10 minutes with...Dawn Upshaw

Few artists have had as profound an impact on the world of classical vocal music as Dawn Upshaw. A MacArthur Genius Fellow and five-time Grammy® Award winner, Upshaw has captivated audiences for decades with her exquisite voice, deep musical intelligence, and unwavering commitment to meaningful storytelling. From her celebrated performances at the Metropolitan Opera to her trailblazing collaborations with contemporary composers like Osvaldo Golijov and Maria Schneider, Upshaw has consistently pushed the boundaries of classical vocal performance. Her artistry has been equally at home in the world’s great opera houses and concert halls as it has been in intimate recital settings, where her meticulous attention to text and nuance has made her one of the most revered interpreters of both traditional and modern repertoire. 

Beyond her achievements as a performer, Upshaw has dedicated herself to nurturing the next generation of vocal artists. As the director of the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) Vocal Arts Program, she leads one of the most prestigious training grounds for young singers, helping them refine their technique, deepen their artistic expression, and prepare for the demands of a professional career. The TMC Vocal Fellows, a select group of exceptionally talented young singers, spend their summer immersed in an intensive program of masterclasses, workshops, and performances that span everything from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary world premieres. Under Upshaw’s leadership, the program not only hones technical and interpretative skills but also encourages artists to engage deeply with the meaning behind the music they perform. 

The 2025 Tanglewood season promises to be particularly intriguing, with a notable highlight being the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth. This will include a concert performance of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, an imaginative and whimsical one-act opera that showcases the composer’s dazzling orchestration and deep sensitivity to the human voice. The production will feature the TMC Vocal Fellows, with conducting fellows leading the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. 

With a career spanning opera, recital, and new music, Upshaw is uniquely positioned to guide these young singers, encouraging them to bring both technical mastery and emotional depth to their performances. In this conversation, she reflects on her journey, her passion for teaching, her collaborations with living composers, and the enduring magic of Ravel’s music, as well as her recent decision to step away from live performance to focus on mentorship.

I’m a longtime fan, introduced to your work by my father. When I mentioned to my Dad that you and I would be chatting, he told me his favorite recorded track of yours is The Sea-gull and the Ea-gull. I actually discovered a little gem on YouTube of you rehearsing that song—and in that video, you commented that you actually love being in the recording studio, because it feels more like the rehearsal room—more intimate—as opposed to large performance halls. Is that still true? Definitely. They are two different animals, right? They're not mutually exclusive. My sense of space is always different depending on where I'm singing. On stage, the experience is a little more spontaneous, and there’s no returning, no going back and repeating something. I actually enjoy taking smaller steps in the recording studio and repeating things, getting in as deeply as possible. I love performing live as well, but the moment becomes more about understanding my relationship to any given audience. But—and I've said this many times about preparing pieces—the work involved in getting inside the piece and the process itself is most interesting to me, in addition to the collaborative work that I do with my colleagues. 

Given your love of the recording studio, do you train the TMC Fellows on how to “work the mic?” We don't really do much of that, to be honest. Most of them are grad school age or maybe post-grad. And I have to say, this generation—and even the last generation—it’s a different world for them than it was for me. They record themselves all the time as a means of demonstrating who they are as musicians. In auditions today, often you first have to send a video recording of yourself. I certainly never prepared a video recording for a job. It’s a common skill these days that they must know. 

You were a MacArthur “genius grant” fellow in 2007, the first vocal artist to receive that prize. It’s a huge recognition. What was that experience like for you, and how did that honor—and funding—enable you to grow as an artist? It was a really amazing surprise. I’m still kind of shocked by it, to be honest, but it was a wonderful pat on the back and truly inspirational. It allowed me to commission a few pieces and to travel with a piece on tour that would have been too costly for me to handle myself. Most important was the sense that I was being heard, and that my connection—what I wanted to say through my singing—was being understood.

You were also a vocal fellow at Tanglewood yourself! How did that experience shape your artistic path? I came into singing classical music unexpectedly. My family’s musical upbringing, which was during the 1960s and early ’70s, was listening to a lot of protest songs from the civil rights movement—Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, etc. They made music that was meant to be so powerful as to persuade, change, or surprise. Maybe even to bring to the surface some truth that wasn't apparent in other ways, and in a peaceful way. When I went to college, I had also become interested in musical theater. When I first came to Tanglewood, I was really moved and impressed by Phyllis Curtin, who was such a strong and brilliant human being with the kind of conviction that I saw about her own artistic self that I was able to relate to, given my early musical upbringing. Being in that setting and really appreciating the history, the meaning, and the power of classical music—it was just a perfect place for me to build real confidence in my choice of following this path. 

