Josefien Stoppelenburg
Josefien Stoppelenburg washed the dishes. Her older sister, Charlotte, dried them. They were between the ages of seven and 10, growing up and cheerfully doing chores at home in Meppel, a city in the northeast of the Netherlands.
Something beautiful always drowned out the clatter of the plates and the squeaks of a sponge or a dishcloth cleansing glasses and cups and utensils.
Their singing voices, always their singing voices, triumphed over the familiar kitchen noises.
Careers were born right there, near a sink and under a set of cupboards. Passersby — namely the siblings’ parents, Willem (a composer) and Paula (a pianist) — enjoyed an entirely different kind of Dutch treat after meals in Holland.
Brava!
Brava!
Josefien, a soprano, and Charlotte, an alt-mezzo soprano, would earn first-place honors at their native country’s prestigious Princes Christina competition as teenagers, in 1997. How many concert halls exist in the Netherlands? Ask either Stoppelenburg sister, since they’ve performed in nearly every one.
Josefien Stoppelenburg, now 35, won the 2013 Chicago Oratorio Award and placed second nationally in the American Prize Opera Competition, also in ’13.
“My advice to parents of children interested in singing is, ‘Don’t buy a dishwasher,’ ” says an animated Josefien, witty and smiling from her seat in St. Roger Abbey Organic French Pattisserie in Wilmette, her new hometown, after having ordered coffee and a mixed-fruit tartlet. “I remember when I knew, for certain, that singing is what I wanted to do. I was maybe 15, a soloist in a choir, surrounded by wonderful, immensely talented musicians. I thought, ‘This is home, and this is comfortable. These are my people.’ ”
Some six months ago, Josefien Stoppelenburg and three other soloists — Meg Bragle (mezzo-soprano), Mark Van Arsdale (tenor) and Levi Hernandez (baritone) — were tapped to invigorate The Apollo Chorus’ rendition of Handel’s “Messiah” on Dec. 10 (7 p.m.) and Dec. 11 (2 p.m.) at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago. The music director and conductor of The Apollo Chorus is Stephen Alltop, also the director of music for Northwestern University’s Alice Millar Chapel and the husband of a former kitchen warbler.
“We kept bumping into each other, through music,” Stoppelenburg recalls. “I sang for him at [Alice Millar Chapel], in Chicago, in other places. We both have a love for music, a deep love. And Stephen is incredibly funny, with the energy of 17 people. We laugh and we laugh and we laugh. We laugh together all of the time.”
They got married a little more than four years ago, the ceremony staged at the Margarita European Inn in Evanston. Around 30 people witnessed it. The groom’s parents and the bride’s parents could not attend … in person. Skype allowed Stephen’s parents (from Arizona) and Josefien’s parents (from their home country) to view the nuptials via technology.
“You should have seen the set-up,” Stoppelenburg says. “We had placed laptops on these beautiful Greek columns. Very ‘Star Trek’.
She laughs. Her infectious laugh — no surprise — is concert-hall melodious, a snappy, impromptu aria for an audience of a dozen in the quaint patisserie on Central Avenue.
There’s more to Stoppelenburg than her singing voice. Volumes more. The former Dutch youth chess champion is a painter and a past artist-in-residence at the Evanston Art Center. (She called Evanston home for several years before moving to Wilmette four months ago). She admires artwork by Marc Chagall and Paul Gauguin and Odilon Redon. Stoppelenburg’s imaginative and vivid work has appeared on opera sets, on postcards, on the cover of a rock album, in magazines. Many of her commissioned paintings hang on walls in private homes.
“It’s my second life, painting,” says the stepmother of two (ages 21 and 18). “I’m addicted to color. I’m a different person when I paint; I’m less talkative. When I sing, I’m outgoing, having so much fun.”
Stoppelenburg, her colorful tartlet half-eaten, pauses to reach for a book inside her purse, resting on the floor. It’s a German novel, “Berge Meere und Giganten” (“Mountains Seas and Giants”), written by Alfred Doblin. It was published in 1924, a work of science fiction. It imagines the development of society into the 27th century. Stoppelenburg is in the early stages of translating the book into English.
She sings.
She paints.
She translates.
“I also played squash,” she says. “I played it for one day, with my husband. I couldn’t walk for the next three days.”
Her attention returns to Handel’s “Messiah”, a baroque oratorio presented in three parts, Part I being “the most Christmassy,” she says. Stoppelenburg has moved “Messiah” audiences at least 30 times in the Netherlands. She has performed “Messiah” solos in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in Cincinnati, in Germany. Her next stop: Chicago. Next weekend, Dec. 10-11.
Be sure to do the dishes and then head to the Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Drive.
“This chorus, this Apollo Chorus, it presents such a beautiful style, and it knows Handel’s ‘Messiah’ so well,” she says of the volunteer chorus’ 130 auditioned members. “It is an honor, for me, to be a part of it, and it will be special, getting to perform it with my husband.
“My favorite [solo] is ‘Rejoice Greatly’. It’s cheery and bubbly, like champagne for the ears.”
Tickets to Handel’s “Messiah” at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago range from $20-$70. To purchase individual tickets or to book a group, call the theater box office at (312) 334-7777 or visit www.harristheaterchicago.org/tickets.