Tea time with an opera diva

Season 1, Ep 7 is here & I am super excited to share this tea time conversation with my baby sister, Laura, about all things opera and thank you SO MUCH to everyone who popped on to listen yesterday! Laura chats about her journey from Sibling Sabotage Expert in small town South Dakota to International Opera Soprano. She gives us a glimpse into her love of unglamorous (and often lonely) work of singing, not just the act of performing and how she brings her roles to life. For Laura, opera isn’t simply a performance. It’s a vehicle for human connection and a doorway to experience new perspectives and open up difficult conversations in disarming ways. In a time that can feel so hopeless, she finds genuine hope in the one-on-one human connections her career affords her with people from around the globe. One thing that stuck out for me from our conversation was how much of her wisdom and experience is applicable to artists across disciplines (and, honestly, human beings everywhere). Here are my biggest takeaways: Being open to unexpected paths Nothing about Laura’s journey has been what she expected. Opera constantly requires her to be outside of her natural comfort zone, living with irregular pay and logistics throughout the year (Were will I be living? How many jobs will I have? What if I get sick enough to miss a performance and lose my income?). As someone who strongly prefers predictability, she has had to learn how thrive within uncertainty. Her path has not been deciding which option to choose, but rather being willing to “walk through whatever door opens next.” You must love the process, not just the end product So little of this career is made up of the actual performance part that it would be extremely difficult to have an enjoyable, sustainable career in opera without loving the daily practice and preparation work itself. Laura spends months learning roles in foreign languages (German, Czech, Russian, Italian), memorizing music, and perfecting technique—all before the first rehearsal (or paycheck). Payment and validation might come from only five performances after a year of prep work done largely alone. The necessity of prioritizing Future Self over Present Self The process of creating art, including opera, takes years of what can feel like fruitless and unacknowledged work. Turns out, the Mountaintop of Mastery is a myth—you never really “arrive.” Laura has learned to find joy in the never-ending road of learning (and sometimes long stretches without external payoff) by taking the time to notice and celebrate small, daily victories and improvements. By tracking how she has grown over the years, she recognizes how her freedom to do increasingly challenging vocal work today came from yesterday’s commitment to the unsexy practice. Sehnsucht and the transformative power of art Laura loves the German concept of Sehnsucht—a bittersweet longing sparked by brief moments of transcendent beauty in music, nature, or art. She has seen how opera can open hearts, begin difficult conversations, and challenge us to look beyond what we can see in unique ways. Knowing this, she takes time to lovingly probe into the roles she plays to understand the “why” behind their actions, to offer hope, and to invite her audience to see things differently, too. This world needs our art. Period. 🦄 Kristin Laura’s Favorite Operas Salome by Strauss Tosca and Madama Butterfly and La Boheme, all by Puccini Jenůfa and Katya Kabanova, both by Janacek Susannah by Floyd Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, both by Wagner Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck Rusalka by Dvorak Peter Grimes by Britten Where to find Laura👇 The Media Page of her professional website (scroll down for a whole bunch of clips of her lovingly portrayed women) Her YouTube channel (for Salome with the head of John the Baptist) Follow her on Instagram to see where’s she at in the world! How about you? What did you take away from this chat? If you’d like to see more of my writing, check out the rest of what’s available in Unicorn Hollow, and then subscribe to make sure you never miss a post! For centuries, artists of all disciplines have been kept afloat and creating by patrons who looked at their work and said, “Yes! This matters! This needs to be in the world!” If Unicorn Hollow gives you that feeling, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription for the cost of a fancy coffee or tea per month (and get some fun perks!). You can also support me with a one time donation 👇 Your support means everything to me and allows me to keep building out this space for us to create together! Writing is my career and every bit of support goes to feed & clothe my small army of children & animals. Thanks for being my unicorn! 🦄 Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. Get full access to Unicorn Hollow at kkwildegiuliani.substack.com/subscribe