Jamie Barton Talks Wagner & Bluegrass with Schmopera
April 12, 2016
Ahead of her Washington National Opera debut as Waltraute/2nd Norn in Götterdämmerung, Jamie Barton talks with Schmopera about Wagner, bluegrass, and her goal to bridge the gap between the art form she grew up loving and the art form she now does on a daily basis.
Barton grew up on a farm, surrounded not by classical music, but by Bluegrass. "That's kind of where I think I got an ear for virtuosic music. I absolutely still love it," she says, enthusiastically. "If I'm ever listening to Bluegrass then I'm probably missing home a little bit." She's a big fan of Chris Thile's music, and his collaborations with the Punch Brothers. "It is everything from Brandenburg Concertos to their own music which sounds at times very traditionalist for Bluegrass, and then at other times," she chuckles, "like Schoenberg had a baby with Earl Scruggs."