Meet the Student: Q&A with Baritone Erik Tofte
Baritone Erik Tofte, from Owego, New York stars as Sergeant Belcore in Curtis Opera Theatre’s steampunk and Victorian Era-inspired production of Gaetano Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love (L’elisir d’amore). He entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2022 and studies in the opera program with Mark Schnaible, adjunct faculty. All students at Curtis receive merit-based, full-tuition scholarships, and Mr. Tofte is the William J. Fenza Fellow.
What pivotal moment in your life led you to pursue a career in opera and classical music?
As a child in Upstate New York, I didn’t have much exposure to opera at a young age. However, I grew up fully immersed in music—I performed in various choirs, chamber groups, jazz bands, and symphonic bands starting when I was in grade school. Additionally, I loved taking the stage in our school and community theater musical productions. My first exposure to opera was in my senior year of high school. As suggested by my chorus teacher at the time, I auditioned for Tri-Cities Opera and their adult chorus for their production of Faust. At this time, I was auditioning for collegiate vocal performance programs to study classical vocal technique but had not yet experienced operatic singing in person. Rehearsals began with the adult chorus. Mostly composed of local musicians and students, the chorus was very good. I enjoyed every rehearsal. The moment that truly made me want to pursue a career in opera, however, was at the start of our first orchestra read-through with the leads present. As soon as the bass lead began to sing, I was astounded. I had never heard a person so healthily create that much sound with their singing while still possessing so much color and without a microphone, no less! I was intrigued and immediately fell in love with the art form.
You have received your bachelor’s and master’s degrees and are currently a professional studies certificate candidate here at Curtis. What have been some of your most memorable moments at the school thus far, and what do you hope your time at Curtis will yield as you wrap up your academic studies and step out into the professional world of singing?
As I have just begun my studies here at Curtis, I can only reference the breakthroughs I have made with teachers and coaches here at this wonderful institution. It seems like every week, I walk out of my lessons learning something new about my singing and the art that I can create. The staff is truly wonderful and is helping me every day to become a more expressive artist. I truly hope my time at Curtis will help me reach the next phase of my artistic development. I have performed professionally with smaller regional houses and would love the opportunity, as I develop my artistic technique, to broaden the reach of my storytelling to larger opera houses and international venues. I hope that my time at Curtis will lend me the skills necessary to be a more versatile artist wherever I end up.
Tell us about Belcore in The Elixir of Love. Do you identify with any aspects of this character, and what have you enjoyed the most about learning this role?
Sergeant Belcore is a very interesting character to portray. He is proud, boisterous, and a bit of a womanizer but is also deeply emotional and sensitive. In this sense, he is not what I would call a true operatic villain but rather a military man who is a product of his time. As a man who is constantly moving from place to place, he occupies himself with enjoying what little time he has at each village he visits. In my opinion, he does expect his marriage to Adina to be a long one, just something to satisfy the romantic in him for now with a woman that he admires- he knows that all too soon, he will likely be called away from her anyway. In this way, he is wary of developing too emotional a connection with anyone but sees Adina from afar and cannot help but notice her beauty and her wit.
I do not consider myself a boisterous person or a womanizer by any means. Those aspects of the character I cannot relate to. However, as an artist, I can relate to the idea of feeling unsettled due to changing locations often. In the same vein, what I have thoroughly enjoyed in learning this role is portraying a character who is, for the most part, very different from myself. I consider myself a more reserved person who generally does not try to command a lot of attention. I have loved the challenge.
You’ve been a part of some exciting new world premieres. From both a singing and acting standpoint, what appeals to you the most about performing in new operas as opposed to tackling more traditional fare in works such as Die Zauberflöte or Così fan tutte?
I think operatic artists can learn a lot from performing both new works and also more traditional ones, such as L’Elisir. In my fortunate recent experience of premiering the opera The End: A Fairytale by J.P. Redmond, I found a really rewarding challenge in having to develop an original portrayal of a character. I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being able to give my take on a character with no other examples to draw from—it truly made my work feel inspired and as if I were leaving my mark on the opera world. With traditional operas such L’Elisir, however, a slightly different challenge is set: how do I make my character’s portrayal original when there are so many examples to draw from? The answer is easier said than done – do your homework. Using your own background research and character ideas, you must formulate your own opinions on a character and find a relation to them in your own way. In this way, performing a traditional opera can feel just as creative and innovative as performing a work for the first time. From a musical standpoint, I have found that performing newer works has increased my musical accuracy and attention to detail when approaching traditional works. All in all, opera is storytelling, and whether it is a work that has been performed a thousand times or one that has not yet been performed, there is always an opportunity to tell the story in a new way.
What are some of the roles you hope to play on stage in the future?
As I continue to develop a singer and actor, I would love to perform roles such as Don Giovanni, Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), Riccardo (I Puritani), Hamlet, Jim Thompson (Glory Denied), Marcello (La bohème), Figaro (Barbiere di Siviglia), Scarpia (Tosca), Gianni Schicchi, and Rigoletto.
Visit Erik Tofte’s official website HERE.
CURTIS OPERA THEATRE: THE ELIXIR OF LOVE (L’ELISIR D’AMORE)
Music by Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto by Felice Romani
Friday, March 10, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 2:30 p.m.
Philadelphia Film Center
1412 Chestnut Street
Click HERE for more information.
Single tickets for The Elixir of Love start at $19: Curtis.edu. Subscription tickets are also available.
The Curtis Opera Theatre is generously supported by the Ernestine Bacon Cairns Trust, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and the Wyncote Foundation.
Photos of Erik Tofte: 1.) Nichole MCH Photography 2.) Portrait courtesy of the artist. 3.) Mr. Tofte and the chorus of H.M.S. Pinafore with Tri-Cities Opera; courtesy of the artist. 4.) Mr. Tofte in Dido and Aeneas with Binghamton Opera Ensemble; courtesy of the artist.
