My first memory of her tiny, feisty self was when I spied her in the hallway of the EJB in front of the faculty mailboxes. It was winter of my first year and I was unhappy with my current voice teacher, knowing I needed to move on. Patricia had just started teaching at U of T that fall and was already the Talk of the Town. I was totally nervous to approach her—she seemed so grand! So I wrote her a letter. She didn’t respond and so finally at the urging of my pianist, I called her. “Ah, yes,” she said (after the compulsory "654-double 8, double 9”), “the young woman who is in DIRE STRAITS”. We arranged a meeting in Stratford where she was singing (I think Buttercup). I was terrified she would tell me I was a mezzo. Which of course she did. And she agreed to teach me on the basis of that session, becoming an incredible mentor and supporter, and ultimately a friend over 2 decades. She wasn’t always easy—she could be a real taskmaster. I remember sessions on Una voce poco fa that started with me singing the first phrase, her stopping me and endless repetitions of—in the end—just the first note! Frustrating! But I learned. Now as a voice teacher myself, I find myself recalling so much of what she taught me: first and foremost that a singer is a person and that their emotional and mental well-being is critical to truly connecting with one’s voice. She saw me through some of the most difficult times of my young adult life, always urging me to be better than I thought I could be. My favourite quote was upon hearing a rather pious erstwhile student say that she should be “grateful for God’s Gift (her voice)”, Patricia wryly said “God didn’t give me this ‘gift'!!! I worked damned hard for it all my life!”
Kimberly Barber, Mezzo-Soprano
Patricia’s influence on me encompassed not only her guidance as a voice teacher but also her role as my mentor and friend. Her at times stern advice always came from a place of great love and concern and her many words of wisdom have stayed with me throughout of my life. I deeply miss her, most especially her tremendous wit, warmth and mischief.
Adi Braun,
Canadian jazz and cabaret vocalist and composer
One of the first times I saw Pat was in the new production of Cinderella at Sadler's Wells.
I had just started working at Glyndebourne, who were co-incidentally staging their
production with the reigning Angelina of the day, Teresa Berganza. I was always a big fan of Teresa's but for me Pat was my favourite interpreter of the role as in both personality and voice, she was the warmest, most sympathetic and womanly performer I ever saw or heard. Every role she took on, she made her own and I expect her Isoliervied with Cenerentola as her "best" one, but she gave us so many great experiences.
Neil Dalrymple,
Music International
My first introduction to Miss Kern was back in 1992. I had asked to enter her studio through correspondence and I was thrilled when I was accepted. The first lesson was a complete revelation. When several of my colleagues asked, "what was she like?" I stated that she was TALL, very kind yet strict with the technique. The mind remembers not just the physical but the spiritual as well. Patricia Kern is larger than life and this is how I will always remember her. She was the nurturing parent I never had. She was the mentor with the perfect knowledge of singing. She advised me on all aspects of my life. Even on my wedding day Miss Kern gave me paramount advice. I was weak-kneed standing at the back of St James Cathedral. My groomsmen said I looked green and was going to pass out. Miss Kern and her husband David rush from their church pew and proceeded to instruct me how to breathe. "Ok, just breathe, James. Breathe in 12345, breathe out 12345. Dini wants you functional and not limp at that altar"! I have few regrets in my life thanks to Patricia Kern. She gave me a beautiful career. I do deeply regret one thing. With all the travels and time commitment of an operatic career I did not visit Miss Kern as much as I would have liked. I would have loved to show her my boys Liam and Hardy as they are a product of her wisdom and guidance!
James Westman,
Baritone
I remember dinners, drinks, dreams, laughing til the tears ran, jokes, toasts, sitting together on the piano bench, being silly like school kids playing hookey, being serious and smart. I remember so many wise words, the infectious smile, the mischievous sparkling eye. I'll always remember that there are vitamins in Guinness and that anything said in Welsh sounds like a song. When anyone asked who I would like to take a lesson from for my next piano recital I replied, without hesitation, Patricia Kern. "Iechyd da pob cymro a twll dyn bob saes."
