B Y
K E L L Y
K L A A S M E Y E R
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano remembers her first critique while learning her first opera at Rice. “It was Mozart’s ‘La finta giardiniera,’” she said, “and I would get tongue-tied in the Italian. Professor Bado taught me how to break it down and drill it so I knew it cold. Ever since then, whenever I’m learning any kind of piece that I’m having trouble with, I know how to deal with it, step by step, until it’s as close to perfect as I can get.”