Distinguished Achievement in a Profession
Internationally renowned opera star Caroline Thomas ’81 inherited her gift of singing from her father, Blake Thomas, who she says still sings beautifully. However, she credits her great success to studying with Norman McLean during her years at Wesleyan. Caroline has been singing since childhood. “Basically, you couldn’t stop me,” she said. “I HAD to sing. I just couldn’t shut up!” Luckily, her parents encouraged her and she began singing at Druid Hills Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, where her father was a paid soloist. The choir minister there, Jerry Black, was her first teacher and he and his wife, Charlise Mallory Black ’60, groomed Caroline for her Wesleyan audition. After graduating in 1981, Caroline studied at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, earned her Master of Music Degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and attended the American Opera Center at the Juilliard School Lincoln Center in New York.
Early in her career, Caroline performed with ensembles in Lucerne, Switzerland, Regensburg and Darmstadt, Germany, and Saverne, France. In 1997, she sang the premiere of Tosca at the Städtische Bühnen in Germany, where she was heralded as “the discovery of the evening…In her aria Vissi d'arte, she forms one of those magical opera moments. Münster has a new Prima Donna." Caroline was hired as the Leading Lady of the City Theater, a.k.a the “City Soprano,” and served in that role until 2001. In 1998, she was named Münster’s Singer of the Year. She guested in Catania, Hannover, Kiel, Berlin, Innsbruck, Seattle and Washington, DC. “Germany was (and is) a land where artists can work steadily on a normal income,” she said. “I was always drawn to come here and try my luck. Even in high school, I dreamed of coming to the Oktoberfest in Munich.”
Caroline has achieved international acclaim for her performances of works by Wagner, Mozart, Weber, Puccini, Verdi and Strauss. She has brought to stage the roles of Tosca, Donna Anna, Fidelio, Lady Macbeth, Aida, Chrysothemis, Ariadne, Kundry, Elsa, Leonore in “La Forza del Destino” and Wagner’s Ring of the Niebelungen. Her concert work includes Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Pfitzner- Von deutscher Seele, Strauss’ Four Last Songs and Mozart’s Requiem. Caroline has been described as having “wide sweeping tone, attractive femininity and precise vocal dynamics."
In 2003, she sang Brünnhilde with Placido Domingo and was awarded the Washington National Opera Artist of the Year. Other awards include Puccini Foundation Award with Licia Albanese, Liederkranz, Metropolitan Opera Regional Finalist, Grace Moore Fellowship in Opera at University of Tennessee, and Cash Award from Curtis Institute "Singer Most Likely to Succeed.”
Since 2002, Caroline has a full professorship at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany. She calls it “the best job in the world!” Training young, gifted singers for a life on the Opera Stage is demanding and exciting. Recent graduates are now ensemble members in Graz, Austria, Würzberg and Wüppertal, Germany. In 2008, she was elected as the first woman Dean at the School of Music in Detmold.
Caroline is indeed a first lady of the opera and a gifted teacher and mentor to future opera stars. For her international contributions to opera; for serving as a role model for all students; and for her commitment to keeping the beauty and traditions of classical music alive in today’s culture, it is appropriate and with pleasure that the Wesleyan College Alumnae Association presents the Alumnae Award for Distinguished Achievement in a Profession to Caroline Thomas, Class of 1981. |
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