DIVERSE GROUP LOOKING FOR OPERA PACIFIC ROLES

Soprano Ealynn Voss been supporting herself scrubbing floors and cleaning houses in Malibu.

Tenor Armond Sierra keeps the pot boiling by singing in an Italian restaurant in Palm Springs.

Bass Mario Storace has his own construction business in Los Angeles but wants to begin an opera career at age 50.

Despite their vastly dissimilar occupations, the three singers came to Opera Pacific auditions at Cal State Fullerton last weekend with a common purpose: They--and about 150 other singers--wanted jobs with the Irvine-based company headed by David DiChiera.

Opera Pacific was looking for singers for its apprenticeship and outreach programs, chorus and several secondary roles in next season’s productions of Verdi’s “Aida,” “Kismet” and Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus.”

Unlike many singers at the audition who came with little or no professional experience, Voss has already begun the makings of a major career:

She was the understudy for Ghena Dimitrova in the title role of Turandot at DiChiera’s Michigan Opera Theater’s production of the Puccini opera last season.

She was also the understudy for Martina Arroyo in the same role for DiChiera’s Dayton Opera Assn. And she will sing Turandot in February, 1988, for the Arizona Opera Company.

Still, Voss admitted to scrubbing floors because “I’m having financial problems.

Opera competitions, with their monetary prizes and opportunity for recognition, are no longer an option for her because most are aimed at singers under 30.

“They’re fine for younger singers,” said the soprano, who is in her middle to late 30s. “But what about the rest of us? We need help and support, too. You don’t get to be a dramatic soprano in your 20s. It takes time. I started as a mezzo.”

Tenor Armond Sierra, 40, finds his career adrift, even though it began in a modest blaze of glory. Sierra was a first-place winner in the Metropolitan Opera Western regional finals in 1975 and, later that year, a national finalist.

Previously, in his native Mexico City, he recorded for Capitol Records and also had his own TV program, “until they wanted to change my repertory and make me a pop singer,” he said.

But since coming to the United States, he has had few concert or stage opportunities and has been supporting himself by singing for dinner patrons. “I would give up everything to work in a legitimate company,” he said.

Bass Mario Storace, 50, appears to have had no professional experience in this country, although he had studied and performed in his native Italy. But when he sang “O tu Palermo” from Verdi’s “I Vespri Siciliani” and “Some Enchanted Evening” from “South Pacific,” the judges heard that rare voice--a genuine dark bass with big, clear, ringing tone.

Although Storace, with his construction business, seems to be in better shape financially than the others, he faces another major obstacle in wanting to start an opera career now.

“At age 50?” the judges ask.

“If it’s OK with you guys,” Storace replies.

The judges were:

--DiChiera, who directs the Michigan Opera Theater and the Dayton Opera Assn. as well as Opera Pacific.

--Maurice Allard, director of the Master Chorale of Orange County, who also is chorus master for Opera Pacific.

--Michael Kurkjian, director of opera theater at Cal State Fullerton.

DiChiera appeared pleased that more professionals than ever seemed to be auditioning for his company. DiChiera is planning another series of auditions shortly and will announce his decisions in four to six weeks.

“At our auditions last year, the company had not done anything yet,” DiChiera said during a break in the Friday night proceedings. “We were going out into the community cold. But there is a greater awareness of the standards of the company, and the level of voices we’re hearing reflects this.”

One such singer was soprano Celeste Tavera, 28, a western regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions last March. Tavera was also an intern at DiChiera’s Michigan Opera Theater two years ago.

Although the young soprano has several local concert bookings scheduled, Tavera, too, has to support herself in other ways. She works at the Yamaha Music Education Center in Irvine and sings at a restaurant in Los Angeles. “Basically I’m back working on my voice,” Tavera said. “There are technical things I would like to work on.”

Otherwise, the auditions brought out a wide variety of singers.

Tenor Robert D. Bowman, 40, is one of the architects and project managers for the new $300-million addition to the John Wayne Airport, scheduled for completion in April, 1990.

“This is certainly not my livelihood,” Bowman said. “I sang leading and comprimario roles (in the Midwest and the South) in the ‘70s. I’ve reached the point of wanting to get back to opera. But whatever happens, happens. If I make it, I make it. If I don’t, I don’t.”

Returning to the auditions for a second year was mezzo-soprano Patricia Hesselbach.

“(Opera Pacific) auditions don’t seem so much like cattle calls,” Hesselbach said. “You’re not sitting in a room with 100 other people, hearing all of them and feeling like you’re inadequate.

“Still, it is nerve-racking,” she said, laughing.

Last year, Hesselbach had been lucky at these auditions. She had been chosen to sing in the chorus in the company’s production of “La Boheme.”

“Everybody shoots for the big parts. But I’ll do anything and everything I can,” she said, “even pull the curtain.”