Phenom of the Opera : ‘It’s Cool,’ a Young Singer Says as She Prepares for Her Big Moment

Eight hours to curtain time.

Esther Lee is doing warm-ups with her vocal coach, Philip Roh. The Glendale teen-ager is preparing to sing an aria from Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet” as one of two finalists in the opera portion of the Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Awards show, the biggest competition of her young life.

For now, the 16-year-old sits in a folding chair with her face between her knees so she can feel her diaphragm work as she hums the scales Roh plays on the grand piano in his mid-Wilshire area home. Her long, black hair cascades over the back of her head.

Minutes before, Lee laughed as she talked about her love of opera, an art that few adults, let alone teen-agers, appreciate these days.

“It’s cool,” she says. “That’s my word for today. It’s so different from popular music. The composer knows what the character is and gives you the notes to express that feeling.”

Lee has always been interested in classical music, starting with piano lessons at age four.

“Everyone in my family plays something,” she says.

Now, Lee is an infant in the world of opera, where careers do not usually start until singers are in their 20s and 30s.

“Technically, she’s half the age of some of the older singers in the young singers programs,” says David Anglin, of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, a translator who worked with Esther in a master class that is part of the Spotlight program. “Actually, Esther is a pretty rare bird. She sang an aria from the ‘Magic Flute’ with really great polish (in class), and I don’t think it’s spoon-fed. I think she has really great instincts.”

Lee is a “coloratura soprano,” a bright voice that can hit notes most people associate with pain.

“It’s having the notes,” says Los Angeles Opera mezzo-soprano Stephanie Vlahos. “To have high notes that go into the stratosphere and sort of stay there, that’s an unusual talent.”

On the short side of average height and wearing a black jumpsuit printed with white bows, Lee does not look the part of a diva. Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Korean parents, Lee’s mannerisms, laughter, and speech resemble most other American girls her age, which makes the maturity of her singing voice all the more shocking.

Roh, who is also from Korea, is the founder and artistic director of the Hanmi Opera, a Korean troupe based in Los Angeles. The arias that he has chosen for Lee to sing in the competition are light, though not easy: “Ach ich Fuhls” from Mozart’s the “Magic Flute,” and “Ah, Je Veux Vivre,” the Gounod aria.

Both characters--Mozart’s Pamina and Gounod’s Juliet--are young girls. “Young, so it does not demand a heavy voice,” Roh says. “The vocal cords and muscles are not ready” for characters that demand a bigger voice.

In addition to singing almost daily with Roh, Lee conducts the Hanmi Children’s Choir, under Roh’s supervision, when she’s not practicing at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, her high school. Her social life is limited partly by her music and partly because of her parents’ strict values.

“Music is your boyfriend,” Roh teases.

“Juliet wanted freedom. I want a guy,” Lee counters with a shrug.

Next, it’s lunch and the beauty parlor. Lee pauses before leaving. She originally was going to be a doctor, she said, but turned to singing as a freshman in her high school choir.

“It’s in me,” she says of her singing. “It’s something that wants to get out.”

A little more than three hours to curtain.

Hair curled, makeup applied, Lee waits in her dressing room at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Her two older sisters, Soo Lee, 25, and Sandra Lee, 22, are with her, as they have been all day. Lee’s parents, who do not speak English, are working at the family’s clothing shop in Koreatown. But they will be in the audience. The Lees immigrated to Brazil from Seoul, South Korea, in 1972. The family settled in Glendale in 1991. Lee pulls off the plastic covering the gown Soo Lee looked “all over” for. The black velvet top and sleeves are decorated with gold braid and faux jewels. The full, floor-length skirt is bright red. Lee touches her newly polished nails to the satin.

“They match!” she says.

This is the fifth year for the Spotlight Awards, started by television director Walter Grauman, a longtime Music Center volunteer. “I was looking for a way to enable young people who were not able to afford it to have that opportunity to express their talents,” Grauman says. “Money wasn’t the criteria. If you had the talent, you got here.”

Barbara Haig, special projects producer for The Music Center, greets Lee before rehearsal and goes over her entrance and exit. Then conductor Jack Elliot introduces her to members of the Los Angeles Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, who will accompany her.

They go through the aria once for tempo, then Lee is directed to where she will perform. She sings again, this time with a video camera in her face. The rehearsal is being taped.

Roh says he is “excited and happy with the way her voice is sounding today,” but not with the orchestra. He thinks they are too slow, following Lee instead of supporting her.

The conductor is unhappy too. The musicians got the music only that day, and with the orchestra situated behind the singers instead of in front, as in a traditional opera setting, it will be difficult to direct the performance. “There’s no time to rehearse,” Elliot says with a sigh.

Later, Lee relaxes in the audience with pop/musical theater finalist Farah Alvin, 16, of Northridge, and jazz instrumental finalist Doron Orenstein, 18, of Agoura Hills, while they listen to her opera competition, Amy Kathleen Rodibaugh, 18, of Corona del Mar. The winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship, the runner-up, $2,500.

“Has it hit anyone yet that this is happening?” Lee asks. “It hasn’t hit me yet.”

This year’s Spotlight awards process began in November and December when 572 teen-agers auditioned for the prestigious program. Semifinalists were chosen in six categories: 14 teen-agers each in ballet, classical instrumental music, opera and jazz/modern dance, 12 in pop/musical theater vocal, and seven in jazz instrumental music. The semifinalists participated in two master classes with professionals in their field, then auditioned again to determine the two finalists in each category.

Back in the dressing room, Lee gives in to some nervousness.

“It’s like while I was singing, I was thinking, do I want to go through with this? I don’t want to be runner-up,” she says softly.

An hour to curtain.

Soo and Sandra Lee repeatedly warn their sister not to talk too much. She must save her voice. But telling Lee not to talk is like telling a boiling pot not to bubble. Soo and Sandra give one final admonition and leave.

Lee manages to stay in the dressing room for about 15 minutes, then grabs her music and heads to the practice room. A couple of runs up and down the scale give her trouble. Aggravated, she repeats the exercise, checking her notes against a piano.

“Yes! I’m on pitch,” she whispers, finally.

Curtain time.

The opening number floats through a speaker in the dressing room. Lee will be the second to the last to perform, followed by Rodibaugh. Lee spends most of her 2 1/2-hour wait talking with the other finalists. She alternates between sharing gripes about the orchestra and encouraging the others.

“This is the only competition I’ve ever seen where you can screw up and still win something,” she muses.

Performance time.

A final check of her makeup and Lee heads for the stage, her heart beating so hard she can feel it as she presses her hand to her chest. The master of ceremonies, actor Gregory Harrison, introduces her. Elliot raises his baton and Lee takes center stage. . . .

“I felt like I was drugged out there,” she whispers afterward.

While Rodibaugh sings, the finalists gather backstage for the final bow and the award announcements. The teen-agers are visibly tense as the votes are counted. One by one, Harrison names the runner-up, then the winner.

The final envelope . . .

“In the category of opera,” Harrison announces, “The runner-up is Esther Lee.”

Lee has won a $2,500 scholarship. As a finalist, she auditioned for the Los Angeles Opera and has been seen by a large number of professionals. Backstage, the young singer is disappointed but trying hard to be a good sport.

“It’s OK,” she says. “You gotta lose sometimes. It’s how you learn.”