High note: opera singer

Music has been the love of Taryn Fiebig’s life ever since she can remember – but it was in opera that she found her true voice.

‘Opera diva’ isn’t the first image that comes to mind when you meet this pretty, softly spoken young woman from Western Australia. Taryn Fiebig seems far too down-to-earth and modest, but spend a little time with her and you soon discover a determination not to be underestimated, an enduring passion for music, and a voice that touches your soul. In her 33 years, Taryn has explored many corners of the intricate world of music, but it’s only now, as a member of Opera Australia’s Moffat Oxenbould Young Artists’ Program, she’s discovering her destiny as a soprano.

8am: Taryn climbs out of bed and wanders into the kitchen for her mandatory morning espresso. “I need it to kick-start the day,” she winks. Her flatmate, who is known to everyone else as Dr Marina Phillips, has already gone to work as the head of classical music at the Australian Institute of Music. “Marina and I met as kids; she played the violin and I played the cello and we’ve been close ever since,” says Taryn fondly.

Like Marina, Taryn became a professional musician at a young age, playing the cello in orchestras long before she ever contemplated singing for a living. As a child, she excelled at ballet, piano and choir, and at 12 won a scholarship to a musical high school. A year later, she was accepted into the Western Australian Youth Orchestra, then at 19 won a spot with the Australian Youth Orchestra; by the time she was 21, she was a qualified cellist. “From the time I was a little girl, music has just sort of swept me along on its wave. My parents weren’t musical but they encouraged me and I loved everything I tried,” she says.

8.30am: In jeans and T-shirt, Taryn grabs her bag of sheet music and heads out the door of her rental house in Redfern, Sydney for the short stroll to work. As she reaches the imposing red and grey building that houses Opera Australia, in Sydney’s Surry Hills. Taryn only just believes she works there. “It took me a while to get used to the idea this place isn’t a charity and I’m employed because I have something to offer,” she says modestly.

Taryn’s move into opera happened without too much planning. “I’d never really thought about being an opera singer; in fact I didn’t really like opera,” she admits. “But I’d sit in the orchestra pit of musicals wishing I was on stage and finally mustered the courage to audition for a few parts, which I actually got,” she recalls. The turning point in Taryn’s career occurred when she saw the renowned English soprano Emma Kirkby perform in Perth. “I was compelled to contact her – she told me she taught at Dartington International Summer School in England, and I should apply for a scholarship.“ It was at this school that Taryn had her first real taste of opera. “For some reason it touched me in a way it never had before. I realised opera brought together classical music, stage craft, and storytelling all in one amazing form.”

9.45am: Taryn greets her colleagues in hallways lined with photos of famous divas such as Dame Joan Sutherland and Dame Nellie Melba. “Sometimes I wonder whether I’ll ever be up there with them,” she smiles. She knows getting there will take years of hard work and dedication, but she’s more than ready for it as she enters one of the practice rooms to warm up her voice for the day. “I know this is what I want; I know this is where I belong and I’m prepared to work for it,” she says.

Taryn admits it wasn’t always this way. “After summer school I studied opera for another year in England, which was wonderful, but it didn’t really lead anywhere so I returned to Australia and started thinking more about marriage, kids and vegie patches.” When Taryn’s partner of 10 years proposed soon after, she thought  her dreams had come true, but a year after the wedding she remained restless. “My husband was a brilliant musician so I was more focused on his career than mine, but I remember telling Mum I felt stuck, incomplete and lost,” she recalls. At the same time, Taryn was dealing with a piece of news she’d received just before her wedding that would force her to rethink her life. “I was told that I had been adopted and at that very confusing moment I felt like the luckiest person on the planet for having grown up with my family and on the flip side an unfathomable feeling of sorrow – I had lost my identity,” she recalls. “This knowledge of being adopted caused me to want to discover what I really wanted out of life, my solace was my music, but how was I going to pursue it?”

The answer came when a friend suggested Taryn audition for the Australian Opera Studio, a private institute for young opera singers. “It immediately felt right, but on the day I was a ‘no show’ because I just didn’t think I was good enough,” she says. “My friend called me and said ‘get your butt down here’ and I nervously showed up and sang my two arias. I burst into tears when they told me I was in.”

Two years later, Taryn left a changed woman. “It made me realise what I was capable of,” she says. “For the first time I knew what I wanted; I left Perth and unfortunately parted from my husband to pursue my dream of joining Opera Australia. It was as though everything that had happened up to that point prepared me for the moment of my audition, and this time I wasn’t surprised when I was successful because I knew it was right.”

10.15am: Taryn attends a coaching session with French phoniatrician Dr Didier Frédéric who assists with her annunciation of French arias. “I have a coaching session every day in French, Italian or German so that a person from one of those countries wouldn’t be horrified if they heard me,” she laughs.

11.15am: Taryn attends her first rehearsal for her role as Karolka in Janácek’s Jenufa, which is being directed by Neil Armfield, (director of the acclaimed film Candy). “We’re always performing one opera, rehearsing for the next and learning the one after that, so I have three on the go all the time,” explains Taryn. “It’s very humbling to work with people like Neil; he’s so patient and kind.”

The cast usually has five weeks to prepare for an opera and, having started out in musicals, Taryn finds acting one of the least daunting parts of the whole process. “In musicals and plays the acting comes first, so it comes more naturally to me now,” she explains. “I’m also glad I have an intimate knowledge of how an orchestra works; you don’t have to know how to play an instrument to be an opera singer but it definitely helps me.”

1.30pm: The rehearsal breaks for lunch and if she’s not performing that night, Taryn will grab a sandwich before heading back to rehearsal at 2.30pm. On these days, she finishes at 5.30pm and walks to her Bikram yoga class. “Yoga has kept me centred through all sorts of hard times and it makes me more aware of my body, including my breathing which is so important for singing.”

Taking care of her voice is something Taryn takes seriously. “They say you shouldn’t eat too much dairy or chocolate, but luckily I don’t have that problem. I do try to stay away from alcohol if I’m performing, but mostly I’m only affected by fatigue so I try to get plenty of sleep.”

2.30pm: If she is performing that night, Taryn goes home to relax and takes Marina’s dog Perlman (named after the famous violinist Itzhak Perlman) for a walk. “I take him to the Bourke Street Bakery in Surry Hills because I love their hot chocolates,” she says.

4pm: Taryn leaves home for the Sydney Opera House, where she’ll perform the lead role of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance. “My very first singing role was Edith in the The Pirates of Penzance at school, but I desperately wanted to be Mabel, and now here I am twenty-one years later.” Her first port of call is the staff cafeteria. “I just get something light because you’re not supposed to eat anything too heavy before a performance.”

5.30pm: With dinner over, Taryn goes backstage to her dressing room, dons the company-issue blue robe, and heads across the hallway to the make-up department. “I like having my make-up done; it’s very relaxing and there’s someone to chat to, which takes your mind off the butterflies,” she says.

Taryn is appearing at the Sydney Opera House in Jenufa until October 21 and The Pirates of Penzance until November 4.

 

Words: Linda Peatling. Photography: Sam McAdam and Scott Hawkins. Hair & make-up: David Novak Piper.