Meet Your Musician: Hannah Ploughman with Bravo! Vail Festival Chorus
Get to know your local musicians
Bravo! Vail Music Festival/Courtesy photo
Q: What is your stage/band name?
A: Hannah Ploughman, soprano
Q: How would you describe your style of music?
A: I sing in a variety of styles, but my real passion is singing opera. I am a coloratura soprano, which means that I sing high and fast. My favorite characters to play are ones with a lot of humor and spunk. I try to be charismatic and animated onstage, while always maintaining a bright, rich sound.
Q: What instrument(s) do you and your band members play?
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A: I have studied voice and piano since I was a kid. I also play a bit of guitar. In college, as part of my classes to become a music teacher, I took a semester in strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. So I can play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on just about any instrument.
Q: How long have you been performing in the valley?
A: I grew up in the Valley, attending Red Sandstone, Minturn Middle School and then Battle Mountain High School, so all of my earliest experiences in music took place here. I moved back to the Valley in 2020 during quarantine and have been slowly trying to get back into performing more.
Q: Where in the valley have you performed?
A: I have done community concerts at senior centers and recitals at the Vail and Beaver Creek chapels. I have also sung at a number of weddings and funerals around town. My favorite experience has been performing with Bravo! Vail Music Festival at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. I will be singing on July 2 with the Bravo! Vail Festival Chorus and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in their performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. It will be a fantastic performance.
Zach Mahone/Courtesy photo
Q: What’s your dream venue (in the valley or otherwise)?
A: I think any classical singer dreams of making it big and singing at the Met, but I definitely have goals of singing on stages in Europe. I was lucky enough to be part of a summer opera tour in Germany when I was in college, and I have been dying to get back ever since.
Hannah Ploughman/Courtesy photo
Q: What other styles of music do you (and members of your group) listen to?
A: I always have such a hard time answering this question! It sounds boring to say I listen to everything, but I really do find something to enjoy about almost all styles of music. I think music is like a tool, and depending on my mood or what I’m going through, I’ll need a different tool to get the job done.
Q: How does the Vail Valley music scene compare to other places you’ve played?
A: Vail Valley has a wonderful music scene. I especially love the summers when it feels like music is all around you. You could start your day listening to a singer-songwriter in a coffee shop, stumble upon a reggae band at happy hour and then finish off the day listening to some classical music on the lawn at a Bravo! Vail concert.
Q: What can the crowd expect from one of your performances?
A: I think even people who have never listened to classical music before, or think they are not interested in it, can have a very moving experience when they listen to choral music and opera. I fell in love with opera because it was the most passionate music I had ever heard. The human voice has such an incredible depth of expression. Something I always try to bring to my performances is a real personal connection to the music. Finding something in the text that resonates with my life allows me to lose myself in the performance. I’ve always felt that singing opera allows me to express feelings I have no words for. It can be a very powerful experience, for both the performer and the audience.
Bravo! Vail Music Festival/Courtesy photo
Q: Anything else we should have asked, anything else you’d like to share?
A: In addition to singing, I also enjoy teaching piano at Gypsum Elementary School as part of Bravo! Vail’s Music Makers Haciendo Música program.