Sven Edward Olbash
Contact
Humanities and Sciences
Courses Taught
Vocal Pedagogy
Voice Physiology
Education
MMus, New England Conservatory
BMus Boston University
Ensembles
Volti
Euouae
Tactus
Q&A
What is your hometown?
Lynn, MA
What is your favorite recording?
Solti's recording of Elektra for Decca with Birgit Nilsson and the Vienna Phil. I'm absolutely obsessed with the operas of Richard Strauss, and it's hard to imagine a record company taking on a project of this magnitude (the sound is amazing) with singers of that calibre today
What are you passionate about outside of music?
As a person with a disability, I'm an advocate for accessibility in arts, education, and employment. I also have a life-long love of the circus, and studied trapeze at SF Circus Center
Who were your major teachers?
Patricia Craig (voice), Daniel Pinkham (organ and choral conducting)
What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?
If you find yourself thinking you have it all figured out, that's when you know you've lost your way.
What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?
I was touring a university where I had received a scholarship to study exercise physiology and kinesiology and discovered there was only one piano on campus, and that it "might" be available for students to practice. I realized then that I would need to choose between a career in science and one in music, and I knew I couldn't live without music in my life.
What was a turning point in your career?
Early in my conducting career I was called upon to lead a rehearsal of the Brahms Requiem on about 8 hours notice when the conductor and assistant conductor were both stranded due to cancelled flights. Having sung the work under the late American conductor Robert Shaw, I knew the score inside and out and was able to conduct the piece from memory—which made quite the impression on the ensemble!
If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?
I would probably be doing something with animals, like being a professional panda cuddler (which is a real job that actually exists)
From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you, and why?
1840 is known as Schumann's "Liederjahr" (year of song) when, overcome by love for his soon-to-be-wife Clara, he composed well over 100 songs including the song cycle Dichterliebe. Equally important to me as a chant scholar is the city of Laon, home of the earliest complete collection of Gregorian melodies dating from the 9th century.
What is your unrealized project?
Although I completed two Music Performance Residencies in conducting with SF Opera, I have yet to conduct a complete opera with orchestra
What do you think makes a concert experience unique?
If I want perfection, I'll listen to a recording of Glenn Gould. What is unique about a live concert is the ability to connect with the performers on an artistic level and to share that experience with other audience members
Please list your most important collaborations.
My album "you who sow in tears will reap in joy" with medieval ensemble Euouae, assisting Colin Graham in the East Coast debut of Jonathan Dove's opera Flight, and performing as soloist for Per Nørgård's "Wie ein Kind" at Other Minds Festival with the composer present
Biography
Sven Edward Olbash is a vocologist specializing in voice habilitation and works with singers, actors, and other professional voice users to improve vocal function and help prevent injuries. He is the owner of Voice Science Studio, a teaching artist with San Francisco Opera, and music director of the Renaissance vocal ensemble Tactus. As a singer, he has appeared at Other Minds Festival, Center for New Music, and Old First Concerts. He has been a guest clinician for the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Gregorian Institute of Canada, Lincoln Center Education, and SF Choral Society. Sven lives with his chihuahua Tupperware and in his free time enjoys studying jazz piano.