A Dialog with Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges

Seattle Opera: Please, inform us about your childhood rising up in Lakewood, Washington.

J’Nai Bridges: That’s proper, I grew up in Lakewood, a neighborhood close to Tacoma, with three siblings, two brothers and a sister. Our residence was a really loving family. My father’s from Georgia, my mom’s from Baltimore, Maryland. They met in Germany whereas he was within the US Military and he or she was instructing English over there. They met at a disco and the remaining is type of historical past. They nonetheless dwell in Lakewood.

Seattle Opera: What else are you able to share about that point?

J’Nai Bridges: We had a really well-rounded childhood. All of us youngsters performed sports activities and took music classes. I went to Charles Wright Academy. The household traveled to Japan. And in fifth grade I bought to put a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I’ll always remember these experiences.

Like many Black youngsters rising up in primarily white areas, I skilled problems with identification. However my mother and father are very pro-Black, so I at all times knew who I used to be. And even after I had these bouts of confusion, they helped deliver me again to my roots.

J’Nai Bridges as a toddler rising up in Lakewood, WA.

Seattle Opera: What function did church play in your life?

J’Nai Bridges: The church was a giant a part of my life and nonetheless is. We attended Allen AME (African Methodist Episcopal) and the church neighborhood performed an enormous half in my upbringing. My first publicity to music was singing within the youngsters’s choir at Allen. Just lately, my choir director from after I was 5 years previous wrote my mother to say, ‘she at all times knew that I used to be one thing particular.’ And now that the phrase is out that I’m performing in Seattle, my cellphone is blowing up with calls and texts from my church household.

Seattle Opera: How did your childhood form your profession?

J’Nai Bridges: My upbringing is admittedly the place my musical presents have been recognized. My childhood, I really feel, outfitted not simply me for my profession in opera, however my total household. My supervisor stated that about my household not way back. And it’s true. Right this moment, I can name my mother and father and my siblings and say, ‘Hey, I want you to leap on a airplane as a result of I’m performing on this metropolis or this live performance corridor.’ And so they can. My brother works for Delta Airways. My nephew works for a nationwide rental automotive firm. My profession can be a household affair. My household has at all times been supportive. After all, all of us have our personal lives now, however we’re very, very related and attempt to be collectively for particular events and holidays.

Seattle Opera: That is fantastic. What do you love to do if you end up residence?

J’Nai Bridges: It’s so lovely in Lakewood. I at all times make a degree to go to Chambers Bay. The sweetness restores me. There I can meditate and provides thanks. The bay is close to the place I went to highschool. So, I attempt to go to. I additionally actually love Ruston Means on the Tacoma waterfront. The park overlooks Puget Sound. I attempt to get residence two occasions a yr, particularly throughout July and August.

After I’m residence, I at all times make time to see shut associates. It lifts my spirits to see individuals who have performed integral elements in my life, like Dr. Maxine Mimms. Dr. Mimms is a retired educator who helped set up the Tacoma campus of Evergreen State Faculty. She’s in her 90s now. She launched me to Maya Angelou. They have been excellent associates. One other pricey household buddy I make a degree to see is Dr. Joye Hardiman. After all, I go to church, the place I’m at all times invited and like to sing throughout service.

Seattle Opera: Are there different locations you like to go to?

J’Nai Bridges: Sure. Sure. Sure. Southern Kitchen in Tacoma. It’s a staple in Tacoma. Oh, it’s simply so good. The restaurant was featured on Meals Community! A meal at Southern Kitchen feeds my soul. After we have been youngsters, the Spaghetti Manufacturing unit in Tacoma is the place we celebrated birthdays rising up. Typically we nonetheless go there after I’m residence.

Seattle Opera: In highschool you have been a aggressive basketball participant. What place did you play?

J’Nai Bridges: I used to be a capturing guard.

Seattle Opera: Did Charles Wright Academy have a rivalry opponent?

J’Nai Bridges: That is query. I feel it was Seattle Prep.

