For the love of ‘pills and trills’

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This article was published 18/03/2018 (2230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Winnipeg soprano Katherine Mayba isn’t in the studio practising tricky vocal runs or florid baroque ornamentation, you might find her studying how to dispense drugs to her future patients.

“Pills and trills, that’s my (motto),” the 22-year-old artist and second-year University of Manitoba pharmacy student says with a laugh, after being named this year’s Rose Bowl trophy winner on Saturday as part of the annual Winnipeg Music Festival, which kicked off Feb. 21 and wrapped up Sunday afternoon with its 100th anniversary gala finale.

The top singing prize — which includes a Winnipeg Music Festival scholarship and performance with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra during its Made in Manitoba showcase in June — has been awarded each year since 1924 for the best Grade A vocalist. The 90-minute competition, hosted by Winnipeg’s Donna Fletcher and held at Westminster United Church, featured a total of nine vocalists vying for the gleaming cup, with this year’s winner selected by adjudicator Brad Hougham, a Saskatchewan-born baritone.

“What impressed me most this evening about Katherine — in addition, of course, to her gorgeous voice, marvellous technique and excellent preparation — was her real obvious love of singing,” says Hougham, who is on the music faculty of New York’s Ithaca College. “She’s a very sophisticated artist already, and she competed beautifully. And she clearly wanted to win.”

Born in Winnipeg into a close-knit Ukrainian family, Mayba’s musical roots run deep. Her pianist father, John Mayba, a family physician, won the festival’s Aikins Memorial Trophy in 1983. Her mother, Natalie, is an accomplished bandurist and sings in church and community choirs. Her sister, Julia, 24, who will graduate from medical school this year, sings and plays violin and piano, as do her two brothers, Andrew, 19 — who sang in the Tudor Bowl competition for the most outstanding performance of Grade B vocalists — and Alexander, 15.

She began studying piano and violin at the tender age of three, with singing lessons added a few years later as she found her voice — literally — which now spans three octaves. The University of Winnipeg Collegiate graduate is now in her fifth year of vocal studies with renowned coloratura soprano Tracy Dahl, a 1984 Rose Bowl winner, balancing competing demands of learning new opera repertoire with hitting the books.

Mayba, who also holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, is unfazed by living in the differing universes of science and art, crediting her supportive parents and siblings for keeping her grounded.

“I knew I wanted to continue with science because it’s something that I really enjoy,” she says. “I don’t think there’s that binary opposition, and feel that science and music complement and feed each other. I do plan on pursuing this (singing) career, and have always wanted to study music. But I just had another interest that I wanted to follow.”

Her goals include working as a pharmacist after she graduates in 2020, relishing the flexibility this particular career provides, as well as furthering her musical training either at university or, possibly, through a young artists training program. She also plans to enter more competitions and audition for singing roles that will augment her regular performances with the Manitoba Opera Chorus, as well as lead roles with local groups, including Manitoba Underground Opera, which is already preparing for its two upcoming shows this August.

Mayba is fluent in three languages: English, French and Ukrainian. She’s also achieved an incredible three Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto performance diplomas in voice, piano and violin. The conservatory’s second-highest academic credential, most music students are considered lucky to complete one ARCT, which normally takes years of rigorous study.

Her favourite composers include Mozart and J. S. Bach — her performance of the latter’s Aus liebe will mein Heiland sterben from the St. Matthew Passion during Saturday’s competition earned her first place in the Vocal Solo, J. S. Bach Aria (female) category, one of five she entered this year.

She also treated the crowd to her dazzling interpretation of Rossini’s Bel raggio lusinghier, from Semiramide — including her own composed final cadenza, showcasing her stratospheric vocals — which won her a 2015 Orville J. Derraugh Scholarship, honouring the late Winnipeg voice teacher.

“I like to add stuff and write my own cadenzas, which is always fun,” the singer says nonchalantly. “My voice likes to move and do runs and passages, and so I found some software on my computer and made my own as I knew which notes I wanted to sing.”

One might assume that a professional health-care career would eventually eclipse any starry dreams of performing onstage — a point Mayba quickly puts to rest, with “pills” and “trills” expected to share equal billing.

“Many people ask if I will always sing,” she says. “But it’s such a huge part of my life and of myself as a human being, so there’s no way I wouldn’t ever not want to do this. Music is so beautiful, and sharing the purity of it with others is what it’s all about. I truly love it and can’t not sing.”

Two runners-up for this year’s Rose Bowl were also named (in alphabetical order): sopranos Sydney Clarke and Elena Howard-Scott.

A special bravo to collaborative pianist Lisa Rumpel for her fierce artistry and sheer stamina in accompanying Mayba, as well as five other competitors during Saturday night’s high-stakes trophy class.

holly.harris@shaw.ca