Emily Gillispie
Staff Writer
Living the ultimate dream could be compared to working in a three-ring circus - if you're teacher and opera singer Katherine Ciesinski.
Ciesinski, an associate professor of voice in the Moores School of Music and an accomplished opera singer with Houston Grand Opera, knows all too well the delicate balancing act of life. Performing in two upcoming operas with HGO, along with teaching, has propelled her into a life of dashing back and forth between campus and downtown.
But Ciesinski wouldn't have it any other way.
"Singing was always my favorite thing to do with music. I never dreamed I would do anything with it professionally because it was so fun," she said. "I'm living a dream come true. I get to do, and get paid for, what I love best."
Ciesinski came to the University of Houston in 1994 and was offered tenure last year, along with an associate professor position. Her passion for teaching has always been strong, along with her dedication to the art.
"I had always wanted to teach, so it's no surprise that I'm teaching," Ciesinski said. "I love teaching. Both of my parents are teachers, so teaching is literally in my blood, and I feel very dedicated to what education provides in terms of personal development. It's essential."
Teaching and performing often come with a price, though.
Ciesinski frequently finds herself dashing downtown from campus to spend several hours a day in rehearsals for the two productions she's currently in, The Marriage of Figaro and Arabella.
Most of the time she can't schedule her private voice lessons with her students until the day they're due. Her large brown eyes light up, though, as she talks of her students with admiration.
"My students have just been fantastic. I warned them last semester that this was going to be happening. I told them to prepare themselves," she said. "They've been incredibly flexible and generous in response to this, and we've been having a great semester."
Ciesinski also has to do some preparing of her own in order to keep up with her work. She maintains a vegetarian diet and avoids any sweets that would harm her delicate instrument. In between rehearsals she can often be found wolfing down a bowl of vegetable soup.
"I'm involved in keeping healthy, which is my primary concern," Ciesinski said as her hands clutch a Styrofoam soup bowl. "Dietary considerations for me are really, really a supreme concern because that directly affects how my body functions, how energetic I feel and how my voice feels."
Looking at Ciesinski today, you might not have guessed that she hasn't always known she wanted to perform. Her experience can be seen in her every expression.
She started as a music education major at Temple University in Pennsylvania. After the completion of her bachelors degree, she decided performing was her dream. Ciesinski then went on to get her master's and to study opera at the Curtis Institute of Music.
After she finished her studies, Ciesinski won four major competitions that put her "name on the map" to receive further engagements. Her career has spanned many countries and even garnered a Grammy nomination in 1995.
She moved to Houston four years ago to teach at UH, and she describes teaching here as an honor.
"It's an honor and a privilege to be a part of a major university like UH and, in addition, a fantastic school of music like the Moores School of Music," she said.
Ciesinski plans on staying in Houston and teaching at UH.
"I look forward to making a continued contribution to Houston in the music community. I have been so lucky here and so overjoyed with living in Houston," she said. "I also look forward to making a significant contribution to my students and the Moores School of Music in terms of recruiting top-flight talent and giving to them the best I can offer."
In the meantime, she will continue to book herself as tightly as she can. And she will continue to perform, because of her hunger for music. To Ciesinski, her work is the perfect diet.
"I'm hungry for life and music, and it feeds me. That's something that most people can't understand. They think of work as draining. Well, performing does drain you, but it also feeds you," she said with wide eyes.
In Ciesinski's life, her work will always call for passion as a main ingredient.
"I live on that diet. It's a good diet," she said. "It's a really healthy diet, and it makes me feel like one of the happiest people around."