Seasoned opera coach joins the Brott crew
Emily Hamper has spent 25 years as a coach, collaborative accompanist, rehearsal pianist, and assistant conductor
Turns out that not much could hamper Emily Hamper from being named artistic administrator and coach of BrottOpera this year.
The Vancouver-born, Stratford-based Hamper comes by her musical talent naturally. Her dad, Bob, a jazz trombonist who’s been heard locally in bands led by Darcy Hepner and the late Dave McMurdo, taught jazz voice and led the jazz choir at Mohawk College. Her mom, Wendy, was a violinist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Her mom’s youngest sister is soprano Nancy Herbison, who, under the professional name of Nancy Argenta, popped back in the mid-1980s and carved out a solid career performing Baroque repertoire on both sides of the Atlantic.
The piano-playing Hamper trained to be a collaborative accompanist from her early teens.
“I started working as an accompanist with my mother’s class of violin students when I was 13 years old,” Hamper told The Hamilton Spectator. “During my undergrad years at UBC, I took as many classes in accompaniment and chamber music as I could, and played for many student recitals while continuing my work as a freelance accompanist in the greater community. I realized during this time that not only did I love the work, but I felt very comfortable and confident doing it.
“When I heard about the opera program at U of T and its student coach position, I leapt at the opportunity. Entering that program changed my life, giving me new connections and relationships that expanded my horizons and challenged me to work incredibly hard and develop my skills. I was also strongly encouraged at the time by my aunt, Nancy Argenta, and her partner (soprano) Ingrid Attrot, who felt I had some aptitude.”
Over the past 25 years, Hamper has worked as a coach, collaborative accompanist, rehearsal pianist, and assistant conductor with dozens of musical organizations in Canada and abroad. She has also taught at various Canadian universities, the Stratford Summer Music Vocal Academy which she co-founded in 2015 as well as at the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices run by American mezzo Dolora Zajick.
It was while she was at the U of T that she met bass-baritone Taras Kulish, now co-artistic director of BrottOpera, a summer professional emerging artist program. That connection from long ago came in handy this year.
“Taras Kulish reached out to me in February of this year, wondering if I knew anyone who could fill the role of artistic administrator and coach,” said Hamper. “After talking about the job in detail, I told him the position sounded right for me, and we took it from there.”
The casting process for BrottOpera’s PopOpera concert was completed by the time Hamper had been brought on board. However, there were subsequent personnel changes and Hamper helped to find replacements. After the cast had submitted their lists of party pieces, Hamper whittled down those preferences into a draft program. Afterward, she and artistic director Boris Brott finalized the selections and running order.
Originally, the PopOpera cast was to have been accompanied by the National Academy Orchestra under Brott in McMaster’s L. R. Wilson Hall. But you know what changed all that. So instead, each singer submitted a video with either remote accompaniment or a backing track. Neil Craighead then stitched those videos into two digital PopOpera concerts which will be livestreamed at the Brott Music Festival’s YouTube channel and Facebook page on Wednesday, July 15 and Thursday, July 16, both at 7:30 p.m.
“I’m accompanying most of the singers in the digital concert, as coaching these arias would have been part of my duties had we been able to meet in person,” said Hamper.
The July 15 cast includes two Hamilton-based singers, baritone Jamal Al Titi in Mozart’s “Non più andrai” and tenor River Guard in Verdi’s “La donna è mobile.”
☆☆☆
HPO music director Gemma New and composer-in-residence Abby Richardson-Schulte are putting the finishing touches on a reimagined 2020-2021 season for the orchestra. According to an HPO press release, the season “is focused on offering new musical experiences through online broadcasts of live performances and music appreciation engagements.” Full details including repertoire and performance dates will be released in early August.