You mentioned Phyllis Curtin, who lived in Great Barrington. Who are some of your other mentors, both professionally and personally? Certainly, I would say mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani. She taught alongside Adele Addison at the Aspen Music School, and I was in Aspen for three summers before I went to Tanglewood. My last summer, I worked with Jan and with Adele in the Vocal Chamber Music program, which they no longer have, sadly. At the time, Jan was still performing, and Adele was only teaching. I really count both of them as great inspirations in terms of working with living music, especially in terms of working with living composers and understanding the music of my own time—what it was attempting to say, how I might engage with it myself, and how I might create relationships with composers. I continued to take lessons periodically with Jan. She taught at Eastman, and I really became eager to make contemporary music and chamber music a priority for me. I got a little swayed—happily so—for a while, when I was invited to audition at the Met for their young artist program. I had thought that I didn't want to sing opera, but my voice teacher at the time, Ellen Faull—another wonderful mentor—encouraged me to take that audition, and that, of course, was huge for me. Really eye-opening. I began feeling like, “Oh my gosh, opera is, in a way, the highest art form when all the elements are working well together.” Maybe it doesn't happen all the time, but when it does happen, it's pretty amazing. Another mentor for me was James Levine, whom I met and began working with through that young artist program. 

You’ve been very intentional in your decision to work with living composers. How does working directly with the composer influence your approach to a piece? I always hope that I approach both the same way, with the same process. Whether it's a brand-new piece or a very old piece, I find it incredibly interesting to understand—if I can really get to that point—what the composer was trying to say, and what they wanted to express. I always ask myself, “Why is this piece meaningful? Why does it matter today?” That is more interesting to me than repeating pieces that have been done thousands or even millions of times.

Does that go back to your roots of loving music for social change? That’s a nice way of putting it. I think that’s probably true. I don’t see the point really, for myself, in singing something just for the sake of making a beautiful sound. Some people do. Some people want to go to a concert and just hear beautiful music, and that’s plenty for them. And musicians train in order to achieve that. But even as I choose music for the fellows at Tanglewood, I try to consider what they’ve been exploring, their repertoire lists, what interests them in a given moment. If I feel like there’s a gap—something they haven’t explored yet—I might suggest something outside their typical work. Maybe a different style, period, or language. I always want them to engage with contemporary music at Tanglewood. Certainly, we repeat masterpieces. For example, we’re looking forward to presenting a concert performance of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, which is a magical piece. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth, as well as the 100th anniversary of the opera’s first performance. It’s such a creative and colorful work in every aspect: music, orchestration, and characterization. The piece is filled with curiosity and hope, and I think those qualities are so needed in the world right now.

That leads perfectly into my next question. What do you think is Ravel’s influence on modern vocal music, and why celebrate Ravel at 150? He absorbed so much from the world around him: the music of his time, different styles, jazz, even elements of the American Songbook—there’s Gershwin in there, too. And yet, he found a voice that was entirely his own. With the colors and the harmonies, what he created was new and fresh, and it remains so. I’ve always loved Ravel’s music. 

You were once a fellow—and now you are the director of the TMC Vocal Arts program. What does it feel like to be in this chapter and this moment at Tanglewood? It’s extraordinary. Tanglewood is a place where so many musicians have discovered themselves—where they’ve figured out who they are artistically. That was certainly true for me. My early years at Tanglewood, first as a fellow and then as a performer, were transformative. People talk about the magic of the place and its beauty, and for young musicians, it’s truly mind-blowing. So many will say that Tanglewood was where they really came into their own. I feel honored and so fortunate to count myself among those people. And I continue to need Tanglewood’s refreshment every summer. It has never failed to do that for me—primarily through the young people I work with, but also through all the incredible concerts and performances happening around me.

Looking beyond this season, are there any other dream projects or new directions that you'd love to explore, either personally or with Tanglewood? Actually, I’m enjoying working with young musicians more than anything. And I didn’t announce this yet, but I sang my last performance this past May. I planned it and just decided not to make a big deal about it, but it was a very good decision for me. I really thought it was time to focus on working with young musicians. It’s an exciting moment. 

—Dr. Joshua Sherman

Monday, August 4, 6 p.m., Pre-Concert Talk: Ravel and Colette’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges, Robert Kirzinger, BSO Director of Program Publications; Dawn Upshaw, TMC Head of the Vocal Arts, Seiji Ozawa Hall.

Monday, August 4, 8 p.m., L’Enfant et les sortilèges, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, TMC Conducting Fellows,TMC Vocal Fellows.

bso.org/tanglewood