High Voice, High Heels

At the recent fundraiser for the San Antonio Opera (SAO), a good part of the entertainment was provided by five young women who collectively call themselves Stiletto. They have high voices and high heels, and together they make beautiful sounds. For the occasion, they sang several operatic arias but also veered into other genres by delivering their version of Unchained Melody; Carry on, My Wayward Son and even Lady Marmalade.

“We try to do numbers that are meaningful to several generations,” explains lyric soprano Emily Ward the next day when we meet to talk in SAO’s offices. “We are still a new group –- we have only been together since March -- so we are still honing our sound and developing our repertoire. But we have enjoyed it very much.”

Besides Ward, who is also the Opera’s resident artist, Stiletto consists of mezzo soprano Krystal Jarrell and three other sopranos, April Hufty and twin sisters Davy Green and Diane House. The idea to form such an ensemble came from SAO’s founder and artistic director, Mark Richter, who wanted a group to represent his organization at the Luminaria event. He put the five women together and gave them a week to rehearse before “throwing them into the fire.” But he had a plan for them beyond Luminaria. Richter had already envisioned Stiletto as SAO’s ambassadors in the community, and he promised to act as their manager.

“We are still figuring out what our relationship with the Opera is going to be,” says Ward, “but as a group, we are in the business of promoting opera. We want to make it more approachable to people.”

What makes Stiletto unique among all-female vocal ensembles, she says, is that they are all highly educated in making music, which gives them a level of versatility other groups may not have. Indeed. Ward, for instance, has both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in vocal performance and is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at UT Austin. And she is eagerly acquiring stage experience as well. In the last couple of years, she has appeared in a number of smaller roles in SAO’s productions, including Madame Butterfly, Don Giovanni and Suor Angelica.  In February, she will portray Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro and will be the understudy for the principal soprano part of Susanna.

While we are talking about Figaro, she pulls a huge volume from her purse and plops it on the table between us. “I am learning all of this now,” she announces. “I have to be ready before the rehearsals start.” “All of this” is the entire score and libretto for the parts of Susanna and Barbarina. The book looks intimidating; lots of notes and words.