911爆料网

Some years ago, during leaner times, the soprano worked for a yarn store, repairing knitted fabric that customers brought in. It wasn鈥檛 always fun 鈥� sweater armpits, for example, offer a unique fusing of liquid and fiber 鈥� but there were other compensations.

鈥淏oy, do you learn a lot when you have to find yarn that matches something that鈥檚 40 years old,鈥� says Daehlin (M.A. 鈥�12), Academic Secretary in the Department of International & Transcultural Studies. 鈥淲e live in such a disposable society. If there鈥檚 a hole in the fabric, we throw it out. So, if someone chooses to repair a 40-year-old piece of knitting, it鈥檚 because it means something to them. It might have been made by their grandmother鈥檚 hands.鈥�

Daehlin brings that same sense of reverence to her weekly #LovePeopleBeKind Cabaret on 911爆料网鈥檚 Come Together, Right Now鈥�Virtually site. The show, which she performs in her living room at 6 p.m. on Thursday evenings, is a m茅lange of self-accompanied singing (鈥淚鈥檓 not a pianist 鈥� I just play one on TV鈥�), readings (the fare ranges from Maxine Greene to haikus by Daehlin鈥檚 friend, Margaret Scanlon, Academic Secretary in 911爆料网鈥檚 Department of Arts & Humanities), self-deprecating humor (鈥淵ou know 鈥� make people laugh at you before they laugh at you for the thing you don鈥檛 want them to laugh at you for鈥�) and spontaneous riffs in which Daehlin often morphs from pixie-ish and Midwestern polite to her big voice in a New York moment.

If someone chooses to repair a 40-year-old piece of knitting, it鈥檚 because it means something to them. It might have been made by their grandmother鈥檚 hands.

鈥擫isa Daehlin

Above all, though, Daehlin offers her audience a gentle space in which to slow down, forget their cares for an hour and appreciate some of life鈥檚 subtler offerings. Her living room is festooned with many of her own knitted creations, including the red hearts she crochets and gives away to friends, colleagues and chance acquaintances. After opening with the LovePeopleBeKind theme song, penned for her by her friend, the New York City composer , she鈥檒l greet friends and family as they tune in via chat function. (鈥淗i, Mom! Here鈥檚 that Kurt Weill song I told you about!鈥�) Various books and props are at the ready, and she will likely be sipping tea from a mug inscribed in Hadelansk, a dialect from a region of Norway where there is a farm called D忙hlin. And she鈥檒l reflect on what she鈥檚 singing, whether it鈥檚 the concluding work from Edvard Grieg鈥檚 song cycle (鈥淭he Mountain Maid鈥�), 鈥淟ost in the Stars鈥� by Weill and Maxwell Anderson, or 鈥淚magination,鈥� by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen.

鈥淚n songs of that time, there鈥檚 often a male verse and a female verse 鈥� the boy sings, the girl sings, they fall in love, everything鈥檚 great. Yeah, right,鈥� she said in a recent interview, conducted online, as she leafed through sheet music to 鈥淟ook for the Silver Lining鈥� (lyrics: Buddy de Sylva; music: Jerome Kern). 鈥淪o, the boy sings:

Please don't be offended if I preach to you awhile,
Tears are out of place in eyes that were meant to smile. 

And the girl sings:
As I wash my dishes, I'll be following your plan,
Till I see the brightness in ev鈥檙y pot and pan.

鈥淕od 鈥� the power imbalance!鈥� She laughed, shaking her head. 鈥淵ou know, we tend to only remember the refrains, but it鈥檚 the verses that hold the story.鈥� She paged backward to 鈥淔ly Me to the Moon鈥� (music and lyrics by the pianist and cabaret composer Bart Howard) and sang:

Poets often use many words to say a simple thing
It takes thought and time and rhyme to make a poem sing
With music and words I鈥檝e been playing
For you I鈥檝e written a song
To be sure you know what I鈥檓 saying
I鈥檒l translate as I go along

鈥淲ow.鈥� She sat still for a moment, letting the words resonate. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great stuff, but it鈥檚 been thrown away!鈥�    

Prairie Roots

In the 鈥渂ackwater Northern Minnesota town鈥� where Daehlin grew up, her family threw away nothing 鈥� including the piano they rescued from a flooded church basement.

鈥淭his was pre-internet, and we had no library, and the TV, which had tin foil on the antennae, only got four channels, so we made our own fun.鈥�

Her father was a pastor and her mother, a school teacher, pianist, organist and some-time choir director.

