最佳训练场

JoannaC.Lee

小琼：还记得几周前我在圣路易斯歌剧院（OTSL）参加的夏季歌剧节吗？在闭幕之夜的庆祝酒会上，当大家齐声合唱《友谊地久天长》时，我遇到了一位年轻的中国女中音肖霄。很高兴认识一位新朋友！

Joan： Remember a few weeks ago when I wasattending shows at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis（OTSL）？ At the closing party， when everyone burstinto a chorus of Auld Lang Syne ， I ran into a youngChinese mezzo soprano Xiao Xiao. It was so nice tomeet a new friend！

小薇：我上网看了看，发现肖霄是本年度“薛迪恩年轻艺术家计划”中的成员，该项目由艺术总监帕特里夏·拉奇特（Patricia Racette）负责。

Valery： I looked online and realized that she was one of theyoung singers in the Gerdine Young Artists （GYA） programthis season， led by Artistic Director Patricia Racette.

小琼：该计划的目的是为新兴艺术家们提供强化培训和专业的演出机会。除了大师班之外，歌手们还可以作为合唱团成员、配角或主要角色的“备选”参与圣路易斯歌剧院的制作，此外还可以在专门的歌剧场景（“中心舞台”）演出。与全美各地的类似项目不同，圣路易斯歌剧院实际上是一个夏季歌剧节，每年举办的档期为仍在就读的学生或应届毕业生提供了绝佳的机会。实际上，肖霄本科就读于中国音乐学院，并在美国曼哈顿音乐学院获得了硕士学位。她现在正在波士顿的新英格兰音乐学院攻读她的研究生文凭。

Joan： The purpose of this program is to giveemerging artists intensive training and professionalexperience. Along with master classes， singers get toperform in OTSL productions—as chorus members，in supporting roles， or as “covers” for major roles—in addition to a dedicated performance of operaticscenes （“Center Stage”）. Unlike similar programsaround the country， OTSL is a summer festival thatprovides great opportunities for those still enrolledas students， or recent graduates. Xiao Xiao actuallyreceived her undergraduate training at the ChinaConservatory of Music and received her Mastersdegree In America from the Manhattan School ofMusic. Shes now at the New England Conservatory inBoston finishing her Graduate Diploma.

小薇：我刚刚发现了一些有趣的统计数据。2022年，“薛迪恩年轻艺术家计划”的选拔涉及了美国的7个城市，1100名年轻歌手参与了海选。最终入选的36位歌手可谓是精英中的佼佼者，来自9个不同的国家，以及美国的19个州。

Valery： I just found some interesting statistics. For2022， the GYA auditions toured seven cities andauditioned 1，100 young singers. The 36 singersselected are indeed the cream of the crop， comingfrom nine different countries and 19 US states.

小琼：我第一次在舞台上看到的肖霄并不是作为合唱团成员，而是在当代歌剧《哈维·米尔克》中。她扮演配角——一位旧金山的美籍华裔活动家，是主角的密友。在今年歌剧节剩下的时间里，肖霄会在《卡门》和《魔笛》的演出中作为合唱团的一员登场，并被指派为两个角色的“替补”——《卡门》中的梅赛德斯，和在世界首演的歌剧《觉醒》中的露西。

Joan： I saw Xiao Xiao first on stage not as a chorusmember but actually in a supporting role in thecontemporary opera Harvey Milk ， playing a Chinese-American activist in San Francisco who was a closefriend of the title character. During the rest of thefestival， she was on stage in the chorus for bothCarmen and The Magic Flute and was also assignedas “understudy” for two roles – Mercedes in Carmenand Lucy in Awakenings ， a world premiere.

小薇：由于新冠肺炎疫情，替补演员有更多的机会在短时间内出现在舞台上。这对任何表演者来说，在技术上和心理上都是一次很好的锻炼。

Valery： Because of COVID， understudies have agreater chance of appearing on stage on short notice.That is a good test technically and psychologically forany performer.

小瓊：实际上，今年夏天有两位中国歌手进入了“薛迪恩年轻艺术家计划”。除了肖霄，还有男低音宋在宽。我祝愿这些年轻的中国歌手们能有一个美好的未来，并希冀这些国际演出的经验能助力成就他们未来的辉煌事业！

Joan： Actually， two Chinese singers made it tothe GYA this summer. Apart from Xiao Xiao， theresalso bass Song Zaikuan. I wish all of these youngChinese singers a great future， and that all theseinternational experiences prepare them for gloriouscareers ahead！