Chairs are at a premium in the office of Professor of Music Patrice Michaels. But there is no shortage of large, colorful exercise balls, her preferred choice of seating. In addition to physically toning her (and her students’) core muscles, the balls provide metaphoric equilibrium for her life, helping balance her aspirations as professor, performer, and world citizen. “The ball reminds me to keep Balance, with a capital ‘B’ in my mind and body,” said Michaels, who joined the conservatory faculty in 1994.
A Mozart specialist, Michaels has performed throughout the world, including Salzburg, Austria, in 2006 for the 250th anniversary celebration of Mozart’s birth. She considers her theatrical concert, “Divas of Mozart’s Day,” “the most important project of my career and my biggest contribution to the profession.” While acclaimed as an operatic soprano, she confides her favorite music is actually jazz, and finds her focuses on baroque and modern music help integrate her love of the art form and classical vocal style.
With 20 commercial recordings to her credit, she considers herself an enthusiastic “collector and archivist” of music, taking pride in preserving works for future generations. Her disc “American Songs” includes eight world premiere recordings. “I’ve been fortunate to meet composers whose perspectives bring something unique to the world of classical music for voice.”
She has prepared for publication and is currently remounting an original program she first developed while at the Banff Centre for the Arts: a show for elementary school students designed to explore the nature of inspiration through operatic excerpts and original songs. “A Song for Harmonica,” starring pianist Dario LaPoma ’10 and “Harmonica,” a 4-foot tall bib-overall clad puppet worked by Michaels, had a trial performance at Menasha’s Clovis Grove School last spring with Lawrence performances slated for February.
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