…if you’re a singer wondering how you can afford to go to NUOVA, just say, “Yes,” and see what happens. Let this program change your life.
It was the Winter of 1999 in Toronto, and I’d just collapsed onto my bedroom floor after a race up the stairs to the phone, “Hello?” It was Kim. And I was a waterfall of tears. A few days prior, I’d received a letter from a new summer opera program called NUOVA that offered me a lead role, eight weeks of training, and access to an A-list faculty that spring. It was a golden opportunity. And I turned it down. My church job, Tafelmusik gig, and forty hours a week working at Gap Kids barely funded my rent, food, and big-girl lessons and coachings. After I read the letter, I panic-dialed the Artistic Director, Kim, and explained to her answering machine that I couldn’t accept the offer because my twenty-five-year-old self didn’t know how to pay tuition and maintain a Toronto apartment without income for eight weeks. Click. I was failing. And now I had a witness.
Twenty-five years later, I have compassion for my twenty-five-year-old self. I did the best I could with what I knew. Which, turns out, wasn’t very much. When I moved from Winnipeg to Toronto in 1998 to pursue a career in Opera, I naively thought my voice would be enough to sustain me. But my machine-gun runs and Rossini repertoire were no match for Toronto’s real-estate realities. Money worries wove a tight thread through everything I did, especially my singing. A music degree didn’t seem to be enough. I needed a degree in Life. A Diploma in Money Mindset. A Master’s in Turning My Talent into a Business, and a PhD in Not Freaking Out as I pieced it all together. I’d eventually earn those degrees and carve out an opera career, but it wasn’t always pretty or cheap. I needed help.
Marcia teaching Masterclasses at at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts
When I finally let Kim get a word in edgewise, she laughed, “Marcia, my dear, why the tears? This problem is solvable. Give me a few days to work something out, and in the meantime, start learning the role. You will be in Edmonton this spring.” Click. Sure enough, two days later, she’d turned my panicky energy into possibility via a full scholarship thanks to a generous donor.
Then, things got weird.
First, a singer I barely knew called out of the blue and asked to sublet my apartment when I was out of town. Turns out, we shared the same singing teacher who’d had a hunch that we could help each other with our living situations. My two months’ rent was now paid in full. Then, a friend asked if I wanted to move into his sublet after I got back. It had a grand piano, a space to sing, and a brilliant pianist and vocal coach for a roommate. This guy loved to cook, coached me on my repertoire for free, and worked in the U.S. for six months out of the year. B’bye five roommates. Hello, condo in Rosedale.
What was going on?
I’ll tell you what was going on; NUOVA. That’s what was going on. NUOVA isn’t just a summer program where you learn the difference between an open and closed vowel. It’s a magical space where you’re immersed in the mindset of possibility. Where you’re given the opportunity to focus on thriving instead of just surviving. Nothing is impossible at NUOVA. Oh – sure – there were days when I didn’t believe my mental and musical muscles could endure the intense training and schedule. But Kim believed I could do it. And so did my fearless cheerleaders: Nico, Carol, Michael, and Kathy. Every day and every hour for eight weeks straight. Eventually, I stopped resisting their support and entertained the thought that they might just be right. See? Magic.
So if you’re a singer wondering how you can afford to go to NUOVA, just say, “Yes,” and see what happens. Let this program change your life. And to the generous patron from 1999 who picked me up off the floor with a full scholarship, thank you. You were a life changer, too.
