I come from an extremely musical family – I grew up in the northwest Georgia mountains, and several of my family played bluegrass instruments. My dad started my music recognition education from a very early age with The Beatles. One of their songs would come on the radio, and he would ask me which it was, and which album it came from. I was really in love with the White Album and jovial songs on it such as 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da'.
Read MoreTo say that Barton’s career has taken off is quite the understatement. With each performance, audience demand for a solo album only grows. Now, as the saying goes, the wait is finally over. On Friday, Barton, with pianist Brian Zeger, will release “All Who Wander.” The album features songs from three composers – Gustav Mahler, Antonín Dvořák and Jean Sibelius. Barton’s interpretation of these songs, like all of her work, is driven by storytelling.
Read MoreMy first experience of the Jamie Barton voice was the Met in HD showing of The Audition, a documentary on the 2007 Metropolitan Opera Auditions. It was a vintage year, with several young singers going on to spectacular careers. Even with stiff competition, Jamie Barton was singled out as one of the winners, for her radiant smile, gleaming tone, and engaging personality.
Read MoreWe had the chance to talk with American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton between rehearsals for Washington National Opera's upcoming Ring Cycle, where she'll be singing Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, and covering Fricka in Die Walküre. In her mid-30s, Barton is familiar with the gamble that can be found in singing Wagner's music. "As a singer, especially a young singer, they tend to say 'don't do Wagner, don't sing it, don't listen to it, just stay away Wagner, it'll hurt your voice.'" For her, the difference lies less in age, and more in whether or not a singer is "built to sing it."
Read MoreBarton may be an artistic throwback in some ways, but she does not adhere to its accompanying stereotype: She's no diva. "The diva mentality is very antiquated and has no place in modern opera," she says. "It's a distance that's selfish to your colleagues and your audience members. I prefer to think of us as a big community, a family of people, and you don't hold your family at arm's length."
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