My first 13 years of Music
I was born in St. Charles, Missouri, USA, which sits on the opposite shore of the Missouri River from St. Louis, MO. I grew up in a singing family. We always sang together in the car on the way to and from church, which often took 30 minutes or more. We were (and still are) members of the Church of Christ, a body which traditionally has sung a'capella. So, good singing has always been a passion of mine. Also, I had an uncle who was in a college choir. He was a very talented tenor and sang solos with the group. I used to listen to their records, even in elementary school. Uncle Jeff was a big influence on me as a young boy.
My Second 13 Years of Music
When I was 13, in the fall of 1982, we moved to New Mexico. A year later, in high school, thanks to my church, many friends and their families, I found that God had blessed me with a talented voice. I began singing with friends in an a'capella quartet at church, joined my high school chorus, and with the help of one of my best friend's mother (thanks, Judy), discovered musical theater. My senior year, I made my musical lead debut as Joseph in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", and later that same year as Matt in "The Fantastics". Oddly enough, I went to high school in Gallup, New Mexico, far from the theaters of New York or the Glitz of Hollywood. It just goes to show that God does all kinds of great things with the meagerest of people in the most unlikely places. Along with other successes in "Solo and Ensemble" competitions ,New Mexico All-State Choir appointments and having performed one of the bass solos in Handel's "Messiah", I had found my career and decide to pursue a music degree at Oklahoma Christian University.
Although I was confident in my ability to sing well, I quickly learned that I was at a disadvantage academically. Though I had some experience, I was still largely an untrained singer, both in technique and musical theory. I had never studied the piano(or any other instrument), and didn't even read music very well. My first year at OC was a struggle. I failed to pass rudimentary music theory, thereby starting my college career "in the hole", so to speak. I even failed a semester of voice due to my lack of discipline. I quickly learned that I would have to do more than just make a pretty noise with my throat and that I would have to start meeting my teacher's expectations if I were going to even make to my second year of study. Outside of classes, I gained experience through performing in the fall musical, singing in the Chorale (directed by Dr. Ken Adams) and Chamber Singers choirs, and in other solo opportunities. My second year was MUCH better.
Enter Dr. Mark Hornbaker. Mark was hired my sophomore year as voice teacher and director of the Chamber Singers, as well as other full-time music professor duties, etc. He became my teacher and we quickly hit it off. Under Mark's nurturing and mentoring, I recovered from my first-year woes, and quickly established myself as one of the best voices the the university had to offer. I give a lot of credit to Mark(as well as Dr. Adams) for setting my feet on a path to success as a singer and musician. He built up my confidence and gave me numerous performance opportunities. He also introduced me to the world of Opera(and I still haven't recovered!)!!
My first year with Mark, I sang Mozart and Puccini for the first time(Mozart has become one of the constants in my musical life). In my second year, I made my operatic debut as Papageno in and English translation of Mozart's "The Magic Flute(Zauberflote), with full Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Adams. I was bitten, and though I had some success in musicals, made the decision to pursue Opera from then on and made it the major goal of my career. The following year, we performed scenes from "The Marriage of Figaro" and "La Boheme". My fifth year, we staged "Figaro" again, but this time in it's entirety, with full orchestra, with me in the title role....
After finishing up my work at OC, I applied to and auditioned for Oklahoma City University's graduate music program, received a full scholarship and graduate assistantship and began work towards a Master of Music/Opera performance degree. I began studying voice with Larry Keller.
At OCU, I sang in seven productions, ranging from musical theater, to operetta and, of course, opera. I was cast mostly in "buffo" rolls. I played Orgon in the American opera "Tartuffe" by Kurt Mecham and Don Alfonso in Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" (To Kristin Chenoweth's Despina) my first year. My second year, I didn't miss a performance. I sang in all four performances, most notably as Dulcamara in "L'elisir d'amore" and lesser roles in "Most Happy Fella", "Mikado", and "La Perichole". My final roll was as Mr. Gedge in Britten's "Albert Herring" in the fall of 1994.
In the spring of 94, I also was accepted into the Tulsa Opera Apprentice program and for three weeks, traveled around to numerous schools in the area promoting the current production of "Le Nozze di Figaro" by Tulsa Opera through performing scenes and arias from the opera for students. In May of that same year, I was accepted to attend Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point, a fine arts colony. We put on three productions in two months from auditions to final performances. The first month, we rehearsed our roles, needing to be off book after week 1, and the second month was devoted to repetoire theater-style performance, with a different opera performed each night. I was cast as Don Alfonso in "Cosi" and as Fredrik in Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music". But after week 1, the baritone cast as Germont in "La Taviata" decided, along with his teacher, that the roll was too much for him. So, we switched rolls,he as Don Alfonso and I as Germont. So with a week lost, I started learning the roll and opened just two weeks later. Along with an additional chorus roll in "Traviata" and Fredrik in "Night Music", it was a lot to handle. But, when you live there and do nothing but eat, drink and breathe opera, magic can happen. It remains one of the defining moments of my career and a summer I'll never forget.
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