Interview: Soprano Deanna Breiwick On Dealing With the Currency of the Human Heart


Soprano Deanna Breiwick has been around music and performance her entire life.

She comes from a family of musicians and vocalists. She sang her first studio recital at age five, began as a classical harpist at age seven, and was let loose on Italian arias by age 14. Her first opera production was “Dialogues des Carmélites” at age 21 and she hasn’t looked back since.

She’s a serious student of yoga, a nature lover, and someone who exudes pure joy when speaking about her work because she doesn’t view her occupation as work at all, to Ms. Breiwick, being an opera singer is fulfilling her life’s calling.

“I deal in the currency of the human heart,” she told OperaWire. Breiwick is currently playing one of the shadows in “Marnie” at the Metropolitan Opera. “I am honored and lucky to share my gift with so many people. When I was a child, I brought my singing to nursing homes, shopping malls, you name it because I loved to sing.

“I see what I do as a calling to share beauty and light. Opera shows human experience and authenticity and needs to be experienced because the characters and stories reveal pieces that are part of all of us. Audiences should connect with the universal experience–that’s what people feel. Music is something to surrender to, to find yourself in the moments of beauty and authenticity.”