMA at CU Boulder and am able to return to the freelance teaching, performing, and arts administration that I love. Currently, I serve as Education Director for Boulder Opera and coordinate vocal outreach functions for Boulder Bach Festival.
I have been lucky to perform with many Colorado arts organizations, including Boulder Opera, Opera Fort Collins, Boulder Bach Festival, Eklund Opera, Loveland Opera Theater, Opera Steamboat, Ars Nova, and others. Colorado is a place where I have grown so much as an artist, and I am pleased to call Colorado home.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A freelance career in the arts is never smooth or easy. One of the largest obstacles is balancing opportunities to create a day-to-day career that allows me to support myself and my family while still finding time to grow as an artist.
I feel very fortunate for the many opportunities I have had, but there are still times when income is irregular. It is hard to plan to create future opportunities when income is unpredictable, so learning how to prioritize jobs, gigs, and school work is a never-ending puzzle that I imagine will continue for the rest of my career.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As a singer, I enjoy performing many different types of vocal music. I have been lucky to have the opportunity to explore a wide range of repertoire throughout my career – from early music to music from many popular operas to new music. However, I have always had a special passion and affinity for new and experimental works.
Recently, I participated in the premiere of an opera called The Furies by Anne Hege, which is composed for singers and a laptop orchestra. This past spring, I also partnered with other graduate students at CU to produce a recital of new music by composers Kaija Saariaho and George Crumb and CU graduate student composer Abby Kellems. I love approaching this difficult repertoire with an eye toward how to best communicate the music to the audience. Sometimes, new music can be difficult for the uninitiated audience to appreciate, but I believe it is the responsibility of the performer to bridge that gap and show the audience why this music is unique and powerful.
As a music educator, I am most passionate about bringing opera and classical vocal music to children. A current project I am very proud of is an opera called Xochitl and the Flowers, which I directed for Boulder Opera’s school outreach program. The opera is in Spanish and English and retells the true story of a newcomer family from El Salvador in San Francisco’s Mission District. I have been giving workshops in Denver and Boulder public schools introducing the opera and making paper flowers with students that the singers will use in the opera.
Then, our amazing performers present the opera to the school community. It has been very rewarding to work with many students who are newcomers to Colorado and to the United States. Hearing their stories and seeing how much they connect to the story of Xochitl and her family has renewed my passion for bringing opera to new audiences. It fuels me to continue the work of expanding the reach of the art form I love.
As a voice teacher, I am fascinated by the training techniques of the teachers of the 19th and early 20th centuries who taught singers before the introduction of the microphone. It is amazing to me how effectively an un-amplified singer can fill a room with their voice. I believe that these techniques can help all singers, classical or otherwise.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Support your local arts organizations by attending live shows and exhibits!
In this age of infinite digital content, it can be hard to leave the house for a live performance, but I encourage you to get out there. This is such a vibrant area for the arts, with many artists that have a lot to say. Your artist neighbors need you, and we want to invite you into the art community to share your story, too!
I hope I’ll see you at a show soon!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alicedelsimone.com/
- Instagram: instagram.com/alicedelsimone
- Youtube: youtube.com/@alicedelsimone3594
Image Credits
Ge Wang, Jamie Kraus, Kailyn Martino, and Alexi Molden
