Yasmin Arkinstall for 'Mic Check' Interview
We sit down with Mezzo Soprano Yasmin to pick her brain on all things music!
Can you tell us a bit about your performance background and how you got started in the industry?
I was a very anxious and highly-strung child which led my parents to put me into dancing and singing lessons for therapeutic purposes. I have been singing since I was 5 years old, having started out learning contemporary and R&B styles. I won the Manly Corso Popstars Competition in 2002 when I was 7 years old, and I was a soloist in the 2003 Schools Spectacular which encouraged me to keep giving music a go. As I got older, my voice became better suited to opera and Golden Age musicals which eventually led me to audition for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s classical voice degree. I was accepted and have fell more and more in love with opera, Golden Age musical theatre and classical crossover ever since.
What has been your biggest career highlight so far, and why was it significant for you?
I was extremely lucky last year to have been gifted by Artist-Bookings with the opportunity to sing operatic cabaret with Bill Bailey for his En Route to Normal shows at Sydney’s State Theatre. It was very surreal performing at one of my dream theatres since I was a teenager, and to do so alongside such an incredible comedian and entertainer. We sang 4 songs together and it was truly an experience that I will never forget for as long as I live. I’m so grateful to have witnessed Bill’s talent, kindness, generosity, and hilarity. Rehearsals were a hoot, and I learnt a lot from Bill and his beautiful team.
Can you talk about a project or album that you're currently working on and what we can expect from it?
In 2020, composer Dr Eve Klein and I were awarded an Arts Projects For Individuals and Groups grant by the Australia Council For the Arts to create an operatic, autobiographical work about my lived experience with obsessive compulsive disorder. It’s all about my journey from childhood into adulthood trying to navigate this debilitating anxiety disorder and it follows my quest to find an OCD specialist. With moments of darkness and humour as a coping mechanism, it’s a one-woman, 1-hour show featuring opera, musical theatre, R&B and even a bit of rap. This work now titled “OCDiva” was also offered a grant in 2021 by Blacktown Arts, the Blacktown Council’s contemporary arts organisation. We just finished recording the album at the University of Queensland in February and can’t wait to begin staging the opera around Western Sydney from August.
Composer: Eve Klein
Libretto: Yasmin Arkinstall, Sarah Penicka-Smith and Sharna Galvin
Musical Director: Sarah Penicka-Smith
Producer: Melanie Penicka-Smith
Choreographer: Jana Castillo
Designer: Olivia Watkins
How do you approach your creative process, from ideation to completion?
For something like OCDiva, that has been a very collaborative process. It has been important to us as a team that we know the ins and outs of portraying a work like this so that it’s not constant darkness and confronting from start to finish. We’ve done research into other artistic works that explore mental illness, and the girls interviewed me at-length about my lived experience with OCD so that we could collaboratively write a libretto that felt authentic. I like to do the same with pre-existing operatic arias by finding out everything I can about the libretto, what it's about, what drew the composer to that text, and what they’re wishing to convey musically about the character’s story. I really like to learn as much as I can about the backstory of the piece so that I can work towards honouring that in performance.
What advice would you give to aspiring artists looking to break out?
Keep putting yourself out there! This industry is full of knock-backs but there are times when you will get a big yes and it’ll all feel worth it. I’ve received lots of no’s but as long as I’ve taken care of my mental health and worked on self-compassion, I’ve gotten through the tough periods and have been offered some wonderful opportunities that I wouldn’t have received if I hadn’t kept responding to industry callouts. Keep on the look-out, you’ve got this!
How do you balance the creative and business sides of the performance industry, and what strategies have worked best for you?
I am still trying to work that out, haha. The business side is really challenging, especially as a classical singer. I have worked hard on developing my social media skills on my website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and even TikTok, haha. I’ve also inquired into online entertainment agencies such as Artist Bookings, applied for various industry callouts, and attended workshops on how to best market oneself in the performance industry. It is still a major work in progress for me and I am continuing to learn along the way.
““While many older operas explore themes which are timeless and universal, we often need to suspend disbelief or need the help of a modern re-telling in order to relate to them with the sense of immediacy and directness that contemporary opera achieves.””
How do you stay motivated and inspired to create and develop new work?
There are always new stories to tell and particularly in the opera world, more contemporary works with current issues are sought-after now more than ever. One of these issues keeping me inspired to take part in new work is the area of poor mental health as an artist. Discussion of mental health in the arts has a long way to go - there's a place for every story, but still not a place for every artist. As a classical singer with lived experience of obsessive-compulsive disorder, it is important to me that more stories exploring neurodivergence are shared in the arts. Real stories of artists’ true struggles encourage people from all walks of life, including performing artists who are often advised to hide mental health issues, to acknowledge and reach out about their challenges. They also shine more of a light on different conditions, giving them a much-needed awareness, which is largely underrepresented on the main stage.
Can you tell us about a collaboration or project that you've worked on that was particularly memorable or influential?
Working with Bill Bailey and the OCDiva team have been definite collaborative highlights, as well as being the 2023 ambassador for Impact Institute’s Nepean Disability Expo. The “My Future, My Choice Nepean Disability Expo” is a one-stop-shop for over 100 services and providers within the disability sector and showcases performers and advocates living with a disability. In collaboration with Impact Institute, I was honoured with the opportunities to be interviewed by 7News, perform an aria and be interviewed by Studio 10, chat about my story with local radio stations such as Radio Blue Mountains and SWR 99.9 FM, and perform at the Expo followed by a Q&A. It was a really beautiful experience to come together with other advocates, carers and service providers within the disability community around such an inspiring and hopeful cause.
How has the Australian Arts industry changed since you first started, and what changes do you anticipate in the future?
The biggest change I think would be social media and the online world, especially since the Covid pandemic. Back in the early 2000’s we mainly relied on the information we received from our in-person teachers and word-of-mouth about local talent quests or auditions. A lot of organisations are now requesting video auditions which in many ways are a different skillset to an in-person audition. While nothing will ever beat the exhilarating feeling that comes with live entertainment, virtual concerts and livestreamed events have also taken off. Many artists are also receiving voice lessons online such as myself – shout-out to the amazing Julia Hunt-Nielsen who teaches me classical voice on Zoom all the way from San Francisco!
I think most significantly for the music industry, many artists can go viral on TikTok, have successful YouTube accounts as vocalists and or coaches, and put their music on streaming services like Spotify. Performers can potentially have a lot more reach than in the early 2000’s which is both an exciting and terrifying prospect. I see this steadily continuing to grow in the future as the world becomes more digital.
Wanna hear more? Find Yasmin on Instagram or Get in Touch to find out how to book her for your next event!