Local opera singer is not complaining about lost work

by Len Lear
Posted 9/25/20

Marietta Simpson, who grew up in both Mt. Airy and Germantown and has become one of the nation's premier opera singers, has had to cancel performances during the pandemic, like virtually every other …

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Local opera singer is not complaining about lost work

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Marietta Simpson, who grew up in both Mt. Airy and Germantown and has become one of the nation's premier opera singers, has had to cancel performances during the pandemic, like virtually every other performing musician in the country, but she is not complaining.

“Yes, I have lost work, but I am not in the same position as my colleagues who lost their entire livelihoods, so I am in no position to complain about that.”

Simpson still has a livelihood because the distinguished graduate of Philadelphia Girls High School (220th graduating class), Temple University in 1981 and SUNY Binghamton in 1983 (Master's Degree in Music) has been an associate professor of voice at the University of Indiana in Bloomington since 2005.

“The pandemic forced all of us who teach to reimagine how we transmit the information we have been accustomed to giving face-to-face in a different way. That is not as easy as just standing and lecturing in front of the computer screen. We now have to ask how do we create meaningful exchanges. Read expressions, non-verbal cues, judge the emotional temperature in the room …

“Yes, it’s been a challenge and yet there have been rewarding moments and growth in every area. From students, from my own expectations for myself and understanding of technology … We’re bringing our best to the table. Sometimes in that pursuit we get frustration, and sometimes we touch something special!”

On the operatic stage, the 60-ish mezzo-soprano made her debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago in “Regina,” a role she later reprised at the Kennedy Center and again at the Royal Opera House in London. Over the years, Simpson has performed with major orchestras around the world under many of the world's greatest conductors, including the late Robert Shaw in her Carnegie Hall debut in 1988 and as a soloist in Brahms' “Alto Rhapsody” with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Her deeply expressive, rich voice has made her one of the most sought-after mezzo-sopranos of our time. “Music, particularly opera, was always playing at our house,” she recalled, “and my late older sister was an opera singer who studied at Juilliard and won vocal competitions. So it wasn't a big stretch for me to follow in her footsteps … Everyone in my family sings. We used to sing together as 'The Singing Simpsons.' Music and faith are two of the great gifts my parents gave us.”

In a typical review of Marietta's work, critic Rachel Carnes wrote of her performance before the pandemic at Beall Hall on the Kent State University (Ohio) campus, “Mezzo-soprano Marietta  Simpson’s haunting, reserved portrayal of a woman who clings to the routines of daily life in order to appear normal enough is unforgettable.”

Simpson's last operatic performance in Philadelphia was in the world premiere of “Sky on Swings,” an unflinching yet uplifting look at Alzheimer's disease, at the Kimmel Center in September of 2018. Since then she has also performed with the Pennsylvania Girl Choir at the family home of Grace Kelly in East Falls.

Although Simpson has had a very distinguished career, there have been potholes along the way. “Of course I have experienced racism and sexism,” she revealed. “I am black and a woman in America. The author James Baldwin wrote that 'to be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.' But I was raised to believe that there was an alternative choice so that I wasn’t always looking at or for inequity.

“I, like many people in my generation, learned through various coping methods to deal with what we encountered. Not all of those methods were good, but they enabled me to deal with the spaces I inhabited that weren’t always as welcoming as they declared themselves to be, so that I could do the thing I loved. Even beautiful art and distinguished careers can exist against a backdrop of racism, sexism and inequity. No one gets a pass.”

Simpson, who has a daughter and grandchildren living in Cherry Hill, was asked what is the best advice she ever received? Her reply: “The best personal advice I ever received was to decide if what you are getting is worth what you’re paying for it.”

When asked what was the hardest thing she ever had to do, Simpson responded quickly: “The hardest thing I ever had to do was to bury my loved ones. Nothing compares to that.”

For more information, visit barrettartists.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com