It’s July 2024, and Ella Maria Griffith is singing opera on a train to Berlin.
Or, rather, she’s whisper-singing along with the classical music in her earbuds, trying not to disturb her fellow passengers.
Beautiful views of the German countryside fly past her window, but she’s focused on the sheet music on her lap. Just two days prior, Griffith was told she’d been moved to a larger role in the Suor Angelica opera production, and she needs to learn all of her new music before rehearsal starts the next day.
Luckily, her public practice paid off.
Joining emerging artists from around the world, Griffith rehearsed for a month with the Berlin Opera Academy, an immersive opera training program that emulates a professional opera house. Trainees are cast in an opera, and the program revolves around its production.
Each day, Griffith and her fellow cast members signed up for voice lessons, movement classes, and other coaching sessions to supplement their daily rehearsals. She loved the flexibility of the program, which allowed her to focus on her personal growth as an opera singer — plus, she got to experience daily life in Berlin.
Living in a German-speaking country is a top priority in Griffith’s future plans. She didn’t originally plan to major in the language, but after meeting her language professors at the University of Notre Dame, she decided to add German as a second major alongside neuroscience and behavior in the College of Science.
Now, after several educational and cultural experiences abroad, plus time spent exploring various professional paths, she’s ready for anything.
“I knew that taking these classes and developing a relationship with the professors was going to lead to a lot more opportunities than if I just took a few classes here and there,” she said. “And I realized that really understanding the material and really advancing my language was going to lead to a lot more opportunities.”
Deepened understanding
When Griffith was a child, her father was stationed with the U.S. Marine Corps in Stuttgart for just under two years, Germany, and the family was immersed in German life. In that time, Griffith didn’t become fluent in German, but she did learn enough to build to an intermediate level and was able to develop near-native pronunciation.
But while her father’s military role initially brought Griffith to Germany, it was her mother who connected her with opera.
“My mom is an opera singer, so I was raised in the opera world,” she said. “She would teach in our home, so I would constantly hear her students’ voice lessons.”
Growing up, Griffith participated in a local show choir, competed in classical voice contests, and even recorded two albums — Ella Sings Christmas and Ella Sings for Le Pretre. She wasn’t always set on pursuing opportunities in opera, but in taking voice lessons at Notre Dame, she’s developed a greater appreciation for the art.
“I was just really drawn by the beauty of opera,” she said. “And as I’ve personally matured as well, the stories they tell have come to mean more to me.”
Throughout her academic career, Griffith has been able to take advantage of programs abroad offered by the Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures. Her first college summer, she received a Summer Language Abroad Grant to travel to Konstanz, Germany, and the next summer, she interned at Zentrum Johannes Paul II, a Catholic church in Vienna, Austria, through the Foreign Language Internship Program. In her junior year, she studied abroad in Heidelberg, Germany, right before her summer with BOA.
During her senior year, Griffith was able to display her growth as a German speaker and opera singer through her senior thesis project. The vocal recital, “An Evening of German Art Song and Aria,” included pieces from German opera and Lieder, or German art songs. She collaborated with her voice teacher, adjunct assistant music professor Deborah Mayer, and was accompanied by Dror Baitel, assistant professor of the practice in collaborative piano.
Tobias Boes, professor and chair of the Department of German, Slavic, and Eurasian Studies, advised Griffith through her thesis development process and encouraged her to take an interdisciplinary approach. Boes required that she authentically translate the lyrics and research the historical background and musical analysis of each piece to create a recital program. These guidelines elevated her project both academically and creatively.
“I could get into the songs and arias so much more because of my German language,” Griffith said. “I not only knew what I was saying, but also I understood the subtleties of the texts as well as their deeper cultural and historical implications. It gave me options for how I wanted to portray these things when singing.”
The thesis project took several months to put together, involving hours of vocal practice as well as thorough research for each piece. While completing her double-major and managing her other commitments, Griffith sometimes felt uncertain whether she'd be able to complete the project on time to her standards. But she managed to present an end product she was very proud of and fulfilled by.
“Many people believed in me during this project — not just in my academic work but also in my voice,” she wrote in her program notes. “Their encouragement, along with the joy I found in learning and practicing this repertoire, kept me dedicated to this project and passionate about the process.”
Open ambitions
While her passion for German language and opera is strong, Griffith has also been drawn to science.
In studying neuroscience and behavior, she originally followed a pre-med track but found that a future in clinical medicine might limit her ability to live in a German-speaking country. While in Konstanz, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, she learned about their medical systems to gauge how feasibly the American pre-med track would transfer to practicing medicine in those countries. She found it didn’t transfer well and then started to consider other paths.
Griffith delved into scientific research and worked in the Patzke Lab as an undergraduate researcher. There, she studied the development and function of human neurons and synapses, focusing on the role of a protein in Down syndrome neurodevelopment. She was able to partake in in-depth research as an undergraduate and work on a dedicated, talented team.
Consequently, she became interested in the processes behind the development, approval, and distribution of different therapies because she witnessed firsthand how much research went into publications and scientific conclusions.
Griffith then found herself interested in the combination of business and science, namely in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. She joined the Notre Dame Biotech Club, which allows students to learn about careers in life science by hosting guest speakers, informative presentations, and career treks. She then led the club as vice president during her senior year. These experiences confirmed it was a path she wanted to continue to pursue, and now, she sees two overarching avenues for her future: one with music and one with biotech.
“I’ve been able to talk with a lot of professionals in biotech and pharmaceuticals and hear their stories and their paths. A lot of them said they studied something completely different,” Griffith said. “Meeting with them really made me feel like, ‘OK, I’m on the right path. There’s going to be something good coming from this.’”
To beef up her business skills, Griffith will return to the Berlin Opera Academy after graduation — not as a singer, but as an administrative intern. She’s excited to gain experience on the behind-the-scenes aspects of the BOA and is also applying to more business-related internships in Germany to further bolster her experience and expand her professional network.
Her main goal is to keep her ambitions open, and whether her path forward is more musical or scientific, she’ll rely on the knowledge and confidence she’s gained both at home and abroad.
“I definitely don’t have everything planned out,” she said. “I know I’ve developed a lot in these last few years — and it’s all been positive thus far — so I can only imagine what I’ll be like in four years.”
