After Elizabeth Batton won the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions last Sunday, she did not choose to board a plane for Disney World. Instead, her next destination was Hoboken. The New York City native will put her full mezzo soprano voice to work for the Lyric Theater Opera Saturday night, March 18, at 8 p.m. in the Stevens Institute auditorium at Fifth and Hudson streets in her first performance since winning the distinction. Batton will join four other well-known vocalists in presenting the Overture to Rossini’s “La Scala Di Seta” and arias and duets from other operas including “Carmen” and “Samson and Delilah.” The evening of music promises to be a special affair since it unites Batton with the mentor and speech coach whom she credits with helping her find her award-winning voice. “When I graduated from the Manhattan School of Music last year, my voice was in shards,” Batton said. “I couldn’t sing above an E and my voice was uneven, causing there to be large breaks.” Since that time, Batton has worked intensively with Scott Flaherty, who will sing tenor in Saturday’s performance. In a relatively short time, Flaherty was able to help Batton open her voice up. “He helped me make my voice seamless and he added four notes to the top of my register,” she said. “Now my voice is seamless so that there are no breaks between the lows and the highs.” Flaherty also helped Batton refine her singing technique. For years the singer said she had been suffering from a type of jawbone abnormality known as TMJ which caused her great pain. Even though she had spent thousands of dollars to treat the problem, Batton said that she had been unable to find a way to treat it effectively. Flaherty noticed something, however, that the doctors didn’t. “Scott noticed that the symptoms were coming from the way that I was singing, and not the other way around,” Batton said. “It used to be painful for me to open my jaw really wide, but I refined my technique and now most of the pain has disappeared.” The award from the Metropolitan entitles Batton to $15,000 that she can spend toward further vocal lessons in the next year. To get the award, Batton had to win at the increasingly competitive district and the regional levels. She was one of 15 singers who were selected to study for a week with the Metropolitan’s orchestra and conductors. After the week of preparation, the singers competed for the scholarship money. Batton was one of five singers who won $15,000, the highest amount awarded at the competition. In the finals, she sang an aria known as “Mon Coeur” from “Samson and Delilah,” a piece that she plans to also perform in Hoboken Saturday night. “I chose to sing it in the finals because it is a strong piece for the audience to listen to,” Batton explained. “It’s just very easy to listen to.” Tickets are $20; $10 for students and seniors. Call 216-2628 to reserve.
Hitting the high notes; Metropolitan Opera singer coming to Stevens Saturday
