Mezzo to Soprano

I’m sure some of you know that over the past few months I have been transitioning from mezzo-soprano to soprano. I wanted to blog about it as I have finally found myself in a position where I feel comfortable in my voice and new found fach. To give you some background on what led to this transition, I auditioned for a postgraduate degree at various conservatoires and was rejected. The only feedback I was given was ‘we think you’re a soprano’.

I felt very despondent at the time and after a lengthy conversation with my teacher, she recommended that I spent some time studying with a soprano. The next few months were very unsettling for me. I wanted to have as many consultations as possible, but simultaneously I didn’t have that constant support that one teacher offers. Whilst I was lucky that they all agreed that I was a soprano, their opinions on the size and fach of my voice varied from ‘could potentially do Wagner’ to ‘tiny voice - consider musical theatre - PS you’re a stratospheric soprano’.

I was thankful when the consultations were over as I finally settled on my current teacher and was able to work consistently with one person. I can’t thank her and my coach enough for their constant support on what has been a rather traumatic transition. I have known people in the past who have changed voice types and they have always spoken about the difficulty in that change and truthfully, I never really understood it, but I do now.

I was a mezzo-soprano for over seven years and after years of introducing myself as a mezzo, auditioning for mezzo roles and alto solos in oratorios, it became a central part of my identity. When I started the transition, I can only describe that there was almost a sense of grieving. I was grieving for what was, particularly as the first month of my transition was so uncomfortable. I felt that I couldn’t sing anything - high or low.

I am glad that I persevered through this as I finally feel like I’m seeing the results. Whilst I don’t want to pre-empt entirely where I think my voice is going, I can truthfully say that this is the music that I have always loved and rather envied the sopranos for singing! The other thing is that I feel like I’m singing better than ever and my voice is coming on in leaps and bounds because it knows and I know that this is where it was meant to be sitting the whole time.

Some of you might be reading this and wondering ‘well if it is so comfortable as a soprano, why on earth were you singing mezzo-soprano in the first place?!!’ It is a legitimate question and the honest answer is I couldn’t really sing above an F until I was 22 and even then, my top notes were so inconsistent that I could never rely on them. My thoughts at the time were ‘well, if I can’t sing high, I can’t be a soprano’.

That said, there has always been something in the back of my head that has told me that I was going to end up as a soprano. I knew I wasn’t going to be a Susanna or a Despina, but something fuller and more dramatic. I’m still quite young, but I finally feel like I’m singing in the right place and truthfully - I’m rather excited for the future.

B x