Seattle Opera: What was your go-to shot?

J’Nai Bridges: I just like the mid-range soar shot. Yeah, often from the 45-degree angle. I used to be on the gymnasium simply the opposite day enjoying a pickup sport. I nonetheless get pleasure from enjoying. , there are a number of parallels between basketball and singing. Dedication, working towards the basics, and teamwork are expertise I discovered enjoying aggressive sports activities. These are expertise that I exploit on daily basis in my profession.

J’Nai Bridges (far proper) together with her highschool basketball crew, the Charles Wright Academy Tarriers.

Seattle Opera: When did you begin singing outdoors of church?

J’Nai Bridges: I used to be a member of the Tacoma Youth Refrain. The founding father of the refrain was additionally my choir trainer at Charles Wright Academy. I bear in mind the audition was a giant deal. I used to be younger—perhaps sixth grade—and really nervous. So, I began singing significantly in center faculty. I discovered a lot about singing in that group. We sang in numerous languages and carried out all through the town. It was an thrilling time.

Then in highschool I used to be a member of the superior refrain. It was my highschool music trainer who inspired me to check privately after I was a junior. She acknowledged my abilities nicely earlier than I noticed that I cherished singing as a lot as I did. She was the one that pointed me in the direction of conservatories in my senior yr.

Seattle Opera: How did your mother and father really feel about your finding out voice in faculty?

J’Nai Bridges: Like I stated at first, my mother and father have at all times been very supportive. From piano classes beginning at 5 years previous to classical music enjoying on the radio to paying for personal classes, they have been at all times encouraging. So, auditioning for a conservatory was not fully out of the blue. Nevertheless, there was a battle between basketball and singing that each one got here to a head.

Seattle Opera: Would you share that story?

J’Nai Bridges: Round that point, I used to be co-captain of my highschool crew. I used to be very aggressive and serious about enjoying in faculty. The crew was within the district finals. We had a sport on the identical day that I had a rehearsal at Tacoma Opera, the place I used to be singing within the refrain. It was my first opera and a vital rehearsal that I couldn’t miss. The sport was at night time after rehearsal. My mother was going to drive me to the sport in Enumclaw. The coach agreed with the plan. I arrived earlier than the sport, simply because the crew was warming up. However the coach made me sit on the bench. He didn’t let me heat up.

One quarter glided by, two quarters glided by, then it was halftime. He wasn’t going to play me. I used to be in tears. I used to be upset and my mother was equally upset. The state of affairs blew up. He yelled at me in entrance of the crew and all the crowd. He type of poisoned the crew into pondering that I wasn’t teammate, as a result of I made a decision to forgo using up on the bus with them. And he referred to as it instructing me a lesson about sportswomanship. I stormed out of the gymnasium with my mother. That was my final highschool sport and it pointed me in the direction of singing.

Seattle Opera: That should have been robust?

J’Nai Bridges: I’ll always remember him. However it’s okay, as a result of all the pieces occurs for a motive. I do know that I made the correct determination. I turned a critical singer from that have.

Picture by Dario Acosta.

Seattle Opera: How do you’re feeling about making your Seattle Opera debut?

J’Nai Bridges: It’s actually a particular factor for me to come back residence to my village. There are such a lot of folks from Seattle, Tacoma, and Lakewood which have poured a lot love into me that it actually feels that this efficiency in McCaw Corridor is a present. That is my present and I’m sharing it with them and everybody. Will probably be the spotlight, I do know, of my profession thus far. This efficiency means greater than any award or any accolade. I’ve been wanting ahead to this second for years. I’m so grateful as a result of I’m in a spot vocally, musically, and artistically the place I can really feel so happy with my abilities. So, I’m completely satisfied to deliver my abilities residence and present my hometown the very best of me.

Seattle Opera: On behalf of Seattle Opera, let me say ‘Welcome residence, J’Nai.’

J’Nai Bridges: Thanks. This has been enjoyable.