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Performance of a Lifetime
Cornelius Schnauber, a veteran of the international performing arts scene, directs the USC Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies. When this German professor, playwright and novelist isn’t teaching class, he can be found training students and professionals how to infuse German culture into their performances. Here’s what this Dresden native, who has won awards from the Los Angeles City Council and the presidents of Germany and Austria, has been up to lately.
Since 1992, I’ve been the German diction coach of the Los Angeles Opera, where I help singers in German-language operas to understand the proper relationship between text and music. For example, if a performer wants to sing an aria in a dancing voice, I train him or her how to emphasize the consonants in German words to fit that upbeat dancing culture. On the other hand, if someone wants to sing an aria or song that has strong emotional phrases, I teach him or her how to emphasize vowels.
At USC, I spend a lot of time collaborating with the School of Theater, the Thornton School of Music and the School of Fine Arts. In fact, USC and I are preparing to host the Los Angeles auditions for the Anton G. Rubinstein International Piano Competition that will be held in Dresden, Germany, later this year, and which I co-chair.
My main focus right now, however, is working as co-president of the International Forum for Culture and Economics to open a Los Angeles branch that will work closely with USC and the College. This international organization hosts events where representatives from the worlds of the arts and economics meet and exchange ideas. It would be great international visibility for USC College.
In the meantime, I’m in the midst of collaborating with the Los Angeles Opera and the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles on a three-week workshop to explore the history and renovation of Dresden, a major German cultural center that has beautiful baroque architecture and some of the best opera houses in the world. I have two plays premiering in Germany next year, too. Definitely enough to keep me busy.
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