Bridgette Cooper Anderson
Celebrated Mezzo Soprano
Columbia, Maryland

(My) Family First

I confess. I am a little more excited than usual about this month's Lifestyle CEO To Know, not only because she's a fantastically talented singer and business woman, but also because she's my cousin. I believe strongly in encouraging women from all over, but I have a special place in my heart for my sister family members who are using their God-given talents to benefit of themselves, their families, their craft and society. From sharing the stage with Placido Domingo to touring the world with Broadway opera companies, Bridgette Cooper Anderson, my cousin and friend, is a standout example of what one woman can do with a dreams, drive and determination.

As a young child, I remember seeing pictures of my Auntie, Bridgette's mother, performing in concert. I was so impressed with the beautiful flowing gowns she wore, and even back then, I wondered if she had passed her incredible vocal talents on to any of her daughters. She did.

Bridgette, age 38, is a Mezzo Soprano. Mezzo means "middle" voice in Italian, so Bridgette's comfortable singing voice is lower than a soprano, which is a high voice. In layman's terms, she would be considered an alto. She first discovered that she had a gift when, after she performed solo in junior high school, the choir director called her mother to insist that she come and hear her daughter perform. Her singing career officially began at East Carolina University where she carried a full course load while also training for auditions, participating in music readings and competitions and took voice and piano classes. She graduated in 1989 and immediately began touring with various Opera Companies and Broadway ensembles.

Hitting The High Notes

For her age, Bridgette is an incredibly seasoned performer. She performed a lead role in The Crucible, which was directed by Bruce Berensford, director of the critically acclaimed film, Driving Miss Daisy starring Morgan Freemand and Jessica Tandy. "This was exciting to me because I was personally invited to audition by the General Director and the Music Director of the Washington National Opera, who had heard me singing in the chorus of just one Opera," explains Bridgette. "This is a very rare and anomalous event in my profession, and I was honored to have my talent received in that way," she added. She also sang in Le Cid with Placido Domingo, one of the greatest and most celebrated performers of all time. She also performed in the Voices of the New Millennium Concert at Carnegie Hall's famed Weil Recital Hall in New York City.

Bridgette's performances have been reviewed not only in dozens of domestic newspapers, but also internationally as she has performed throughout Europe and elsewhere overseas.

Massaging The Instrument

To help the instrument of her voice remain at its peak, Bridgette practices her craft daily. "Practicing means much more than singing notes on a scale everyday," she says. "It also includes attending the concerts of other classical singers, constantly learning new repertoire, going to the Library of Congress, listening to as many artists and styles of songs as I can and memorizing music long before I even open my mouth to sing a note." And lest you think that just because a singer has a gift, she can just learn the notes and words and then arrive on stage and knock the ball out of the park, here's a partial list of what Bridgette has to do to lead up to the moment in concert.

• Translate songs from other languages into English so she has a complete understanding of the text -- this can take up to a week depending on the aria/opera

• Research the composer and/or the poet

• Research the origin of the song, including time periods, costumes, characters' relationships, and obtain a keen understanding of why the aria is being sung by her character

• Listen to the accompaniment without singing along to find large and small nuances that help her deliver the best and truest interpretation of the song

• Perfect the interpretation and phonetics of the music

A Mommy On A Mission

When she's not singing (and sometimes while she is), Bridgette can be found on the phone with me. OK, seriously, she can be found with her 14-month old daughter, Darby. Bridgette has been married for two years, and so you can also catch her from time to time with her husband and 3 stepchildren, ages 12 to 15.

Bridgette, who also provides music education consulting services, has strong incentive to do her best under any circumstance. "My grandparents arrived in this country with nothing," she says. "They learned to build successful businesses from nothing, and any of us can do the same. By my example, I hope to teach Darby that God has given each of us a talent, and that we have a responsibility to take steps to use that talent for the benefit of all mankind," she says. "By doing this, God will provide opportunities, and He will meet your needs and strengthen your weaknesses." she proclaims. "I also want Darby to learn that she is in charge of herself, that she can build something that is hers, and that if she works diligently, you will enjoy the fruits of your labor."

