The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer

A while ago I read Renée Fleming's biography about her life thus far as an opera singer and star. It was called The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer. It chronicled her life as an adolescent aspiring to the stage to her current place in the opera world. Reading her biography was like opening a treasure box full of informative and dazzling jewels. After all, even she started off in the same place as me. That made me think: how interesting it is that someone that famous and that successful literally started out in the same place as me. She was a teenage girl, with a background in music, who followed her dream, and it worked out for her. She made it. Her book taught me a lot about "making it," about how much actually comes down to chance. Yes hard work is involved, but at the end of the day, luck and chance make a big difference in the outcome of ones career, of the veering of one's path in life.
She starts off talking about her college choice. She chose to go to Crane School of Music. You've never heard of it have you? Wouldn't you think a major star like that went to Juilliard or Curtis? Renée chose this school because of the opportunities it would provide her, and most importantly it offered her an incredible voice teacher who did not look at her only as a number or another student, but as a person, who had unique and specific vocal needs. As Renée continues to talk about her voice teacher, whom she refers to only as Pat, she talks about their individual voice lessons. Renée recollects on Pat telling her, "Lift those cheek bones!  Inner smile!" Those two phrases I have heard from my voice teacher, Maggie, countless times. I guess this is when I really started to appreciate and acknowledge the similarities between Renée and I. If you chose the same path, some things are going to be the same. It's just amazing and inspiring to see someone who made it start off in your position learning the same things as you did.
Another similarity between myself and a young Renée Fleming is that she could not roll her "R"s, which is essential in correctly singing an Italian Repertoire. I couldn't believe that someone like her suffered from the same problem as me? However, she eventually fixed it and was able to roll her "R"s as well as any Italian. She worked hard to achieve it, but maybe if I do the same, one day I can finally sing some of those arias correctly!
Now, though Renée went to a small school most of us have never heard of, though of course good undergraduate program, she did attend the famous Juilliard for Graduate school. This taught me something too, something personal. At the moment I am in the midst of applications and audition video deadlines, with a college acceptance and decision looming over my head. However, I don't have to go to the most famous school with the most famous alumni; I need to go to a school with a good voice teacher for undergraduate. Maybe I can try to for Juilliard or Curtis for Graduate school, but that is still years away, and my future is by no means completely determined by my undergraduate decision.
Now, my career path surely won't be the same as Renée Fleming's, but reading her story made me laugh as well as inspired me.