NPR Music

Opera News editor-in-chief F. Paul Driscoll on hearing Angela Meade for the first time at the Liederkranz competition:

“I refer to that moment as a ‘five pencil drop’ because all of us were poised to write something and the pencils all dropped and we sat there and just listened. Part of what she has — in addition to the beautiful voice and the beautiful technique — is something about her I find incredibly centered. It’s like I know that if she’s flying my plane, it’s not going to crash. I don’t have to worry about whether she’s going to make it to the end of a phrase. I don’t worry about whether or not she’s going to have enough stamina to make it to the end of the evening. She has a sense of self that reminds me of singers that I saw when I was first coming to the opera. I don’t think she sounds like anybody else; she sounds like herself. But that self knowledge and the confidence is something that is a big blessing for audiences.”

— NPR Music.org – “Future of Opera” discussion (August 2012)