Kayleigh Decker WNO: Artist Q&A
Kayleigh Decker on music as escapism and the power of art to change society.
As the WNO prepares for its spring season, Kayleigh Decker, who is set to play the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte, answers our Artist Q&A and reflects on her career and influences to date.
1. Where are you from and how does it influence your work?
I am from a small town called Woodstock in Maryland which is on the East Coast of the United States and within in an hour driving distance to both Baltimore, and Washington D.C. While the cities nearby were always cultural hubs to me, I grew up on the edge of a state park, so the forest, the trees, and nature were always close and lending inspiration. My family and community valued singing and music, and my first experience singing was in choir. Before singing though, I played several instruments and was always immersed in music which is weird looking back on it because no one in my family was a musician: quite the contrary. My parents are both engineers, and my sister is a scientist. From the beginning music was a bit of an escape for me and it was also a way of communicating and connecting not only with my family and my community but with myself. Now I live on the west coast, and similarly I’ve found so much inspiration in the natural environment there. The ocean, the tides, every sunset and sunrise, the mountains, the marine layer. There is so much complexity, and so much changing at every moment. It is so precious to me, and I feel deep gratitude to be immersed in the energy of that place and inspired to share it when I travel and work.
2. Where are you while you answer these questions, and what can you see when you look up from the page/screen?
I’m in my Airbnb in Cardiff, and I’m looking at the river Taff.
3. What motivates you to create?
Big, unanswerable questions motivate me to create.
4. What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on Così fan tutte at Welsh National Opera.
5. When do you work?
The schedule of a professional singer is chaotic and all over the place, but right now I’m working during the day until about 5:30 pm. After “work” which is rehearsal I’m reviewing, and learning new music, and keeping my voice in shape.
6. How important is collaboration to you?
Collaboration is everything to me. It’s so hard for me to create in a vacuum. My best ideas are always in the presence of other people.
7. Who has had the biggest impact on your work?
My voice teacher Bill McGraw. He helped me discover my voice, and always brings me back to myself when things have gone completely off the rails.
8. How would you describe your oeuvre?
Chaotic, funny, heartfelt, searching.
9. What was the first book you remember reading?
Harry Potter.
10. What was the last book you read?
Lessons for Living by Phil Stultz.
11. Is there a painting/sculpture you struggle to turn away from?
Pardon in Brittany by Gaston La Touche.
12. Who is the musical artist you know you can always return to?
Sarah Vaughan.
13. During the working process of your last work, in those quiet moments, who was closest to your thoughts?
My first acting teacher, Sally Livingston. She was one of my first mentors and teachers, and we’ve since lost her from this earth, but I like to talk to her sometimes when I’m trying to find inspiration for a specific character or if I’m struggling to connect with certain characters.
14. Do you believe in the power of art to change society?
Absolutely. However, I think it’s more of a conversation. The change doesn’t happen directly. Art doesn’t change society. Art changes humans. Humans change society.
15. Which artist working in your area, alive and working today, do you most admire and why?
Renee Fleming for the epic scope of her career, her focus on advocacy for young singers and diversity in the arts, and her work to bridge mental health and neuroscience with music.
16. What is your relationship with social media?
Well, I wouldn’t say I’m the best at engaging with all that stuff, but I try my best to be real and genuine while maintaining some sort of human decency and privacy.
17. What has been/is your greatest challenge as an artist?
There have been several huge challenges, but I think for me the pandemic really shook me to my core, as it did for so many. I was just finishing up an apprenticeship role at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and had built up so much momentum and it all vanished. I was depressed and broke and back living in my childhood bedroom and questioned the point of opera all together. I really lost myself. Bit by bit I crawled back to some semblance of my identity. I took some time off from singing professionally and went back to school to study psychology. In fact, I had decided to stop pursuing singing all together and I applied for an official degree in psychology to begin a career change. The day I submitted my application, I got a phone call offering me a leading role at the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the following season after almost a year of not singing. It was one of those moments where I felt like the universe gave me a little push and said, “hey girl, let’s try again.”
18. Do you have any words of advice for your younger self?
Ah, I just stumbled upon this letter written by Alan Rickman, and I think it’s quite poignant:
“Dear Me, if in future years, anyone asks you to give advice to your younger self… don’t.
Make your own unique messes, and then work your own way out of them.”
19. What does the future hold for you?
I hope the future holds a lot of gentleness, joy, light and curiosity.
Kayleigh Decker will play Dorabella in WNO’s production of Così fan tutte this spring, details available here.