A day-in-the-life photo diary of a Met Opera singer’s life

Opera is her life

Performing six days a week, 170 performances a season, Liz and her cast mates live and breathe opera. 

Passion for dogs and singing

Liz is married with two rescue dogs, and she lives in Harlem in a building with several other opera singers. 

Commuting every day

With a short, 20-minute subway commute to Lincoln Center, Liz appreciates the ability to live and work in the city. “This is a great city. There is so much to offer,” she said.

Arriving at Lincoln Center

Liz has rehearsal in the morning and afternoon, five days a week. In the evening, the company prepares for one of the 25 performances they have memorized for the season. Today, they are rehearsing Otello and performing Roberto Devereux in the evening.

Ready for rehearsal

“Water is key,” Liz said. “Hydration is the most important thing. Lots of people like tea, but I don’t like hot liquid so I keep it simple.” 

Behind the glitz

There are 80 full-time members of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus. The majority of the singers in the group have bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees in vocal performance from major conservatories and universities worldwide. 

Her second home: the dressing room

“I have a lot of favorite parts of my day,” Liz said, “including the moment when I first walk into the stage door entrance at the beginning of my day and rehearsing with my fantastic colleagues, who I love and respect.”

Checking the schedule

Hopefuls must audition for the Chorus Master and receive an invitation to join the group. Each year, hundreds of people apply and audition for the chorus. 

170 performances a year

With 170 performances in each season at The Met, Liz and her cast mates live and breathe opera. 

Preparing for rehearsal

This is the backstage dressing room for the entire chorus. There are rows of cubbies filled with memories, rehearsal schedules and pictures of family and friends. 

‘Roberto Devereux’ costume check

“Our costumes are hung at our dressing areas for every performance, and each row in the dressing room is assigned a dresser to help us with our costumes,” Liz said. “This is especially helpful for a show like Roberto Devereux. There’s no way we could lace up our dresses by ourselves!”

Backstage getting feedback

“I warm up in the mornings but not very often. It only takes a few minutes because I’m continually warmed up from singing for many hours each day,” Liz said. “I also take lessons with my teacher, Mark Oswald. It’s important to keep my voice in shape throughout the season.”

The cast is family

Liz and her fellow choristers have a strong friendship and bond. They live and breathe opera every day and appreciate their amazing dream job, which they all worked so hard to achieve. 

Rehearsing ‘Otello’

“One of the best parts of my day is the moment just before I walk out on that magnificent stage,” Liz said. “I say ‘thank you’ to the universe and I smile and go out there and do my job.” In this photo, Liz is on the far right in the long blue dress. 

Lunch with the chorus

“This job, although it’s really strenuous and everything, was better for me than being out on the road for weeks at a time,” said fellow chorister Danielle Walker, who is a mother of two. She reflects on the stress of the job: “Seeing my family for five minutes a day sometimes is better than nothing for weeks at a time.”

Behind the red curtain

“A big part of the job that sometimes is overlooked is that it is very physical,” said Brooks. “Not just the physical part of singing but the wearing of heavy costumes on a raked stage for hours at a time. Many of us go to the gym three to four times a week to stay strong and try to keep our bodies as strong as our voices.”

This is the best job ever

Choristers get 10 weeks off a year between seasons, giving them the ability to reconnect with family and friends — and to rest their voices and bodies. 

The dressing room

“As choristers, we are responsible for our own makeup and wigs,” said Liz. “If there is a specific look for makeup, we are told what to do by our awesome makeup department. Our wigs are made by the amazing wig department and left on our desks before each dress rehearsal and performance.”

Preparing for the show

“In Verdi’s Macbeth, the women chorus members have five costume changes throughout the performance. But in Roberto Devereux, we only have one costume. Each costume was unique and made for each performer. My costume weighed about 20 pounds, more or less,” Liz said.

Doing her own hair and makeup

“We are given 30 minutes prior to our first entrance to get ready for the show. If it takes longer than 30 minutes to get ready, it is up to the individual to come in with enough time to get ready,” she said.

25 operas to prepare

Liz’s passion for opera and music is strong. “You can use music to express yourself in a much deeper way than any other art form, as far as I am concerned.” 

Chorus members ready for showtime

“I love the costumes, the live theatre and what can happen. The 53rd time you’ve performed La Bohème, something different can happen, because you never know. It’s a live entity onstage and I really think that’s a fun aspect of opera.”

‘Roberto Devereux’

El?na Garan?a as Sara in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux, with Liz in the background.

Rehearsing the final scenes

Liz describes opera as “a heightened version of what we deal with on a day-to-day basis.” She’s on the far right in this rehearsal of Otello. 

In character

“Opera especially is important because it’s such an extreme part of music in terms of emotions, interactions, relationships and death and love and sex and all of those things,” Liz said.

Backstage before the show

Here’s Liz having a moment with Belinda Oswald, a seasoned vet of 17 years in the chorus, before their curtain call in Roberto Devereux.

Full orchestra during rehearsal

This is her life

“This is the best job ever,” Liz said. “It’s everything to me.” Check out her performances at the Met Opera. The season starts Sept. 26, 2016, and ends May 13, 2017.