鈥淭hat used to be a package deal, you know. Think of the rules now 鈥� you can be nine months pregnant, and in an interview, they can鈥檛 say, 鈥極h, um鈥︹�� But when I was in high school, and the neighboring town was looking for a pastor, it was, 鈥楢nd does your wife play the piano?鈥� So I grew up singing solos in church and on Christmas we kids would do a program at home 鈥� someone reads the Bible passage, someone sings. And I鈥檓 the baby of five siblings, so it was 鈥業 want attention and I鈥檓 a Sagittarius 鈥� people: love me! (please鈥�)鈥欌��

Her mother exposed her to a lot of music through a sheet music collection that consisted largely of selections from the Great American Songbook 鈥� popular songs written for Broadway and Hollywood throughout the first half of the 20^th century, 鈥渕ostly by immigrants who fled Nazi Germany for the U.S.,鈥� says Daehlin, whose own family began arriving 鈥渋n waves鈥� from Norway beginning around 1850. 鈥淧eople like Erich Korngold [the Austrian-born conductor and composer who wrote scores for Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Wolf and other films], who lifted from himself for film scores. Our country has a huge ear for this stuff. And it鈥檚 such a joy to sing.鈥�  

Bright Lights

Daehlin has sung in numerous operatic roles, given concerts in Italy, Germany and Scandinavia, and performed frequently at St. Paul's Chapel, The Players Club and the Cornelia Street Caf茅 (now closed) 鈥� but there were times, when she first came to New York City (鈥渢o pursue my dream, whatever that was鈥�) when her path seemed less clear.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to be a classical singer. It takes so much money. You have to pay a $50 application fee just to walk in the door for an audition, pay your pianist, and take the day off from your job 鈥� so you鈥檙e out a couple hundred bucks when it鈥檚 all said and done, and all just to get a letter saying 鈥榶ou鈥檙e one of the 5,000 sopranos we鈥檝e heard, and maybe if you鈥檇 been a tenor.鈥� Hmm 鈥� why am I going on about that? I guess, because it still hurts.鈥�

My biggest fear at this point is that I鈥檓 going to start spilling my guts as though I were talking to a therapist. Or say something bad 鈥� Mom鈥檚 watching! 鈥� or, God forbid, that anyone will see the mess I shoved into the other corners of the room.

鈥擫isa Daehlin

She has found it challenging, on occasion, to navigate her various artistic identities 鈥� like the time when a composer said, 鈥淒on鈥檛 take this as an insult, but is your voice meant to be heard at more of a distance?鈥�

鈥淗e was right, of course 鈥� I鈥檓 an opera singer, and opera singers aren鈥檛 meant to be heard from a foot away. It鈥檚 more like a pointillistic picture.  Up close, it can overwhelm, but when you see it from further away 鈥� not, like, from New Jersey, but in a big space 鈥� you can take it in. So, I鈥檝e had to learn to modify my voice for cabaret and other settings.鈥� 

Or the time when she auditioned for someone connected to the Met鈥檚 Young Artists鈥� program, and her voice teacher, who had given the director one of Daehlin鈥檚 designs as a holiday gift, told her not to mention that she was the knitter.

鈥淪he said, 鈥楤ecause then she鈥檒l see you as a fiber artist,鈥欌�� Daehlin recalls, making quotation marks in the air.

But eventually things changed. In 2013, Daehlin, who also runs a business called 鈥淗ats de Lisa,鈥� created a show she called 鈥淭wisted Stitch: Songs of Love and Knitting,鈥� in part just to thumb her nose at convention. Nowadays, she pretty much sings what she wants to sing (Poulenc, Satie), when she wants to.  

鈥淭here鈥檚 a Venn diagram, and I鈥檓 in the middle of it,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hese are the buckets of my life. I鈥檓 more than that, I hope, but maybe it鈥檚 package-able.鈥�

The 鈥�#LovePeopleBeKind Cabaret鈥� is just one of her incarnations, but it may be, figuratively as well as literally, closest to home. After a somewhat discombobulated launch (鈥淚 was moving furniture around the apartment, unearthing the keyboard, cleaning up a corner to make into a stage and to show to the world, and then, exhausted, realized, 鈥極k, now it鈥檚 time to do the show!鈥�), she now effortlessly navigates off-screen costume changes, pre-recorded accompaniment by still other friends and musical colleagues and , and in general conjures the feeling that you are right there in the room with her.

Doing cabaret this way really opens up the reality of singing in the shower or a lullaby for yourself. It鈥檚 what鈥檚 comfortable for your body 鈥� and if it鈥檚 comfortable for you to sing, chances are it is for someone else to hear as well.

鈥擫颈蝉补&苍产蝉辫;顿补别丑濒颈苍

鈥淒oing cabaret this way really opens up the reality of singing in the shower or a lullaby for yourself,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 what鈥檚 comfortable for your body 鈥� and if it鈥檚 comfortable for you to sing, chances are it is for someone else to hear as well. Really, my biggest fear at this point is that I鈥檓 going to start spilling my guts as though I were talking to a therapist. Or say something bad 鈥� Mom鈥檚 watching! 鈥� or, God forbid, that anyone will see the mess I shoved into the other corners of the room.鈥�

The show also reflects a certain measure of serendipity and maybe even fate. Daehlin鈥檚 grandmother, who attended St. Olaf College in 1918 by selling her inheritance (an acre of the family farm), later served as President of the Northern Minnesota Women鈥檚 Missionary Federation and Secretary of the National Cradle Roll, a church organization that welcomed newborns into the religious fold. 

鈥淎 few years ago, my mom told me that, in one of those capacities, she traveled around holding meetings at which she sang and gave interpretive readings. And I鈥檓 so glad to know that. Not to get all mystical about it, but I do believe that some things happen for a reason. I鈥檝e done a million live cabaret shows, and I was planning to do a few more this year, but they鈥檙e expensive.  Now I鈥檓 doing them every week out of my living room.鈥� She shrugs and smiles. 鈥淣ever saw that coming!鈥�

— Joe Levine