#sparkchamber 102124 — Roberta Prada

A life inspired by music, compelled by music, and fulfilled by music is our #sparkchamber story of the day. We are thrilled and honored to welcome Roberta Prada, a passionate contralto and Wellesley College graduate who has enchanted audiences across continents with her powerful voice and diverse repertoire. Her journey, which began at Buenos Aires’ prestigious Teatro Colón, spans from 19th-century opera to baroque masterpieces.

Beyond the stage, Roberta is a dedicated voice scientist and educator, expertly blending traditional techniques with cutting-edge research in Audio-Psycho-Phonology. From her New-York base, she nurtures global vocal talent and co-authors influential works on singing.

As president of Vocalimages, Inc. and Vox Mentor, LLC, Roberta tirelessly promotes excellence in classical singing. Her commitment to music extends to her memberships in NATS [The National Association of Teachers of Singing] and AGMA [The American Guild of Musical Artists], as well as her long-standing role as a board member of ICAMus [The International Center for American Music] .

Whether performing, teaching, or exploring the intricate ear-voice connection, she remains a vibrant force in music, constantly seeking to heal and inspire through the transformative power of sound.

1.] Where do ideas come from?

Well, I’m going to go back to when I was a little girl. I somehow or other got this feeling that the world needed people to make it better. I’m Jewish, and I later learned about the concept called Tikkun Olam, which basically means “leave the world a better place than you found it.” That is truly what moves me.

As a child, I understood that music was a kind of refuge, a safe place, or a place to go to be in touch with your higher self. When I was five years old, I used to hear very complex music in my head, just dripping with harmony. I said to myself, “Well, it’s too late. Mozart was already composing, now and you can’t even write down what you hear.”

So I made the plan that I was either going to be a singer, and if I couldn’t be a singer, I’d be an actor. That was my backup plan. I also drew and painted a lot. I knew I was going to be in the arts. I understood that this was my higher-self calling to me.

Throughout my life, I’ve been driven by a desire to understand and improve the art of singing. I’ve translated works by influential figures like Dr. Alfred Tomatis and Jean Baptiste Faure, always with the goal of addressing what I saw as a crisis in singing education.

2.] What is the itch you are scratching?

There are two main things that motivate me. The first is improving singing education and techniques. There’s a crisis in singing where the teaching isn’t good enough, so the singing is going downhill. If you don’t have a technique which allows you to invite in all of your creativity, then the interest of the audience is not going to be there.

The second is exploring the healing power of music. It turns out that music really does heal people. Even people with dementia can sing a piece they know — the melody is engraved in their brain forever. I’ve been fascinated by how sound and music can be used for healing. Dr. Tomatis’ work on how music affects the nervous system has been particularly influential for me.

I remember an early experiment my uncle was involved with at Bellevue Hospital, where they discovered that mental health patients would become calm and focused while listening to music. This has been a lifelong search for me — understanding how we can use music for healing. It’s becoming a big tool for healing, and it doesn’t have side effects. When I see new developments in this area, I go after them a little bit to satisfy my curiosity and figure out what’s going on.

3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?

I am a tortoise. I have a certain rhythm, and my rhythm is slow because some people put down things in sketches, and some people mull things internally until they have it all right. And then they do it. I’m one of those who mull things over a lot. That's called holistic thinking.

The best way to understand it is like Mozart, who would compose whole pieces in his head, not writing them down until he had it just right. Then he would write down what he had, and there wouldn’t be a block or anything — just from A to Z, the whole thing would come out, perfect and complete.

I don’t share my creative process while it’s ongoing. If I’m doing an interpretation, I don’t share any of my ideas because if I share them, it spoils them. My mind works in a certain way. If I want to say what I'm going do today, I’m lying in bed and I'm saying, “Well, I have to do this and this and this and that.” Meanwhile, my mind is making a short film. But if the film is too detailed, then I can see the film and go, “Ah, been there, done that!” So I finally said to myself, “You better not make any more movies. If you want to get something done, you’ll have to do a film strip.” Because if I’ve already walked through it, then it loses all kind of charm, and I don’t want to do it anymore. I've already done it.

4.] How do you know when you are done?

You’re never done. Things keep evolving. I’ll tell you why. There are two schools of thought on this, and it’s very interesting. I had a teacher who would say to me, “It’s not done unless you know you can repeat it exactly the same way every time you do it.” And I thought, “What? That's so boring.”

Then I heard a German teacher who came to teach us and said, “Listen, there are no two performances that are exactly the same. Never try and repeat what you've already done.” And I went, “Oh!” You have to be there in the moment. You don’t recreate, you create anew each time. If you don’t do that, then there’s no reason for anyone to listen to you or pay attention. If you’re just going through the motions, what do you think everyone else is going to do? They're going to fall asleep, or worse, they’re going to walk out.

You have to be in your moment. You have to create it as you go along, and that’s how you are able to invite people into your process. Without any kind of heart involved or any emotional involvement, you can’t engage your audience. That’s what keeps performances fresh and engaging for both the performer and the audience.