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" 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. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Great

Do The Right Thing

Kindness

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" I tell young singers not to listen to themselves. What I hear is not what you hear. "

" My roots really instilled Chicago values in me. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Roots

Values

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

" I don't like happy stuff. I'm not funny. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Funny

Stuff

" 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. "

" I guess my first professional experience was when my church choir director told my mother that I had a gift with my voice and said that I should think about auditioning, at 11 years old, for the chorus of our regional opera company. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Trying to look glamorous while singing is not easy. "

" 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. "

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

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

" I perform in opera houses in the centres of big cities. We live in 20 acres of forest. You need that space to recover and renew. "

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

" 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. "

" I love the tragic side. I don't do 'happy' onstage. I like the dark, the disturbed. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Side

Love

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

" When I am on the opera stage, I am playing someone else. In recitals, I even have the chance to talk to the audience, which is something you don't get to do in opera. "

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

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

Sondra Radvanovsky

Just

Sing

" I walk around the house in my pajamas all day if I want to. "

" 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

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I'm American by birth, but I consider myself Canadian. "

" You have to be in tune with your body and know when your body is saying, 'That's enough, you're done for the day.' If you over-fatigue and are totally stressed, you get sick. And if I get sick, I can't work. "

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

Sondra Radvanovsky

Walking

Voice

" For me, bel canto is medicine for the voice. "

Sondra Radvanovsky

Medicine

Voice

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