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" Even when I'm not onstage singing, there's always music going on in my head. It's a curse and a blessing in a way - it's sitting in bed at night, trying to go to sleep, while the music keeps playing in your head - especially when you're trying to learn something new and you're trying to memorize it and get everything. "

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" Temperament can really take a toll on the voice. If you get tight in your body with the acting, then you can get tight in your voice. And then you can get tired, and you can damage yourself vocally. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

You

Voice

Tired

" And if I don't sing, I don't get paid. "

" I always think of my father when I sing arias about loss and love and longing. It gave me that definite deep sorrow that one can only get from life experience, you know? "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Father

Love

" Opera - above and beyond anything else - is about the music, and it should be about the music. "

" I know I'm an opera singer, but we're actors, too. "

" If I can transport audiences for the three or four hours they're at the opera, to make them forget all of their worries, the bills they have to pay and all that, then I've done my job. That, for me, is very gratifying. "

" My roots really instilled Chicago values in me. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Roots

Values

" I am so proud to call myself Canadian! Thank you, Canada, for welcoming me with open arms! "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Proud

Myself

" It's the worst feeling, coming back after a performance when you are on a real high, and you go back alone to an apartment or a hotel room. People think we sit in hotels and eat bon bons. But the lifestyle can be very stressful. "

" Singing bel canto is like walking on a tightrope - especially with a larger voice like mine. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Walking

Voice

" You went to your first Broadway play or musical at some point, right? Come to opera. "

" We live in a very disposable society, and people want everything right away, but unfortunately, vocal technique doesn't come overnight. "

" I absolutely love Canada, and I wouldn't live anywhere else. It's half American and half European, and I really enjoy that. And the people are just fantastic - nicer than any people in the world. "

" I think Chicagoans have a great set of values. You know what I mean? Kindness. Morals. Ethics. People in Chicago do the right thing. If somebody falls on the street, someone will actually stop and help them up. That doesn't happen in certain other cities. "

" For sure, one moment really defined the path that I was to take in the future, and that was when I won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in New York in April of 1995. I had just turned 25 two days before the finals concert, and when I won, I had no idea how my life would change because of it. "

" Temperament and tightness often go together. But if you're tight, you can't sing. So I have to have that tension in my body but not in my voice. "

" When I was 11 years old, I wanted to sing Tosca. "

" The vocal cords are a muscle, and like any other muscle in the body, they can be strained. So you have to warm up. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Warm

You

" After I turn 50, I would like to sing Verdi's 'Attila.' "

" I don't like confrontation; I just like to sing. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Just

Sing

" When you do a 'messa di voce,' that means you start soft, you crescendo into loud - and then you go back to soft again. Some people call it circus tricks, but in bel canto, it's really written into the music. "

" Most voices get weaker and frailer. I seem to be getting better with age. "

" What if you didn't have education for sports? People with a natural inclination for sports, athletes without any kind of education, without any kind of training, they would just be couch athletes instead of the world class Olympians that we have. "

" When I teach master classes, I tell young singers if the foundation isn't good, the house will crumble. "

" When I was signing up for the University of Southern California's music program, I flipped a coin to decide my major. If it came up heads, it would be flute - tails would be voice. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Music

University

" I think the power of opera has been shifted from the music to the director, because this is a very visual age that we live in. "

" Artists shouldn't deal with business stuff; that's not what we're trained in, and most of us aren't good at it. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Business

Deal

" Opera tells stories that all ages can relate to: love, death, revenge, etc. "

" I'm going to the gym and really taking care of myself and trying to stay fit, eating properly. "

" People have this idea that opera singers are overweight and sit at home eating bonbons. But I consider myself an athlete. "