Margaret Hemmen |
Margaret brings her love of music, culture and languages to singing and voice teaching. Over the years, she has performed a great variety of music and theater, and has launched many singers from professionals to those who sing for fun.
Margaret's musical background combines "on-the-road" experience with academic expertise. She started as a young apprentice with Western Opera Theater (of the San Francisco Opera), Minnesota Opera and the Wolf Trap Company. As her musical path continued, she sang mezzo-soprano roles for several regional opera companies and orchestras, and earned a doctorate in vocal performance and pedagogy from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She became a member of the voice faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She was a guest soloist with the Colorado Music Festival, the Omaha Symphony, Opera Omaha and other musical organizations. Seeking a wider career, Margaret traveled to Europe and found opera and concert engagements as a lyric mezzo-soprano in Germany and Austria. She taught private studio voice and, as a member of the faculty of the German-American Institute (Carl Schurz Haus) in Freiburg, Germany, gave many language-related classes.
|
Upon returning to the United States in the early 90's, Margaret worked at the Washington Academy of Languages as Director of Foreign Languages. She was the alto soloist at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church of Seattle for several years and sang in the cabaret duo, Hemmen & O'Meara. Using her own translations, she performed the spoken roles of Metropolis and Madame Dubarry for the silent film series at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. She also sang in many local concerts and recitals.
|
Margaret opened a voice studio in Seattle in 2000, welcoming students of all ages. Many of her younger singers have excelled in local performances and contests, and have gone on to college music programs and professional engagements. Several adult students are members of local choruses or choirs. Those who want to sing for their own enjoyment in a group setting have joined Margaret's classes. Singing for Seniors, a group program now performing under the name "Those Girls", has grown out of her Friday voice class. Several singers have been members since 2001! Participants learn standards in two-part harmony and sing in adult facilities around Seattle. The Allied Arts Foundation of Seattle awarded this group a grant for 2009/2010.
"Tales from abroad", Margaret's one-woman cabaret show, was premiered at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in 2007. She compiled its songs and themes from years of experience as a performer, as an expatriate/guide in Europe, and as a woman moving through life. In 2013, Margaret began exploring the visual arts, establishing herself as a painter as well as a musician. Her recent works may be viewed at maggiehemmen.com.
|
|
Now retired, Margaret worked as a guide for Rick Steves' Europe from 2001 until 2015. She specialized in tours of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as Berlin, Prague and Vienna. Rick invited Margaret as a guest on his radio show to speak about musical events in Europe:
|
|
