Junior Lisa Gabbai doesn't really remember how she began playing violin. Likewise, she can't really tell you what made her switch from that instrument - which she had played since she was eight years old - to one of an entirely different kind: her voice.
Lisa Gabbai is an opera singer, a soprano who can sing octaves above any given American Idol. Opera requires a certain level of training, commitment and talent. It's a demanding craft, but for Gabbai, who only began singing in her junior year of high school, it's also soothing.
Her music has taken her from summer programs at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan to paid gigs singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the police academy graduation in Stoneham, Mass. And in just a few days, she will journey to Italy, otherwise known as the opera capital of the world, with Tufts Chorale.
Gabbai describes herself as just a singer; she feels that the techniques are the same for all singing, while the style is the only thing that varies. She and her voice teacher, Professor Carol Mastrodomenico, work on techniques such as finding where the natural sound resides in the body.
"We have a very relaxed approach here at Tufts," Gabbai said. "It's about finding the resonance and trying to be open."
Gabbai's approach to music meshes well with her approach to life at the moment. A quantitative economics and music double-major, she is open both to the possibility of pursuing music in graduate school or to entering the world of business upon graduation.
Her family remains supportive, as they have since organizing lessons and ensembles for Gabbai and her sister as children in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Attending the Graded School of Sao Paulo, Gabbai spoke English at school and Portuguese everywhere else. Her bilingualism helps in her music; operas, often written in Italian, French, German or Spanish, require a certain familiarity with pronunciation of those languages.
"We read the translations so [that] we know what we are singing," Gabbai explained, "Everybody's heard these languages, and for me it's not that hard [to sing in other languages]. Spanish is very close to mine, obviously."
Gabbai doesn't spend time worrying about possible gaffes. She knows that by performance time her diction and pitch will be perfect. After all, she's spent at least eight hours a week for months to make it that way. Even now, as she prepares for Italy with the Chorale, she continues regular lessons, as well as continuing the months-long practice for Opera Ensemble's show on April 18 and 19, for which she was cast at the end of last semester.
Gabbai says that her confidence in her ability to reach the incredibly high soprano notes onstage stems from being able to master them over and over again in practice and staying positive.
"Singing is so related to your body and how you feel," Gabbai explained. "My voice teacher can tell if I'm tired, if I haven't been getting enough sleep. Your body is your instrument."
Gabbai is philosophical about singing. Though now an active member of the Opera Ensemble and Chorale, she ironically didn't make the cut for the Ensemble in her freshman year at Tufts.
She soon found a voice teacher and trained extensively before trying out again the next year. "Sometimes you just don't get in, what can I say?" Gabbai said.
Gabbai embraces other aspects of her personality unrelated to music. In the past, she has been heavily involved in the Tufts Feminist Alliance and is interesting in joining Tufts Broad2Be, a group for would-be business women.
And while she can enjoy opera performances by the American soprano Ren?©e Fleming and recordings of the Spanish opera singer Victoria de Los Angeles, Gabbai cultivates an eclectic taste beyond opera. She listens to the Dixie Chicks alongside soul legends like Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone, singer with a wide range much lower than Gabbai's soprano.
Gabbai emphasizes that opera is not so different from other styles of singing. "I'm learning how to sing, period. I'm learning opera and the style for opera, but I think these techniques can apply to all kinds of music," Gabbai said.
