Alumni Gazette

On Top of the ‘World’

Cabell (Photo: Courtesy Nicole Cabell)

Nicole Cabell ’01E climbed onto something of an operatic limb when she took the stage at the BBC Singer of the World competition last summer.

Instead of sticking closely to the bel canto songbook, the lyric soprano sprinkled her performances with 20th-century selections from Tippett, Weil, and Menotti.

“I figured if I could show them that I can sing that, they would know that I could sing the usual (operatic) Top 40,” Cabell says. “They would also get the sense that I was adventurous and that I was willing to take chances.”

The decision struck a chord with the prestigious competition’s judges. Cabell, a former student of John Maloy at the Eastman School, was named the winner of the biennial competition, beating out contestants from 23 other countries.

“I’m still kind of flabbergasted by it all,” she says.

A native of California, Cabell had originally turned down Eastman’s offer to enroll but later decided to attend in the spring semester.

After graduation, she was selected for a an internship with the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists in Chicago, a three-year stint that was wrapping up when she decided to enter the Cardiff competition.

The competition, which is broadcast live by the BBC to millions of viewers in Europe and other parts of the world, is widely considered the most important event of its kind in classical music. It’s been known to jump-start the careers of singers and future opera stars.

By last fall, Cabell could vouch for the competition’s power, as she outlined an upcoming series of concerts and plans for a CD to be released in 2006.

“I went straight from being an apprentice to being a steadily employed singer,” Cabell says. “I’m still thanking the gods of opera for this.”

—Scott Hauser