Rolling With The Punches

For a woman who is mothering a baby girl, keeping pace with a husband (who has a business as a fitness trainer), tending to step children when necessary, learning new languages, attending operas, studying the classics, performing and providing private consulting services, Bridgette has an incredibly relaxed demeanor. During our interview, she was as cool as a cucumber just like she's always been, and no topic seemed to cause any more angst than another, even when it seemed to me to be an incredibly stressful one. Says Bridgette, "I constantly remind myself that I am only one person who wants the best for her family. If I have to serve leftovers after a long day of rehearsals, performing and/or consulting, then that's what I do I don't stress over it," she declares confidently. "If my husband has to do the laundry while I work on other things, that's just how it is and I don't let it bother me. I don't let anyone put me on a guilt trip. I just refuse to be a martyr, ask other people to share the load with me and then do whatever it is that I have to do," she says.

Whatever life, family, business or Mozart throws at her, Bridgette is nothing if not up to the challenge of dealing with it. "I have found that planning and organization are the keys to running a business and managing a home," she says. "I am still learning that things just do not work if I don't plan, because I have so many other responsibilities now." Bridgette also benefits from surrounding herself with a support team. She says, "Having a great emotional support system is very important and I have people in my life that I call and vent to or laugh with now and then as a way to unload stress."

Command Performance

Bridgette left a full time job as a music teacher in the District of Columbia Public School System in January 2006 to pursue her dreams of opera success full time. Since then, she's been leveraging her considerable talent in amazing ways. By definition, a command performance is one given at the command of a leader like a president, queen or head of state. It is also associated with a performance that is so outstanding, so extraordinary, that an audience is left at rapt attention panting for more. It is the term that came to mind as Bridgette detailed the nuances of her business, which is composed of four profitable revenue streams.

• Classical Soloists Unlimited, through which Bridgette provides singing services for weddings, graduations, funerals and other social occasions. Bridgette participates in at least one bridal show a year to promote this segment of her business, and she advertises regularly in bridal and wedding magazines. She also enjoys word of mouth promotion

• Music On The Move, through which she helps educational institutions with small budgets to establish music education departments for students who would not otherwise be exposed to music. She uses her many contacts with organizations like the Kennedy Center, Washington Opera and other hotbeds of artistic activity to help these organizations coordinate music education events, field trips and curricula.

• Opera Performances also generate revenue for Bridgette. She is a member of two artists unions through which she receives performance leads. When she is interested in one, she contacts them and sends a press kit (which she created herself using press kits used by other performers as a guide), and she attends the casting call or audition. She also gets leads by word of mouth or from other industry peers such as her accompanist of over 15 years.

• CD Sales for her newly released CD, Heavenly Grass: Great American Art Songs, which is available from Amazon and at Best Buy, Borders and Tower Records. To get her CD from concept to reality was a huge task with a price tag of well in excess of $5,000, not counting the many hours of research and practice Bridgette herself put into its production. "First, I selected a theme for my CD and then I spent hundreds of hours at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC researching songs that fit into that theme," she says. "After I selected the music I wanted, I reviewed it with my accompanist to make sure it both of us were satisfied with its sound. We eliminated the songs we didn't like and narrowed it down to 8 tracks." After that, Bridgette undertook the arduous process of obtaining copyright clearance. "I had to contact the copyright owners of each piece and request permission to record the song. If that was granted, I paid the copyright fee. Once that was done for all 8 songs, I went to the next step," she recounts. The next step was finding a suitable recording studio and distribution house. She did both by simply sitting down with a search engine and a telephone. She compared prices, benefits and recommendations from third parties before choosing one. The company she chose took the master recording, duplicated it, created the CD cover, obtained the UPC codes and handled distribution details.