By Elisabeth Costanzo Stewart
When Brenda Dawe’s father suggested that she study music education in college, she responded matter-of-factly and without hesitation: “I don’t want to teach.” Dedicating more than 15 years to the classroom as a beloved Associate Professor, Chairperson of Music and Theater Arts, and Coordinator of Music, Dawe’s youthful “I must do, not teach” attitude can’t help but make her laugh.
Though Dawe’s prolific career as a soprano includes more than 30 leading and supporting operatic roles, she openly admits that she has found more fulfillment in training and supporting the next generation of music students than she has ever experienced with personally performing.
Dawe hails from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada. Though her parents were not especially musical, they insisted that she and her three older sisters take piano lessons to balance their weekly horseback riding sessions. While her sisters gravitated towards the stables, Dawe fell in love with music.
“Newfoundland is a very musical province, thanks to its heavy Irish influences. Every house party always includes someone playing a guitar or an accordion,” Dawe explained. “Music festivals are a big part of the provincial culture. I was seven years old when I entered my first competition, and my parents quickly realized that I was different from the other little performers.”
When Dawe was 11, she asked her parents if she could pursue formal voice training, in addition to studying various instruments. Though they lived in a remote area, her parents were able to find high-quality music teachers, who nurtured her skills as a soprano, pianist, and saxophonist.
“Even though music may not have made sense to my parents, particularly as my training advanced, they always listened and offered their support,” Dawe reflected. “Even when that meant me moving to Nova Scotia, and then to the United States to continue my music education and career.”
After earning a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, CA, Dawe became an international graduate student at the Manhattan School of Music, where she completed her master’s degree in classical voice and opera theatre.
As customary for classical vocalists, Dawe spent her summers as an apprentice, building her repertoire and performing in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Throughout her career, Dawe has portrayed over 30 leading and supporting operatic roles.
Photo Credit: Matt Ebbers
“I was very focused on studying and developing my voice in those days,” Dawe said, “I’d be in Germany or Italy and think, ‘I need to study now. I’ll explore later.’ I’m cringing now just thinking about it. I should have taken some time to travel! This is one of the many lessons that I get to share with my students from my career as a musician. Don’t forget to enjoy the balance of your work and the opportunities that it brings.”
Dawe spent the next decade performing in operas and oratorios staged around North America. In 1995, she was invited to attend Tri-Cities Opera’s Resident Artist Training Program. Arriving in Binghamton, Dawe realized that life was far more financially sustainable in the Southern Tier than in Manhattan. She decided to make Broome County her home base, regularly traveling to New York City for auditions and workshops.
After one Tri-Cities Opera performance, Dawe returned to her dressing room to find two bouquets of flowers, each including a dinner invitation. To be polite, she agreed to both dates, but a clear winner quickly became apparent. Dirk Olds was a former pianist turned financial advisor, who served on the Opera’s Board of Directors. Though their initial dates were often months apart due to Dawe’s hectic rehearsal and performance schedules, the couple eventually settled into a rhythm and married.
In marrying Olds, Dawe became a stepmother to her husband’s 10-year-old son, Andrew. While Dawe’s regular stints of performance travel never bothered her when she was single, she realized that carving out three to four weeks per opera and one week per oratorio was not particularly family-friendly.
“I was going to New York City for an audition for an opera staged by the Hawaii Opera Theatre. I mentioned it in passing over breakfast to my stepson, and I instantly noticed a panic in his voice,” Dawe explained. “My schedule was set up so that when I was home, I wasn’t working, and I could be a fully invested super-mom. But that meant that when I was gone, the lack of my presence was really noticed. At that moment, I decided to focus my performances to a more local radius.”
Performing less but still wanting to contribute financially to the family, Dawe began teaching private voice lessons. Before she knew it, she had amassed a rotation of 50 students, with a long waitlist of vocal hopefuls waiting in the wings. Teaching out of her home studio was ideal when Dawe and Olds welcomed a daughter, Mackenzie, into the family.
In 2008, a week before the beginning of the fall semester, the music professor Gerald Grahame contacted Dawe in a panic. The department chair needed a professor to cover an ear training class and wondered if she had any interest in teaching at the college level. One class turned into another, and another, and another, and before she knew it, Dawe was hired as a full-time faculty member and promoted to department chair and coordinator of music.
“I assumed that I would love being in the classroom, but I had no idea how much I would love my duties as department chair as well,” Dawe said. “I love advising my students and helping them to craft their schedules. It’s so rewarding to build relationships with each one and help them to navigate their time as music students at SUNY Broome and beyond. This time of year is especially exciting because I get to help our students prepare for their recitals and work on their audition selections for when they transfer on to other music programs and conservatories.”
While Dawe still treats an appreciative audience to the occasional operatic performance, her most beloved SUNY Broome showing occurs every year on a Thursday in May. With professional-level enunciation and a song-like delivery, Brenda Dawe co-announces the names of SUNY Broome’s newest alumni at the College’s commencement ceremony.
The ultimate crescendo to the SUNY Broome experience, Dawe’s thoughtful proclamation of each graduate’s name, is her special accompaniment as they take their final bow as a SUNY Broome student and move on to whatever role may come next.
