Oberlin

Darting out the door, modeling a grey t-shirt, shower cap and sweat pants, the diva makes her debut to me declaring, "I can't walk around like this, there are people here, I'm not ready!" She zooms across Finney's basement and into her dressing room as her assistant turns to me with, "You'll know when she needs you. She'll just shout CHERYLL." Giggling, I shuffle through my things, knowing that any minute I will be in the presence of international singing star and diva, Denyce Graves.

Her water was to be room temperature and no one was to touch her makeup. She frequently popped Altoids, possibly because it soothed her throat, possibly because she had bad breath, but even more possibly because the cooling aspect of the Altoids helps her to feel the sensation of a raised palate, or "the dome" as professor Daune Mahy calls it (Ms. Graves used this idea of sucking on a peppermint to help some of the singers in the master class). And her only real request was a bottle of water and a box of tissues at the stage door (divas don't sweat, you know).

If you missed the concert this weekend, in the words of junior voice major Mary Beth Bulen, "consider yourself a failure." She looked like a Barbie doll with her perfect cleavage, immaculate gowns, and Kate Spade shoes. Her entire presence filled Finney, from the moment her lips spread to take the initial breath, to the three encores she performed at the end of the concert. She moved gracefully from character to character, speaking casually with the audience about her teacher Helen Hodam, telling jokes about the last time she was in Oberlin (when her opera-singing dog Madison made a surprise appearance onstage with her), and taking us on an emotional journey through her wide range of repertoire. The first half of the recital focused on pieces she studied with Ms. Hodam while she was a student here at Oberlin. The second half took on some personal and classic show-stopping numbers. In her rendition of "Gretchen am Spinnrade" she reached out her arms in longing, brought them to her mouth like a child who's just screamed out a "bad" word, and the "s" of the word "kuss" broke through her weaved fingers as shudders ran down the spine of each and every audience member.

Think she was dynamic onstage? That doesn't even compare to the explosion of personality we experienced at her master class. It was like watching Serena Williams burn up the tennis court while hyped up on coke in Vera Wang heels. At any minute she could have broken into the dance from the VMA's Video of the Year, "Single Ladies."

Some highlights? The orgasmic, 'When Harry met Sally'-esque moment screaming "Yes! Yes!" in response to Tamara Fingal's "Liebestreu," ending Madeline Schaefer's "Piangero..." with a high five, and the phrase to describe the adorable Caitlin Bell, the "cute, ingenue, sparkly singer girl."

And what were Auntie Denyce's words of advice? Sing with your body, love the breath like you love the song, have courage, be beautiful, demand attention the minute you walk in the door, be open with the audience, connect immediately, vibrate right away, and use your breath.