Linda Ippolito,
Pianist extraordinaire, gin drinker, bawdy joke partaker
When I was 17 years old I attended my first vocal recital at the home of my music teacher. The baritone was Russell Braun accompanied by Carolyn Maule. The recital was of course amazing and I had the chance to speak with the two artists afterwards. I told Russell that I had started singing lessons and that my goal was to study singing at a university. His response was very direct and clear. I should audition for the university of Toronto and study with his teacher Patricia Kern. I now know that conversation was a huge moment for me as a young singer. It put me on a path that lead to studying with Ms. Kern and ultimately a professional career. I remember very clearly my first lesson. She explained to me that at the end of my first year I would be required to sing for a jury, and that 45 minutes of art song would have to be prepared. She then instructed me to prepare three separate 45 minute potential repertoire lists for the next lesson. I then asked her how to actually go about doing that. Ms. Kern then had a huge chuckle and told me to get my rear end to the music library. So I did. I spent countless hours sitting in the music library listening to repertoire.
The next week I came proudly prepared with 3 separate lists and she dismissed all but 20 minutes of the repertoire I thought had been appropriate. For the following lesson I was expected to prepare another 3 lists of repertoire and memorize three of the songs that she had approved. In that moment I thought that Ms. Kern was trying to break me down somehow. I now know that she was giving me a gift. The gift of discipline and hard work.Boy, I thought I was in singing boot camp! And I was. Her expectations as far as discipline and hard work were very high. She explained to me that my voice would take time to develop and in the meantime it was expected that I get to work on the basic skills of being a musician. That included diction, interpretation, quick study etc. She taught me that there were no guarantees in the business of singing and that I had to outwork the rest of the competition to even have a chance for success. By the end of my first semester my jury repertoire was memorized and ready with another 5 months left until the jury. This tough first year with Ms. Kern shaped me as musician. Not a single challenge in my career has even come close to the challenges that she placed before me in my first year. She put me through singer boot camp and I am so grateful for that.
Matthew Leigh
Miss Kern was the first and only singing teacher I had in Toronto. And it is because of her that I am still singing today. Not only do I owe my technique – especially my breathing – to her, but her love and support and, most importantly, guidance helped to create the performer I am today. If I am any sort of musician at all, it is largely do to her insights into this difficult profession, her insistence on excellence and discipline above all else and – yes – her criticism. She was never an easy teacher to work with because she placed such high demands on her students to excel musically, emotionally and spiritually but I always felt that she was steadfast in her support of me even when others weren’t. She taught me to be proud of who I am and never to settle for anything less than my best. Patricia Kern was an exceptional role model to anyone who had the good fortune to work with her and I consider myself blessed to have had her as a mentor and friend.
Brett Polegato,
Baritone
Singer, Director
I did not grow up thinking I would be a singer. Singers were dumb (or at least I thought so) but at 16 I decided in secret that this was what I wanted to do! I needed a guide and I needed the best.
Anyone and everyone I asked pointed me to the monolithic Patricia Kern. I remember dialing her number trembling because I had heard the stories: no-nonsense, razor ears, very strict, and hates laziness, etc. Yes, exactly what I wanted. When she answered the telephone in her beautiful dark British authoritative tone I thought, "Yep, this is it. This is who I want." First thing she asked me, "Do you really want to be an opera singer?" For the first time in my life I said it out loud, "Yes, Ma'am." "Fine, come sing for me and don't call me Ma'am," she said.
During the time I studied with Ms. Kern, I was in awe of her, of her technical prowess, her beautiful burnished bright mezzo, her understanding of the roles but mostly I loved learning about her. I was fascinated and she knew I was so she'd sometimes "throw me a bone" and tell me some exciting tidbit about her life and career. What's more, she made sure I knew that she believed in me. I felt empowered in that room and I looked forward to Friday's at 9am not just because I could sing but because I so loved hearing her sing, seeing her get excited about a good phrase, and everything was going swimmingly until I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and became pretty sick. Ms. Kern was my champion. She never made me feel that anything was wrong even though I know she worried about me.
