EVEN AS A CHILD, EVELYN Mandac’s voice was extraordinary enough to make her stand out from the crowd.
This first Filipino singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York—said it was Stella Pinga, her music teacher at the Cubao Elementary School in Quezon City, who first “discovered” her.
“She would teach us songs during class and I would stick out because I had a high voice. She told me I sang well and that I could join a choir,” Mandac told the Inquirer in a recent interview.
The New-York based soprano, now 68, has performed in opera houses in the US and Europe, and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She has sung the lead in more than 20 operas at the Met and is the first Filipino to sing in an opera with the world famous tenor Placido Domingo.
Earlier this month, Mandac flew into the country to take part in a classical concert organized by the UP Alumni Association.
It was a nostalgic homecoming for her. She had studied for six years at the then UP Conservatory of Music.
“I haven’t gone around much, but UP is so different now. The buildings are new and the campus is bigger. It was different during our time,” she said.
Born in Bukidnon, Mandac and her family moved several times because their father, Manuel, an Army general, was assigned to different places. Later on, the family made Mandaluyong City their home.
From singing in the church choir at age 12, Mandac was elected president of the glee club in UP High School. Until her graduation in 1956, she often took part in school plays.
Eight years after the UP, she left for the US to pursue post-graduate studies on a Fulbright travel grant.
“I never thought of pursuing an opera career. My plan was to study singing abroad and then come back home,” she said.
Turned away
While studying at Julliard, Mandac auditioned for an opera group but was turned away because of a surplus of sopranos. Undaunted, she tried again and was pleasantly surprised when she was given the lead role in an opera.
“It’s like I was bitten by the opera bug. I told myself, ‘Oh my God, I love opera!’ I wanted to do this, to sing more of it,” Mandac said.
In 1975, she stood on the stage of the Met at the Lincoln Center and sang the role of Lauretta in Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi.”
“It was like a fog to me, like nervous excitement. I could remember putting on my makeup and being called to the stage. I didn’t think much about the fact that I was the first Filipino to sing there,” she said.
From the Met, she went on to sing in different opera houses all over the world before her retirement in the 1980s.
Her New York apartment, which she shares with husband Sanjoy Bhattacharia, is now a classroom where she coaches her students on singing techniques and the interpretation of the classics. She tells them that sometimes, talent may not be enough for one to succeed.
Hard work and luck
“It doesn’t come just because you have the voice. You must work hard for it or else you won’t make it. It’s about luck, too. I was in the right place at the right time so I got the breaks,” Mandac explained.
She makes it a point to travel to the Philippines once a year, not just to visit her family but also to conduct workshops for students at the UP College of Music.
“Even if I live abroad, there will always be a part of me that will want to be connected with this country, with my family and to teach young students who dream of singing,” she said.
