To most students, the stairwells are a way to get to class. But for junior Francesca diDomenico, they are a rehearsal space.
According to diDomenico, she is the only opera singer at Stuyvesant. She has performed in individual recitals—including one at Steinway Hall—opera concerts, benefit concerts and community outreach concerts at nursing homes.
“She’s great for her age,” said sophomore Allegra Wiprud, who has sung beside diDomenico in Concert Chorus. “She’s got a really nice vibrato, really nice sound of her voice and she’s really dedicated to her work.”
The young vocalist got her start in art and theater songs, but moved on to opera when she needed a challenge. “I wanted to try singing something that was really hard because I was bored of all the stuff that I was singing,” said diDomenico.
It wasn’t long before she immersed herself in opera. diDomenico became a member of the New York City Opera’s high school program at Lincoln Center and started taking private lessons outside of school.
“We introduced some opera arias as she got into high school,” said voice teacher Jennifer Greene.
“It was really hard, and for the first time, I had to practice outside of lessons,” said diDomenico.
diDomenico even gave up six weeks of this summer to attend a prestigious arts program.
The Young Artists Vocal Program of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) is a grueling international music program that trains high school musical artists.
diDomenico was accepted from a pool of 144 applicants for a mere 36 spots. She gave a videotaped audition for which she sang two songs accompanied by a piano.
At the culmination of the program, diDomenico had a final exam or paper for every class. “A lot of people don’t think of music as being academic, but there were a lot of classes and we get grades,” she said.
Her practice schedule was intensive too. “I would practice until 11 p.m., when curfew was.”
Things only get busier for diDomenico when summer ends.
“The deal with my mother is that I can’t do opera unless I keep up grades, so I kind of have to balance both,” she said, speaking of her commitment to both opera and school.
At Stuyvesant, she is active in a variety of activities including SING!, SPARK, Arista and Concert Chorus. Last year, diDomenico was Soph-Frosh SING! Co-Chorus Director.
“She’s a very hard worker,” said Greene. “She practices quite often and she’s very dedicated to improving and researching the arias that she’s studying and making sure she’s prepared for her lessons.”
Greene isn’t the only one with license to critique diDomenico’s singing. The opera star herself reviews her own performances. “I need to work more on gestures because I can vaguely act and sing, but it’s really hard for me to gesture and make movements,” she said.
diDomenico hopes to pursue opera singing as a career.
“She’s on the right track and she just needs to keep working very, very hard,” said Greene. “She’s very resilient in that way and I think that that would help her in pursuing a professional performing career.”
“I think if she really pursues it, she’ll go really far,” said Wiprud.
diDomenico continues to practice, usually for an hour each day. Once, while practicing in her fourth floor apartment, her doorman heard her from the street. She plans to soundproof her closet, so she can use it as a rehearsal space without disturbing the neighbors.