Pamina costume rendering by Christianne Myers, costume designer.
Name: Ava Pine , Soprano
Hometown: Fredericksburg, Texas
Favorite opera:
Usually whatever I’m working on, or just finished working on! But if I had to choose, I’d say La Boheme. There’s a reason it’s so popular – the tunes, the stories, the emotion.
Least favorite opera:
Eugene Onegin. I just can’t find anything in the characters that I like.
I knew I wanted to sing opera when:
I am a latecomer to opera, so this realization was quite slow in coming. I guess I knew when I realized that I was happiest when I was making music.
Before performing, I always:
drink lots and lots of water.
What I love about performing live is:
The “now or never” mentality. Learning how to cope with the unexpected makes it exciting.
The best thing about opera is:
The synergy of so many elements — musical, visual, dramatic, plus the sheer visceral pleasure of hearing top-notch vocalism paired with the wave of the orchestra sound. Can you tell I love my job?
I would tell someone who’s never seen The Magic Flute:
They’ll love it because it’s the perfect concoction of real emotion, ritual and whimsey.
If I could have dinner with any composer, I would choose:
Puccini – so I could solve the TuranDOT v. TuranDOH debate once and for all.
If The Magic Flute were made into a blockbuster film, Pamina would be played by:
Amy Adams. She has a knack for playing innocence, naivety and optimism without seeming the tiniest bit cliched.
On my iPod you’ll find:
A little bit of everything! Most frequently played would be Paul Simon or Bob Dylan.
If I were tone deaf, I would have gone to work as:
A therapist
While I’m in Milwaukee, I’m hoping to:
Drink some beer! I love beer!
(Ms. Pine’s appearance is sponsored by the Marie Z. Uihlein Artist Fund)
Miss a Post? MEET THE REST OF THE MAGIC FLUTE CAST:
Getting to know…Heather Buck (Queen of the Night)
I am usually not an opera fan, but I graduated high school with Mrs. Pine. It’s nice to know someone is making an effort to remain loyal to they’re choice of music. It is far too common for individuals to leap to the popular thing these days, and spin they’re version of a piece of music which pulls this piece away from the it’s original intention. I hope she continue to do so. It’s tiresome to have to look to music from the past to enjoy anything resembling a clean or pure sound.