Opera singer; Professional voice teacher; College choir director
"I come from a lineage of women that can do it all. There’s nothing you can’t do."
Abstract:
Jane Shivick is a professional artist who has achieved success in the opera world while managing to balance a family in addition to being a full-time voice teacher. Born in 1968 in Worcester, Jane was raised the eldest of three. Her love for music was not publicized in her school career until she decided to go out for the musical Showboat in high school. It was also during high school when Jane decided to explore her passion for music through church involvement, in creating a folk group at her home parish. Jane began college at Assumption College in Worcester, and soon transferred to the Hartt School of Music at the Univeristy of Hartford in Connecticut. It was there that Jane discusses her first challenge as an artist due to financial burdens. After her parents divorce, three years into her college career, financial aid was no longer covering the expenses of a higher education. However, Jane never allowed this obstacle to prevent her from utilizing her vocal talents. At this time Jane speaks about taking on several jobs to support herself living in Worcester while dating her future husband Todd Dickie. Jane began to join theater on the side and soon decided that she wanted to continue studying voice. At this time she took it upon herself to travel to New York once a week to study with a more advanced voice teacher allowing her professional music career to officially begin. After studying with several prestigious vocal coaches, Jane was encouraged to audition for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and went on to win in 1998. After this accomplishment Jane continued to study voice. At the same time, Jane married, was beginning a family, and had enough private voice students to maintain a full-time job as a professional voice teacher. In addition to these roles, Jane speaks about being the Associate Director of Music and Director of Chapel Choirs at Assumption College. Recently, she has performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra at Symphony Hall. She describes achieving success in the opera world, while also maintaining a normal family life and career.