Rising Stars: Meet Megan Barrera

Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Barrera.

Hi Megan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My passion for the arts started when I was young. I started singing in my church choir at the age of 8. I attended Musical Theater Camp at the University of Miami throughout my middle school years. I was even in the Theater Magnet at Southwood Middle School. I loved to sing and act, and I was very lucky to have parents that supported my dreams and desires as a kid. When I was 12, I took my first voice lesson with Ms. Anja Wiersma. I had no idea that I was about to learn about classical music and opera. I grew up with pop idols such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. I had no idea about Maria Callas or Luciano Pavarotti.

This was new and exciting. I continued to train my voice, eventually auditioning for New World School of the Arts High School. I was accepted into the choral magnet program. I went on to do my Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Miami in Vocal performance with a minor in Theater Arts. While I was at the University of Miami, I was able to audition for my first professional opera company: Florida Grand Opera. I was hired as an axillary chorus member for two full seasons while completing my undergraduate degree.

I went to Louisiana State University for my Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance and my Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Vocal Performance with a minor in Vocal Pedagogy. I knew I wanted to be a performer. However, I was advised that as a performer I should complete my schooling to have supplemental income as a teacher or just in case you ever needed a plan B. Performing and teaching go hand in hand, so I continued with my schooling while auditioning and performing for small companies throughout the United States such as Opera Louisiane and Wichita Grand Opera.

When I graduated, I came back home to Miami to prepare for my move to Germany. There are so many opera houses in Germany, and I wanted to try my luck overseas. So, I got my first job teaching adjunct at Miami-Dade College Kendall Campus. I needed to put money away and I needed to prepare my audition materials. Time flew! (A whole three years went by). I became sidetracked by life and other opportunities. While I was in Miami, I kept auditioning in the United States. I even moved to New York City for a few months. I ended up working with an abusive manager, and I lost all faith in the opera industry. At that point, I had just completed a young artist program at Sarasota Opera in Florida. I felt defeated. I moved back to Miami, FL to be with my family and start plan B, teach while still occasionally performing.

I was hired at New World School of the Arts as an adjunct professor. Full circle, coming back to the High School I graduated from, to teach. It was surreal. Nevertheless, I enjoyed working with the students. While teaching, I was still able to get away from some auditions and competitions. And I started winning some competitions: In 2017, I was the first-prize winner of the Saint Petersburg Opera Guild Competition in Florida and the Rochester Oratorio Society International Voice Competition in New York. I was also awarded the Munday Encouragement Award at the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition.

Missing performing regularly, I cofounded an opera company with some friends of the arts, Distilled Opera. The idea was to bring opera to the people: a raucous night of unbuttoned opera with arias, duets, and drinks. It was an opera performance variety show by Miami opera performers at Villain Theater happening every second Wednesday of every month. My students came to see me perform. One student had a heart-to-heart with me during his senior goodbye. He said, “Dr. Barrera you are a wonderful teacher, but you are a phenomenal performer. I hope to make people feel in the way that you make me feel when you perform.”

I quit my job. I moved to Berlin, Germany. I wanted to go all in. No regrets. It was difficult. People think a performance career is all glitz and glam. IT IS NOT. It is living out of a suitcase. It is a lot of planes, trains, and buses. It is constantly auditioning. It is learning new languages. It is expensive! It is making new connections. It is advocating for yourself. It is constant emails and phone calls. It is exhausting! But you do it anyway for the love of art. I finally started making a name for myself when I started to win competitions all over Europe. I was the first prize winner of the Certamen Nuevas Voces Ciudad de Sevilla, Spain. I was also a prizewinner of the Concorso Lirico Premio Koliqi in Milan, Italy, and the International Vissi D’arte Competition in the Czech Republic. I was the second prize winner of the Gabriela Beňačková International Vocal Competition in the Czech Republic.

I received great acclaim in recitals with pianist Francisco Soriano at Festival Musical de Cádiz, Spain, and Amor a la Música Espacio Turina, Seville, Spain. I toured a Music of the Americas Recital with pianist, Dr. João Paulo Casarotti. We performed in London, Lisbon, and different cities in Brazil. I finally made an opera house debut with Divadlo J.K. Tyla Plzni, Czech Republic, singing Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen. And I had multiple contracts lined up for 2020.

The world stopped. I remember, flying home to Miami after my debut in the Czech Republic for my New World Symphony debut. It was February 2020. I got to perform, and as I was getting ready for my next gig in the United States, I remember getting a phone call. My first contract was postponed. Then another call, followed by an email. All canceling or postponing upcoming contracts. I was devastated. I fell into a depression much like the rest of the world. The pandemic did a number on all of us, but I think it affected the performing arts greatly.

It took a few months to pivot. After a few Zoom calls with some friends of the arts, we began to create. We created musical presentations online via YouTube and Facebook Live. And I reached out to my old boss. I asked if there were any teaching opportunities in the new year. Plan B went into full effect, and now it was ALL online. I learned how to teach music theory, voice forums, and voice lessons online with prerecorded accompaniment tracks. I learned how to share screens and write on my iPad as a whiteboard while explaining part writing. I learned to adapt as an adjunct professor.

Summer of 2021, my predecessor retired. Not knowing if the performing world would even be the same again, I applied for the full-time position at New World School of the Arts, and in August 2021, I was appointed Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at New World School of the Arts. Many people view New World School of the Arts as a prestigious High School program. But it is also a college program. New World School of the Arts was created by the Florida Legislature in 1984 as a center of excellence in the performing and visual arts.

It is an educational partnership of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami-Dade College, and the University of Florida. Students can attend High School and graduate with a High School diploma or students can attend College and receive a Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Florida. I oversee the college department now. I teach voice lessons, vocal pedagogy, diction, and opera theater. I also direct the scenes program in the fall semesters and a fully staged opera in the spring semesters. It is a lot of work!

I inherited the program with a total of 3 registered college students, and now we currently have 15 registered students. I am excited to see this program grow even more. I am excited to witness young performers grow in this art form. Yearning for more opportunities, in August of 2022, I founded my own non-profit OPERAtion Lyric, Inc. as an opportunity to fund more performance projects for young artists.

As you can see my life has always been motivated by the arts, and I still perform. In the summer of 2022, I made my debut in David McVicker’s production of Verdi’s La Traviata at the Teatro de la Maestranza of Seville, Spain (a contract that was resigned during the pandemic, finally came to fruition). I perform quite a bit locally for Miami Beach Classical Music Festival, Opera Naples, and the Downtowner Concert Series in Miami.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s never been smooth. Lots of rejection and a lot of obstacles (one very big one was the pandemic). The story page explains a lot of what I went through. And again, as artists we continue! We do it for the love of the art.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a professional opera singer, a musical arts educator, and a stage director. I am an internationally recognized performer of both concert and operatic repertoire. I am an Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera. I oversee the college program at New World School of the Arts in Downtown Miami, FL.

I am proud of all of my accomplishments. I am a true interpreter of text. I use my body and my voice as a vessel when I perform. As an educator, I strive to empathize with my students. As a stage director, I am finding new ways to interpret classical opera.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Luck is tricky. When winning competitions luck has always been present (good or bad). Ha! Every time I walked into an audition room, luck was present (good or bad).

The pandemic (bad luck for everyone)! For the most part, I truly believe in timing. You can have everything, but maybe the universe decided it wasn’t your time. Life is funny.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.meganbarrera.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megbarrerasoprano/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meganbarrerasoprano/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-barrera-soprano/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvht6weqiZ8swc6qgyjtm_A

Image Credits
Kristin Pulido, Martina Root, and Roberto Alcain