After years of performing and countless hours of practice, Molly, a graduate alum of Mizzou, won the MTNA Young Artist Award in 2010, which makes her the top collegiate vocalist in the nation. As she packs her bags for Chicago, she speaks with Her Campus Mizzou about her life in performance.
Her Campus Mizzou: When did you begin singing?
Molly Clodius: I started singing when I was pretty young. I started getting involved in school musicals around sixth grade and taking voice lessons around eighth grade. I started doing musicals in high schools in St. Louis, and then I went to Augustana College. That was when I started singing more classical and thinking about opera. I really didn’t have opera on my mind until about junior year of high school when someone saw me performing and said, ‘Hey, you would be really good if you studied vocal performance (opera).’ I said, ‘Oh, you can do that?’ That’s where it all started for me.
HCM: What’s your most memorable show?
MC: My most memorable show was Le Mis when I played Josette, the leading role. At that moment when you’re on stage, and everyone is looking at you, you really capture the entire audience’s attention. There is really no better feeling than that. The adrenaline is pumping. It’s kind of an addiction. The moments leading up to that can be terrifying and scary. You just want to pull your hair out, and then after is great, and you feel really good about it.
HCM: Do you still feel that way?
MC: Yes. My heart still starts beating hard. As you get older, and you perform more, I feel like I’m able to control that better. But sometimes you can’t control that, and it can affect your performance. For me, still my nerves are on high … it’s really hard to explain the feeling. There are not a lot of things out there that give you the same feeling. I guess it’s kind of like sports players on the field during a big game. That’s why people get addicted to it and love to do it.
HCM: How did you find out about the competition?
MC: It’s an association that a lot of teachers are involved in. There is the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Missouri Music Teachers Association. MU faculty members are part of these organizations and go to the conferences, so the professors try to have students get involved and compete every year. My professor contacted me and said, ‘Do you want to do the competition this year? It would be good practice for your master’s recital.’ I performed my repertoire from my master’s recital, and it was a great way to force me not to procrastinate and learn all my pieces. Basically, I sang the same songs for about a year. It got kind of exhausting and boring, but it was fun. I definitely knew what I was doing by the end of it.
HCM: How did you win the MTNA Young Artist Award?
MC: MTNA is divided in sections of the country. So the first section was the Central Midwest division, and I had to compete against people in the state of Missouri. When I won, I moved onto regionals and competed against people from five other states within the region. That completion was hosted at Mizzou. When I won in that region, I traveled to Albuquerque, N.M., and competed against all of the regional winners. That was when I won the competition.”
HCM: What did you sing at the competition?
MC: I sang three arias, including “Quando m’en vo” from La Bohème. Then I had two German pieces, two English pieces and two French pieces. It was about 35 minutes of music, so it was a lot to prepare.
HCM: What have you been doing since then?
MC: Right after the competition I was finishing my master’s, so I had my recital. I also performed in MU’s opera in April, and then I graduated. I stayed in Columbia because I knew that I was moving to Chicago soon, and I started teaching. I got my studio together, and now I have about 15 students.
I have been going to and from Chicago auditioning for young artist programs and opera programs. I recently found out through MTNA that I will be going to the conference at the end of March to do a master’s class. I’ll be singing for Denise Graves (a star in the opera world), so it’s really exciting because I won that. On March 6, I sang in Oak Lawn, Ill., with the South West Symphony and performed An Afternoon of Learner and Lowe. I was the soprano soloist for that.
I’m just trying to have some sort of success. I have that inner conversation in my head to just keep pushing myself. That’s been my lifestyle; I just audition all the time. I’ll probably get a waitressing job while I’m in Chicago to make some extra money.
HCM: Tell me more about your studio. How did you get it started?
MC: I teach out of my house. I have a room with a piano, and it’s kind of like a voice studio. I have a sixth grade girl and some high school students, but it’s mostly college students or older. I have a couple of MU students as well. I really love teaching. Even after an eight-hour day, my students are like, ‘Aren’t you tired?’ But teaching just goes by so fast. I have a hard time trying to keep lessons down to a 30-minute slot. But I’m sad to have to let them go when I move. I can’t teach in Chicago; it will take me so long to find students, and I’m living in an apartment as opposed to a house, so it’s not really an option. It is definitely something that I’m going to miss.
HCM: How did you get the word out about the studio?
MC: It helps that I am a graduate student here. Knowing faculty here also helped. I put an ad out on Craigslist as well, but I had to do a bit of screening before I accepted those people as my students. I was a TA here, so I took a couple of students when I left. Professors here get requests for lessons, and they can’t do it all themselves, so they forward people to me. Through word-of-mouth, it just grew! Now that I’m leaving, I will be going through the process of giving my students away. It’s all about networking.
HCM: Are you nervous about moving to Chicago?
MC: I am nervous! I’m living in Lincoln Park. But I’m forcing myself to be positive. Chicago has a lot of art and musical aspects for a big city, kind of like New York. It won’t be that different than what I’m doing now because I’m driving up there all the time for auditions, so it will be easier living there. Chicago is a city that is hard to break into. With Northwestern University and DePaul University, everybody knows everybody, so it’s all about who you know. Our world is very political these days. I’m more excited than nervous because you never know what’s going to happen. I’m more nervous about being unemployed.
HCM: Do you have any advice for collegiettes™ going through the same process?
MC: I would tell them to keep working hard. Listen to your teachers. Also, follow your dreams. In this lifestyle, you will face a lot of rejection, and you have to take that and keep going. Just stay positive, and know that if you work hard, you will succeed. As long as you are doing what you love, that is the most important thing. My goal in doing this isn’t to be famous, it’s to live my life singing music. For me, it’s not about making lots of money – not that it wouldn’t be fabulous!
HCM: Have you had any crazy audition experiences?
MC: I was singing at an audition, and one of the directors left the room. He came back eventually. I guess he had some organizing to do. People are just funny in the art world. I also have a tendency to pass out every once in a while. One time, I was singing, and I felt like it was really good, but at the last song I thought I was going to pass out. I made it to the end, and I quickly walked off the stage and sat down immediately.
Auditioning is hard because you walk into the room, and you are giving yourself to them. Singing is very different from playing an instrument like the piano. A piano is its own self; your voice is a part of you. You’ll find that everyone has his or her own opinions of how a song should sound. One person may love the way you sing, and others won’t. You need good people around you to guide you and to tell you what they know.
HCM: Where would you like to see yourself in five years?
MC: I would like to have done a young artist or apprenticeship program. Opera companies have these opportunities to study, and they coach you and help you learn your role. It’s a little extension of education after your master’s. In the opera world, it’s what you have to do to break into the main stage. I would also like to be teaching. I would just like to be succeeding in music; I hope to be performing. My ultimate dream would be performing at The Metropolitan Opera, but that’s like a one percent chance out of the world.