By Tom Lady
African Americans for LA Opera (AALAO), a chapter of the Opera League, and fresh off receiving the annual Peter Hemmings Award in honor of their 30th anniversary, is thrilled to welcome back soprano Alannah Garnier.
The Twin Cities native will be our featured vocalist at the Michael Melton Memorial Recital on Sunday October 20.
For nearly a decade now, Alannah has been wowing League members and their friends at AALAO recitals. Not even the pandemic slowed her down. AALAO’s Father’s Day 2020 recital featuring Alannah was the League’s “debut” in the virtual event space. It was a standing-ovation performance, even if that standing ovation took place in League members’ living rooms over Zoom.
The summer of 2024 has seen Alannah back in Minneapolis reconnecting with family and friends. Has that slowed her down, singing wise? What else has she been up to?
BRAVO caught up with Alannah—yes, over Zoom—at her family homestead in the Land of 10,000 Lakes to talk about her latest musical goings-on, including learning a new instrument (hello, Satin!), and the time she got to bond with Michael Melton over favorite sopranos.
BRAVO: Since last you performed at one of our recitals, we have rechristened our annual AALAO October event in honor of the late Michael Melton: AALAO board member, lifelong educator and passionate lover and booster of opera in Los Angeles. Did you ever get to meet him?
Alannah Garnier: I did! It was the first recital I did for AALAO: Father’s Day 2017. Seven years ago, but I remember it clearly. It was at [AALAO President] Beverley Clarkson’s house. I got my picture taken with him. I brought my nephew with me, he was seven or eight at the time.
BRAVO: What do you remember about him?
AG: We had this wonderful conversation about bel canto operas, and about famous operatic sopranos. Michael asked me who my favorite soprano was. I said Montserrat Caballé, which surprised him because she’s not a soprano many people name off-hand.
Montserrat Caballé was a Spanish soprano [1933-2018] who was like Maria Callas in that she could sing a wide variety of roles, from bel canto to more dramatic genres like verismo. Her forte was Verdi, as well as Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. She sang the soprano solo on Verdi’s Requiem with Plácido Domingo [with the New York Philharmonic in October 1980].
And if you haven’t heard it, check out on YouTube the pop crossover she did in the eighties with Queen lead singer Freddy Mercury. It’s called “Barcelona,” and it was used a few years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics that were held in Barcelona. Barcelona was her hometown. She and Freddy Mercury became great friends.
BRAVO: That’s an awesome answer to the “Who’s your favorite soprano?” question. Are there any other singers, in the classical space or otherwise, who inspire you?
AG: Sticking with classical, I’ve got to go with Renee Fleming. She’s the queen, her voice is so beautiful.
Then there’s Angel Blue [LA Opera Young Artist alumna and Los Angeles native]. I love Angel as a person and a performer. Such a gorgeous voice.
Anna Moffo also comes to mind. She was an American soprano from Pennsylvania whose parents were Italian immigrants. She was nicknamed La Belissima because of her great beauty.
Those good looks and natural charisma helped her get work in TV in addition to opera, especially in Italy. When she was still in her twenties, she played Cio-Cio San in an Italian TV production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, which made her instantly famous in Italy. Lots of offers came her way after that, both from opera companies all over the world as well as more Italian TV productions. Eventually, she got her own talk show on Italian TV, The Anna Moffo Show.
She did movies too, opera movies and non-opera. She did famous movie versions of Verdi’s La Traviata and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.
Anna Moffo’s voice was just this rich musical instrument that lent itself to dramatic roles. She was a great dramatic interpreter who could bring characters to life in such a unique, emotional way.
Leontyne Price is another soprano I really admire. She was the first Black soprano who was globally famous as an opera singer, including the first Black opera singer to sing a leading role at La Scala. She was really famous for the title role in Verdi's Aida.
Outside of classical, my favorite band is Hiatus Kaiyote. They’re an Australian jazz/funk band that refers to its genre as future soul, or neo soul. I just got to see them right here in Minneapolis about a month ago.
BRAVO: Do you take any singing jobs while you’re in Minneapolis?
AG: Yes, but it’s mostly non-classical. I’ve been doing quite a few tribute shows at the Granada Theatre. The most recent one was Amy Winehouse.
Before that, I did an Aretha Franklin tribute, sounds of the 1960s. That was at Leopold's Gardens off the Mississippi River.
I’ve also done some filmed classical performances at the MacPhail Center for Music, which you can find on my YouTube channel.
BRAVO: What sorts of fun stuff do you enjoy in the Twin Cities during your downtime?
AG: My new guitar! I’ve always wanted to play guitar, I’ve had one since I was ten. But guitars were always foreign to me.
Last year, my brother dug this old vintage guitar out of storage: a red Epiphone Dot series, with dozens of famous signatures on it.
I’ve been teaching myself how to play, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it. It’s one of my favorite hobbies now.
I even gave it a name: Sateen! Like the cotton material that mimics satin.
I also design clothes for fun, styling clothes. I work with a photographer friend of mine with myself as the model. She gets clothes at thrift stores, on websites like Etsy.
BRAVO: Besides the Michael Melton Memorial recital, do you have any other projects lined up when you get back to L.A.?
AG: I’m part of this trio with a tenor friend of mine and a guitarist. We do ad hoc performances around L.A. Earlier this year, we did a Memorial Day performance at Forest Lawn. We’ve also done Black History Month and Veteran’s Day there.
I’ve got other projects lined up, but none of them are set in stone, so I won’t comment on them just yet.
BRAVO: Well, that leads me to my last question: If someone wants to keep up with your performance schedule, what’s the best way?
AG: Facebook and Instagram, but especially Instagram. That’s got everything I do: classical, rock, hip hop, jazz.
I know I’ve got to create my own website. Someday!