Nothing was going to keep my from my hour with Ms.Kern. Sometimes she'd keep me for two and never charged me a cent more. She made me tough and one particular day I was finishing up my lesson and she said, "Mary-Lou, sit down. You are my little Trojan. I don't know that I have ever met someone so determined. You have something special and don't ever stop singing because your voice is important...and I will never say this again to you so listen well. Do you understand?" I did but after sometime due to school and health issues I had to stop lessons. I also stopped singing entirely for 6 years.
My love for it was bigger than any disease could ever be and many times over the years I would hear her voice in my head saying, "Keep going!" I did.
I work full time in opera, as a soprano, an historian, and a teacher. My work, my heart, my soul is in opera and opera alone. I don't think I would've ever had the guts to achieve any of it had it not been for the encouragement and strength I gained back then from my teacher Pat Kern.
I'm smiling so broadly as I write this. What a gift you were to us all! I will always be "a Trojan" because YOU were mine. I cried my eyes out when I heard you left us but I also smiled thinking of the great person and performer Heaven now has. I am so glad to have known you, so honoured, and you will remain a part of every breath, every song, every particle of life that reflects the incomparable Patricia Kern: One in a million! Brava!
Dr. Mary-Lou Vetere,
PhD, Soprano
Studying with Patricia was empowering, liberating and at times hysterically funny. Laughter was a regular guest at our sessions and made self-consciousness unwelcome. There is nothing that I am delighted more by than when the human body and voice connects to the beauty of language. This was Patricia's gift to me.
When I came to study with Patricia at the U of T, I lived nearby, in easy walking distance to the university. For my 22nd birthday party I had an 'all black' party, and my new Toronto friends were very generous with the gifts they'd created. One of them had made me a black fur hat, and added a vintage black lambskin muff. I decided that this would be ideal for me (as I didn't like wearing gloves), and it was January! So, the following day I wore said muff to school (complete with fur hat), not realising that Patricia was driving down the street and saw in horror my outrageous outfit as she passed. When I arrived for my lesson (which was 9am on a Monday - her choice - and yes, it did make me tougher), she insisted I handed the to her offensive muff over...she confiscated it and I never saw it again! She said that opera singers should carry themselves with class, not crass.
I have heard it's still in the house somewhere...
Gidon Saks,
Bass-Baritone
I was a very serious 22-year-old when I first met Patricia, or Ms. Kern as I will always think of her. Tiny of person yet grand of presence, formidable yet hilarious, she immediately made a strong impression on me. It was a short year or so later that I found myself in a state of vocal crisis. After a comforting chat on the phone we met and had a sing and the first thing she said was "Do you prefer red or white?" at which point she made her first act as my teacher to prescribe a glass of wine (if not more) every evening! What she gave me, not only as a teacher, but as a friend, was perspective- a dose of reality. She taught me some home truths of singing and encouraged me to be the most descriptive artist I could be. But the most important thing I learned from her was that a singing career must be but one part of a happy and varied life. I now work at her home company, English National Opera, and it makes me proud to think that she once brought audiences to their feet here and that she is part of the legacy of this opera house where many of her protégés now sing. Her stewardship of generations of singers was remarkable and is sorely missed, as is she. I miss her honesty, her caring nature, her mischievous smile and cutting wit. Mostly I miss having a pint and a chat with her.
Trevor Bowes,
Bass-baritone
Patricia Kern was a force of nature. Her strength showed in how she how she lived her life as an incredible mother, wife, friend, teacher and singer. She always gave you the truth and nothing less and was there to lift you up if you needed it. She always demanded the very best from me and she believed in me. She had such a great sense of humor and zest for life. I was such a serious student and she reminded me that art does not exist without life experiences and that I must not let mine pass me by. She was such a remarkable singer who communicated so well through her words and her voice and could made all of the characters she played come to life. She was an inspiration. I loved every moment I spent with her and am a better person and a better singer for having known her and worked with her.
Chloé Olivia Moore,
Soprano, Ms. Kern's student and friend