Sonia Gariaeff has been singing for more than 20 years, but she
is still considered a young artist in the world of opera.
”
[Opera] artists don’t hit their prime until 35 or 40, depending
on the voice,
”
said Gariaeff, who started singing at 7.
Gilroy – Sonia Gariaeff has been singing for more than 20 years, but she is still considered a young artist in the world of opera.
“[Opera] artists don’t hit their prime until 35 or 40, depending on the voice,” said Gariaeff, who started singing at 7.
The Gilroy native took on her first stage role as one of the evil stepsister’s in a Gilroy community theater production of “Cinderella.”
“I’ve been doing it ever since,” Gariaeff said, though her roles and songs have become increasingly more complicated.
The Gilroy High School graduate has been working as an opera singer throughout California, Washington and Oregon since she graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with her Master’s degree in vocal performance in 2000.
Teachers and musical directors recognized her future before she did. When she enrolled at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she considered becoming an English teacher or a theater major. Music didn’t cross her mind as a reasonable option until a few advisors told her singing was the only route for her.
“They told me I should be a music major,” Gariaeff said. “I was really intimidated. I had been taking piano lessons since I was 7, but I was worried because there is all this theory training.”
Since graduating, she has performed with opera houses throughout the Bay Area and along the West coast, in venues such as the West Bay Opera and the Berkeley Opera. She even appeared as a guest artist with the South Valley Symphony.
Though she is always auditioning for roles, it is competitions that make her nervous, with waiting after each round for the announcements of finalists. The Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards honored Gariaeff as a regional finalist in 2000 and 2003 and the Loren L. Zachary Competition selected her as a National Grand Finalist twice.
Gariaeff jokes that some of the competitions are not that different from prime time television’s “American Idol.”
“I watch it all the time,” Gariaeff said. “If I’m ever feeling sad about the rejection, I watch that. I don’t feel so bad.”
Rejection plays a big role in the life of an opera singer and Gariaeff has grown accustomed to it.
“Taking on rejection is an attribute in itself, to continue to rise up from that” said Gariaeff’s junior high and high school music teacher Phil Robb. “Give her a big pat on the back for what she has endured.”
She continually looks for mezzo-soprano opera roles, such as Cherubino in “The Marriage of Figaro,” which leads to plenty of time spent in airports, where she tries to catch up with her reading. She has taken up shopping as a form of exercise since she is on the go so often.
“I’m addicted to shopping,” she said. “I get my exercise in the mall.”
“It’s nice to cook and get to clean house,” she added, when she gets a break in San Francisco where she currently resides.
Gariaeff’s latest goal won’t keep her homebound for long. She plans to travel from October to April, auditioning for European opera houses.
“I’ll be spending time in Munich and London with the goal to do auditions and spend even more time over there,” Gariaeff said.
“She’s just beginning and from what I hear,” Robb said, “If you take the Europe route, your opportunities multiply and become greater.”
She got her first taste as an international traveler as a member of Robb’s Chamber choir at GHS.
She went to Japan and stayed with a host family in Gilroy’s sister city Takko Machi.
“It was amazing. I still remember it,” Gariaeff said. “It was exciting to be exposed to a culture that is so different and so beautiful.”
Robb recalled that by her senior year, he couldn’t find a better alto in his choir, though he said in junior high she sang under pitch for a while. He takes no credit for the voice she has now and he last heard her sing a few years ago at Chamber alumni concert.
“It’s a different voice than when she sang with me” Robb said. “It is the voice of a woman.”
Gariaeff will perform in the “Sweet Power of Song” with Elspeth Franks at the Carmel Woman’s Club, Ninth and San Carlos streets in Carmel, Friday, Aug. 26 at 8pm. Admission $20. Visit www.spiritsound.com/event82605.html or call 831-238-1344 for more information. Proceeds benefit Gariaeff’s trip to Europe.
