Allison Charney Epstein AB ‘89 always knew she was going to be a professional singer. “Harvard was sort of a detour, in that regard,” she laughs. After Harvard, Allison went straight to a graduate school program at the Peabody Conservatory, where she received two degrees. The first was a Master of Music, and the second was an Artist Diploma – the highest performance degree offered by a conservatory. Simultaneously, Allison was taking young artist programs across the country by storm, namely, Central City Opera in Colorado and Greater Miami Opera (now Florida Grand Opera). This led to her being hired at Florida Grand Opera in numerous principal roles and then on to a career spanning nearly every state that kept her on the road for 10 months of every year. 

Allison then entered the Metropolitan Opera Competition from Florida and won first place in the state, and then first in the southeast. She went to the National Finals, and although she didn’t win, the next day she had a stage audition at the New York City Opera and got hired on the spot. She started by touring with the company: 50 cities in 70 days on a bus, then singing in their summer season in Saratoga, and then making her debut as a principal artist in the house as Musetta in LA BOHÈME. “I got really lucky, really young for an opera singer…” she recalls. “And since I was young, I was able to learn from the more experienced singers I was lucky enough to meet along the way. So I always had a look into the future, and it was a way for me to make some real conscious choices… I think it's really important, especially when you're starting out, to have a 5-year check-in. ‘Is this working out? Can I support myself?’ Maybe bankers do that too. I don't know,” Allison laughs. 

Her aunt was an opera singer, so the career was never fantastical to her, but she credits much of her success to a professor she had at Harvard. Luise Vosgerchian was “one of the most important things of [her] Harvard education. Without a doubt.” Allison pursued a special concentration with Luise, so they worked incredibly closely together. “She was tough on me, and also loving and incredible… she took over my life in a way. I saw her pretty much every day, and whenever she wanted, at whatever hour. I feel incredibly incredibly lucky. I even named a child for her!” They spoke with great frequency until the end of Luise’s life. Perhaps most impactful was the moment Luise introduced Allison to pianist and conductor Benjamin Loeb AB ’89 who has since been Allison’s greatest collaborator. He’s now a huge part of Allison’s upcoming album, which will be released on all platforms on August 8th.

“The album is called ALIKE…My Mother’s Dream. It’s my response to the lessons my mother has spent her whole life trying to teach me— and the world— that we should focus on what makes us similar rather than what makes us different— and that the world would be a better place if that's what we were doing,” Allison explains. “Of course, I realize making this album is just a tiny drop in the bucket. My hope, however, is that it inspires other tiny drops in the bucket;  if everybody puts a drop in the bucket, maybe, just maybe, the bucket will overflow with goodness.” There are seven tracks on the album. Four of them are country pairs, composed by musicians from countries on opposing sides of conflict: one by a Russian, one by a Ukrainian, one by an Iranian, one by an Israeli. “The goal is to try to highlight the similarities between people, rather than the differences, not to make a  political statement,” Allison clarifies. “My hope is that by focusing on our shared humanity, it transcends politics, which is part of my point.” 

In addition to the four “country pairs,” there are also big orchestral pieces that serve as anchors for the album. The first is Dvořák’s aptly named “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” Another is by American composer Kim D. Sherman, who has set one line of text– “Make peace on all your lands” in 15 different world languages. And the third piece, “Jephthah’s Daughter,” is by composer Amy Beach— the first American woman to have a symphony played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896. This stand-alone scena for soprano and orchestra was lost to the world for over a century– a casualty of war, having been tucked away in a trunk that was seized by the German army during WWI and only rediscovered in the last several years. 

“I read about it before the pandemic, and knew I had to perform it. I found the one and only copy of the handwritten manuscript, and hired a wonderful composer to transcribe it for me, and create the orchestral score and parts,” Allison says. “My intention was to perform it on my concert series, and then the pandemic came, and all concerts were stopped. It’s been nearly a decade in the making—but this recording will now be the very first recording of the English translation Amy Beach herself wrote. I’ve included it on ALIKE to try to show the collateral damage of not getting along with one another. In war, so much is lost—including great art and music."

Allison pivoted during the pandemic and turned the aforementioned concert series into a 7-part virtual concert and conversation series called PREformances: Season of Hope," Allison says. “The historic, NYC landmark Town Hall presented it as part of their centennial year because they, too, were shut down and looking for virtual programming during the pandemic. So it was a really exciting partnership shepherded by my classmate, two-time Tony award-winning sound designer, Nevin Steinberg (AB '89), who is now serving as the President of the board of the Town Hall.” The concert series is available on any platform that hosts podcasts.

The pandemic did force more flexibility from both artists and institutions, which may not be a bad thing in the long run. In terms of how opera specifically has evolved to meet this new artistic and social landscape, Allison notes there has definitely been a change. “It’s getting harder and harder to compel people to want to come out to the theater, but there is nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing that can beat the live interaction between an audience and an artist. I encourage people to force themselves out of their bedrooms and living rooms,” she says. “But I also wonder if all the other artifice is so important. Maybe you're not going to wear your pajamas out and your big fuzzy slippers. But does it have to be much more than that?"

As Allison notes, accessibility is key to keeping audiences engaged. “In terms of the storytelling, people are increasingly worried about making things modern in order to appeal to today’s audiences.” Allison continues. “But I don't actually think modern audiences can't get it just as the composer meant for it to be. I think it's up to you as the artist, to deliver it in a palatable way by  listening to what the music tells you to do, which always makes you that much  better at communicating that to an audience.” Allison recounts a time when she sang the title role in Puccini’s MADAME BUTTERFLY and a friend came to hear her perform. He had never been to the opera, or to any live theater for that matter, but he came backstage after the show bawling. That was incredibly powerful for Allison; a moment where she was reaffirmed that there are no prerequisites to understanding and loving beautiful art. “It’s the job of the artist to give you an opportunity to have access to your emotions, and in this world,” Allison smiles. “Isn’t it a relief to be able to have a couple of hours where you're just allowed to feel?” And in all of her work as a singer, Allison does just that: allows us all to feel.