Singer home for symphony show

Emily Murdock vividly remembers the moment she decided to become an opera singer.

She was a junior at the University of Montana and in the middle of a three-month residency in Vienna, Austria. She was busy with classes but still found time to visit the opera house every chance she could. Murdock eventually would see 12 operas in those three months.

Her fate was decided in a standing-room space at Verdi’s “La Traviata.” From her position, Murdock couldn’t even see the screen that showed the Italian opera’s subtitles.

“I didn’t know what was going on, but it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Murdock said. “When Violetta dies at the end, I must have cried for 20 minutes. I said, ‘I have to be a part of that. I have to be a part of opera.’”

Now 29, Murdock still is pursuing that dream. She has worked with younger singers and with Denver-based Opera Colorado, which is a short drive from her home in Boulder. She auditions annually for gigs in New York City.

This week, the Whitefish native will return to the Flathead Valley to sing with the Glacier Symphony and Chorale. “Bohemian Titans,” this season’s opening concert, is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Kalispell.

While in town, Murdock will work with choir students at Whitefish Middle School and Whitefish High School.

“I’m hoping they’ll have a few soloists I can work with,” she said. “I can give them a different aspect of another vocal thing they could do.”

Music always was part of Murdock’s life. Her parents, David and Sally Murdock, both are amateur musicians, and they instilled in Murdock and her younger sister a love for song.

Murdock grew up sitting on the bench next to her father as he played piano, and singing in the Glacier Children’s Choir, a product of Glacier Symphony and Chorale. Then she started taking flute lessons and joined the high school choir.

After high school, she pursued music education and flute performance degrees at the University of Montana. But while she was in Missoula, Murdock ran across music teacher Esther England, who had heard her sing at the District Music Festival in high school.

England persuaded Murdock to take voice lessons with her, even though she wasn’t a voice major at the time. That changed her junior year, when Murdock realized she loved singing enough to pursue it full time. She graduated with degrees in vocal and flute performance and headed to grad school at the University of Colorado, where she earned a master’s degree in voice performance.

Since then, Murdock has continued to sing and audition while holding down what she calls her day job as an office manager.

She has worked with young singers who have just earned their master’s degrees and has taken jobs on the other side of the stage as an assistant stage manager and assistant director for Opera Colorado productions. And every year, she flies to New York for a week or more of auditions.

The opera world is extremely competitive, she said. Directors are looking for more than just singing ability; they may also need a lead soprano who isn’t too tall for the male lead they have in mind, or they may need a different type of soprano.

That’s why Murdock tries to schedule as many auditions as possible during her week in the city.

“I’ve been really lucky,” she said. “Every year, I’ve gotten a contract.”

Murdock also has continued her voice lessons.

“One should never stop studying,” she said. “The voice is always changing. Your body’s always changing, and the voice changes with it.”

In addition to working with a voice teacher, she also works with a vocal coach who helps her prepare her music.

“It’s really hard to listen to yourself. Your voice sounds different in your head than it does to an audience,” she said.

To prepare for her upcoming concert with Glacier Symphony, Murdock has been working with a pianist who has a conducting background. That has been very helpful, she said, since she doesn’t have a full orchestra at her disposal for rehearsals.

This weekend’s performance won’t be Murdock’s first time singing with Glacier Symphony and Chorale. She performed in 2006 at the Mostly Mozart festival and again in 2007 for a performance of Handel’s Messiah.”

“I’m really, really excited they asked me to do it again,” she said.

Murdock will sing with the orchestra during the final movement of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 4.” The song describes a child’s vision of heaven, she said.

“It’s really, really sweet text,” she said. “It fits well with my voice, since I have sort of that youthful, light quality.”

This weekend’s concerts are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the Flathead High School auditorium. Tickets range from $10 to $32.

For further information, call 257-3241 or visit www.gscmusic.org.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by email at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.