“It was April 1st, and I was walking by Johnson and Jernigan, and I had just opened my email. The email said Berklee, and at first I thought it was just spam mail, but I opened it anyway and it said, ‘Congratulations, you have been accepted into the Boston Conservatory Opera Intensive,’” said Trevecca sophomore Mikayla Hatfield. “When I read that I just stopped and said 'I’m going to Spain!' My friends yelled 'You're going to Spain!' and I just started crying and yelling, 'I’m going to Spain!'”
That email was one Hatfield had been waiting on for weeks since auditioning for the Boston Conservatory Opera Intensive. The program offers talented young singers the opportunity to strengthen their singing skills with elite faculty, gain performance experience and learn to build a career in opera.
Hatfield will study at the Berklee College of Music’s campus in Valencia, Spain. The three-week intensive begins on June 25 runs through July 15. Participants will also have access to Berklee’s state-of-the-art recording studios and leave the program with a professionally produced recording of their selections.
Getting accepted into the program was a blessing to Hatfield, a vocal performance major with a minor in musical theatre.
“When I got the email, I was like ‘This is really happening,'” Hatfield recalled. “It was such confirmation from God that I was on the right path.”
Hatfield was involved in music and musical performances while in high school. It was then that she first began to take an interest in classical music.
“In the performance side, you can either do musical theater or classical music, and classical is not a very popular [choice],” Hatfield said. “So, I said, I want to do that one.”
Hatfield first learned about the Boston Conservatory Opera Intensive through a newsletter called The Classical Singer. Information about the newsletter was included in an email that Trevecca’s School of Music and Worship Arts sends to music students to let them know about available opportunities.
Students are selected to the intensive through an audition process. In addition to submitting a resume, statement of purpose and references, applicants also send in a performance video featuring three pieces, including at least one aria and in at least two languages.
Hatfield started to prepare for the auditions by revisiting songs she had learned previously.
“I took some songs that I have learned for at least a year. I took them and tweaked them a little bit more and fixed things that I needed to learn with them more,” Hatfield said. “I asked my film friend Hannah Pollok if she could record the video for me. I prepared the songs and talked to Brady Smith, my sound person, for the recording. We took one Saturday and did the recording in a couple of hours.”
Even so, Hatfield’s confidence in her voice and preparation for the audition still didn’t alleviate her intimidation.
“I was 100 percent intimated by the audition,” Hatfield said. “One of the bad things to do in the music world is compare [yourself] to other singers. It’s something that I do; I look at other singers and think they are so talented and that they are so much better than me.”
When that happens, Hatfield says that the Trevecca faculty members have encouraged her and let her know that she is special to God.
“I love how my teachers remind me that God has made me so special and the reason why I’m not like anybody else is that He likes me the way I am,” Hatfield said. “Like he doesn’t look at my flaws and think of them as flaws. God looks at my flaws and thinks 'That’s Mikayla; that’s the reason Mikayla is the way she is.'”
The Boston Conservatory Opera Intensive will make two of Hatfield’s dreams come true.
“I have been wanting to go out of the country for a very long time, and studying opera in a different country is a complete dream come true,” she said.
While studying abroad, Hatfield plans to explore the city of Valencia and spend a few days at the beach during her free time.
Most of all, Hatfield is thankful she took a chance and applied for the intensive, even if it seemed a little like a long shot. In fact, Hatfield would encourage students following in her footsteps to take advantage of the opportunities they’re given because there is always something new to learn.
“Every experience can change your perspective and open your eyes,” she said. “I think it’s important to take any opportunity that God throws at you.”
Hatfield has started a GoFundMe Page to raise money to help fund her trip to Spain. To donate or learn more, go here.
By Princess Jones
Media contact: Mandy Crow, mmcrow@trevecca.edu, 615-248-1695