A Muslim Warrior Princess in Paris

“I’ve been to Paris a few times and it’s my favorite city in the world,” she said.

While on an Air France jet that was delayed for takeoff at the airport in Newark, New Jersey, Dye and the rest of the passengers became aware of the terrorist attack playing out in the French capital.

She was not expecting to leave the airport after receiving the news, but a couple hours later the flight took off. She landed in Paris a week before she and others from the Toronto, Canada, opera companies Opera Atelier and Tafelmusik were set to perform at the historic Palace of Versailles.

“The tension was palpable,” she recalled.

Dye had played the part of Armide before, in 2012 with Opera Atelier. But this time was different and it was especially poignant, she said.

“In Paris, I was singing a Muslim princess to an audience that was grieving, and in the end my character is conquered by love,” Dye said. “So I approached the role with a whole different context.”

The 17th Century masterpiece “Armide” illustrates the clash between Christian and Muslim worlds, through the story of the invincible knight Renaud and the Muslim warrior-princess Armide.

“As a performer, I felt my job wasn’t just to entertain, it was to help people grieve. It was to help people be defiant by showing up to the opera theater regardless of what was going on and the dangers that came with that,” she said.

Up to the challenge

Dye has stepped up to many challenges throughout her career in opera, especially recently. The Brainerd, Minnesota, native has been a performer for the majority of her career, but in 2014 she took on an administrative role as the artistic director at Opera Columbus in Columbus, Ohio.

“The learning curve has been like drinking from a fire hose,” she said.

Opera Columbus existed for about 30 years before being disolved in 2012 for financial reasons. It was absorbed by the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA). Dye performed in an opera as part of CAPAs first season and got to know people within the organization. They asked her to come to Columbus and help rebuild Opera Columbus.

“I’ve had to learn things I didn’t even know existed,” she said.

“The thing that I have going for me is that I’m passionate about opera and about helping emerging talent, young singers and creating great art, and that is all unteachable.”

Dye is one of only a few female opera artistic directors in the country. She also is younger than many of her peers, which gives her an inherent advantage in helping opera remain relevent among modern performing arts.

“When people say, ‘You’re being so innovative,’ I think anyone my age in this position would have a similar point of view. I think it’s a natural progression that is happening,” Dye said. “I do get kick back from a lot of traditionalists, but it doesn’t scare me because I am so respectful of the music. I don’t alter the music and I don’t alter the standard of quality of the performances. I’m very adamant about that.”

It’s about storytelling, she said, and she wants the stories to be understood — to be relevant in today’s environment.

“That’s why these stories last hundreds and hundreds of years because they are so incredibly relateable,” she said. “The human condition never changes; we get our feelings hurt or there’s tragedy, there’s love. … When you have a story that focuses on that, it’s going to win every time.”

SCSU opera

Dye developed her passion for opera’s storytelling at St. Cloud State during her senior year.

She credits music professor Hugh Givens with introducing her to opera performance and ecouraging her to pursue a career.

The maid Adele (Valeri Miller ’91) is disappointed when Rosalinda (Peggy Kriha Dye ’91), right, will not let her leave during the 1991 production of “Die Fledermaus” at Stewart Hall’s Ritsche Auditorium. Photo by Brady Kreger ’91 for the University Chronicle courtesy of University Archives

She learned to sing under the direction of professor emeritus Maybeth Gyllstrom who taught voice at St. Cloud State from 1968-98. Gyllstrom’s impact continues at St. Cloud State through an endowed scholarship for voice students in her name.

“Every time I go into a rehearsal I think of her and the scales she made me do,” Dye said. “She was pretty strict about it and I have been appreciative of that over the years.”

Givens cast Dye in her first lead opera role in “Die Fledermaus,” an opera she later performed in a professional capacity. It was the first opera Givens directed and produced with St. Cloud State and was a major production staged in Ritsche Auditorium with a live orchestra.

“That was the experience I needed,” she said.

Dye was the total package, Givens recalled. She was a standout singer and actor who had the drive and the will — all of the intangibles needed to succeed.

“She’s one of those very rare voices that comes along just stands out,” Givens said. “She was always bigger than the stage.”

Dye went on to receive her master’s degree from at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. She also received training through the Julliard Opera Center.

“I have nothing but great memories from St. Cloud State and I’m very appreciative of it,” Dye said. “It’s equal to the training I’ve had everywhere in the sense that it’s shaped what I’ve done in my career.”