While my expertise is in classical music and styling the performers, I’ve always been a huge fan of the “Lifestyle” section of any newspaper. What’s trending in food, fashion, and any aspect of relating to others? COVID19 continues to trend, despite the many distressing headlines happening in North America, and COVID19 will, for some time yet. In this series, I’m speaking to people who are figuring out ways to prevail during the pandemic.
Beste Kalender is an opera singer who – in a previous life – was a researcher in developmental and music psychology. She is also a music development teacher for little kids, and currently running a bi-lingual (Turkish and English) video project of tunes and tales with puppets, an endeavour she started during the lockdown to entertain and educate little children stuck at home. Whenever I scroll through Instagram, I always stop and check out what she’s doing – her online presence is extremely engaging, and I was so taken in by her visuals, warm and engaging presence, and puppets, I didn’t even realize at first it wasn’t in English. She posts in both English and Turkish.
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Ontario officially shut down on March 17, 2020. How was your business or career going before then? Before the shutdown, I had a pretty busy performance schedule for the rest of the season. On March 12, I was in Alberta, getting ready to perform in Edmonton Opera’s Candide. We performed our dress rehearsal and were having a celebratory meal when the news hit us that all events and public gatherings of more than 250 are being cancelled across Alberta. This meant that our Candide had to be cancelled as well. It was surreal. That same night, team #eocandide decided to have a proper “wake”… we sang and hugged each other, before I took the next flight to Toronto the very next morning. On my trip back, I had a feeling that this was just the beginning … Soon afterwards, Ontario decided to shut down as well and the rest of my season started slowly but surely slipping away… (I know…DRAMA!)
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What changes have your made to adapt to the “current normal”? It was hard to grasp this new reality at first. No one could predict what would happen next. With the rest of the season getting cancelled and everyone being stuck at home, I decided to sit back and wait it out. Since then, I have binged a number of opera and theatre performances online, took a couple of online university courses, and read some more about positive psychology in order to have a better understanding of that magical thing we all try to have in our lives: “Happiness”. Then I opened up all the scores I need to study for the next season and started working on some beautiful music. Those engagements might also get cancelled or postponed but that is no excuse to avoid learning some delicious new repertoire when you have all the time in the world.
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Let’s talk about how you’re doing. We’re all looking for coping mechanisms – what are yours? I cope through creating, meditating, and connecting. In early April, I have started a “tunes and tales with puppets” video project for children who have been stuck at home. I also started cooking new recipes I never had the courage to try before – I guess the quarantine made me a little more adventurous. Apart from that, I am trying to meditate regularly before I start my day. I became a huge fan of the Calm App. Now that we have limited “in person” access to others, I also try to connect with more people online, including friends and family in Canada, Turkey, and across the globe. I think I appreciate life, art, and my loved ones even more now.
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It’s hard to watch the news. Let’s focus on the positive … what positive thing(s) are you discovering about yourself during this time? I am a very positive person in general. But having most of my family back in Turkey and not being able to visit them as originally planned this summer has been really difficult. Thank goodness for Zoom and WhatsApp. As to things I have rediscovered about myself, I am more resilient and resourceful than I thought and I am really thankful for everything in life: my family, friends, my artistry, beautiful music, my native culture and my adopted home, beloved Canada! Regardless of the uncertainties in our future at this moment, I know that I will find my way to happiness, and a way to spread some cheer to others.
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Have you found a way to “help with the cause”, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you? I don’t know how significant it is but my bi-lingual project “tunes and tales with Beste The Mezzo” seems to spread some cheer in Turkey and Canada. The project started because I felt terrible about little children being stuck at home. Also April 23 was the 100th anniversary of International Children’s Day in Turkey and I knew I had to do something to cheer up the little ones. I already had a puppet for Little Red Riding Hood, so that was the very first tale I told to test the waters. I am leveraging my experience as a music development teacher for toddlers and my research degree in developmental and music psychology. I create most of the puppets myself and combine the stories/tales with pieces/tunes from operas or children’s songs with relevant themes. I also add some parent education moments to the episodes, in order to provide the parents with some tips on how to best support their little one’s music and language development. The episodes in Turkish are now being livestreamed by Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s online Library Project. The English ones are slowly gaining a wider online audience as well.
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Supposing we get the news it’s all over, and the whole world has been vaccinated. Do you predict your life will return to the way it was, or different somehow? No way … life will never return to the way it was. I have much more appreciation for everything in life than I had before. I will sing louder, create more works of art, and do my very best to help people in their pursuit of happiness. Life is too short to be unhappy or stressed over society’s understanding of success and happiness.
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What advice to give others going through a hard time right now? Hang in there and be safe, friends. We will find our “new normal” with a little more appreciation for each other and for mother nature. As for classical musicians, music is not just a job for us. It is part of our identity, it is our passion! We will be back with our art ever stronger … and more inspired than before! We should all try to focus on our wellbeing and keep actively pursuing our right to make a decent living as professional artists. Covid will pass but the world will continue evolving, hence our business model in the arts will have to evolve too. Best(e) Wishes to everyone!
Facebook:@bestekalendermezzosoprano/@sopranodanmasallar Instagram: @bestemezzo @sopranodanmasallar
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