Obituary: Oksana Bryn, opera singer and teacher

When former international opera singer and voice coach Audrey Stottler sees Twin Cities artists perform, she can immediately tell which ones have been trained by Oksana Bryn.

They are more finished. They know how to breathe correctly. But most important, she said, their sound is right.

As a former Bryn student, Stottler learned first hand about the teacher's high standards and demanding technique. "It is not for the weak," Stottler said.

Bryn, an accomplished opera singer and expert interpreter of Slavic vocal music, taught thousands of students over her 45-year tenure at Minneapolis' MacPhail Center for Music. Revered for her larger-than-life personality and inventive techniques, Bryn died last month. She was 91.

"She was an institution. Period," said Stottler, who took lessons with Bryn for about a year and later worked with her at MacPhail after retiring from the stage. The two became lifelong friends.

"There will be a definite hole in the artistic community in Minneapolis without Oksana Bryn's ear and spirit," Stottler said.

Bryn would require her students to perform unusual vocal exercises to enhance their breathing. Students would often lift chairs above their heads or lie on their stomachs with their arms and legs lifted off the ground — all while belting out difficult notes.

In addition to singers, Bryn coached lawyers, clergy members and other professionals who rely on their voices.

"Everything in life related back to how well you could breathe," said MacPhail President Paul Babcock, who called Bryn one of the most dedicated teachers in the school's history.

Bryn was born March 9, 1924, in Ukraine. She studied at a theater and music conservatory there before emigrating to the United States with her family in 1949, where she gained citizenship six years later.

Bryn's performance career throughout the U.S. and Canada spanned decades, and she became the first vocal coach at Children's Theatre Company in 1972 — the same year she made her Carnegie Hall debut. She also coached at least five other theaters, including the Guthrie and Chanhassen.

Vicky Mountain first saw Bryn perform in a Ukrainian program in 1975, where she was transformed into a beautiful peasant girl after beginning to sing.

Mountain and her sister took lessons from Bryn a few years later. "The better you were, the more she expected of you," said Mountain, who later taught jazz at MacPhail.

Bryn, always eager to learn something new, told Mountain that their lessons would be a trade, as she'd like to learn jazz someday after her performing career ended. But even after hitting 80, she wasn't yet ready for those lessons.

Friends say Bryn exuded a powerful energy that allowed her to teach all day and then attend student and faculty performances at night.

Bryn continued teaching until her health began to falter at 89. She held a deep belief that everyone could learn to sing and, in her final days, even gave her hospice worker a lesson.

"She was way too generous with her time," Mountain said. "She gave, and gave, and gave to her students."

Bryn was also noted for her handwritten notes, printed in neat cursive all the way out to the margins. "Some of them were loving, some were caustic, others were extremely supportive. But all were candid and all of them were heartfelt," said Stottler. Babcock said his always contained kernels of wisdom. "She was never short of opinions."

A scholarship in Bryn's name was established at MacPhail, and the center dedicated a studio in her honor. In her free time, she was an award-winning pysanky maker — the traditional Ukrainian art of painting eggs.

Bryn is survived by her six children, Andrew, Alexander, Mark, Ivas, Halyna and Nadia; and several grandchildren. MacPhail is planning a concert in Bryn's honor this fall. Services have been held.

Liz Sawyer • 612-673-4648