Meet Laurie Rubin, an operatic mezzo-soprano, author, advocate and jewelry maker who happens to be blind. Her memoir Do You Dream in Color? Insights from a Girl Without Sight (2012) tells of her experiences from childhood to becoming an opera star and performing on some of the world's biggest stages, from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City, to Wigmore Hall in London and the Parcol Auditorium della Musica in Rome, and the Ravinia Festival where she will return in 2019 for a solo recital.
The title of her memoir comes from the question a little girl asked her after a concert in New York. Rubin asked the little girl to explain color to her, and after hearing the description of the ocean being blue in the morning, her yellow hair and the pink of cotton candy, Rubin replied, “I guess I do dream in color, because I dream of all those things.”
Born blind, Laurie was introduced to music at an early age, beginning to study piano at age 4. But she never learned to read Braille music, so she does everything by ear. She never liked practicing, so eventually her piano teacher suggested that perhaps voice should be her instrument. Laurie loved to sing, so it became the obvious choice.
Hear Laurie sing her poem set to music by composer Bruce Adolphe (host of APM's Piano Puzzler on Performance Today). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kafmm5HYktc
Read more about Laurie's career.
Read more about Laurie's introduction to the arts and music.