July 31, 2009
Raised in Sacramento, and an alumnus of both the Merola program at San Francisco Opera and the Resident Artist program at Opera San José, bass Kirk Eichelberger now sings lead roles with opera companies throughout the U.S. He is currently in rehearsal to play Mephistopheles in Festival Opera’s production of Faust. I sat down with him to ask him about his career, his training, and how he likes playing the devil.
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What years were you a resident artist at Opera San José as well as a graduate of Merola?
I did all that training, all the young artist programs. But what has really taught me the most has been just being onstage. Just singing role after role after role, learning trick after trick after trick. Things that work, things that don’t work. How to walk onstage. All that stuff you don’t learn until you’re actually doing the business.
What is one of the latest tricks you’ve picked up?
Well, I had to play an old, feeble blind man in Turandot [Festival Opera’s most recent production]. I’ve played old men before, so I have a little limp I do that I discovered years ago doing Don Pasquale, but the blind thing was new. But it’s a matter of finding what works for you. I remember years ago being double cast and seeing the other singer do things and trying them out and finding that they really didn’t work on my body, so it’s personal…
