Inspire, live and share a dream

One day, in my senior year of high school,  my choir teacher, Dr. John Moody, assigned me a piece to learn for the school’s concerto competition-the piece was Una furtiva lagrima. At that point in my life I loved singing, but as far as operatic singing went, that was something I have not experimented with. At that point youtube, iTunes, etc., did not exist, so I did my research the old fashioned way by going to the library. I checked out a CD of good old Pavarotti and I listened. I learned the piece. 

At that time in my life I was a big fan of Bocelli. I had his Sogno album and I sang along to it-that was as “classical” as singing got for me other than trying to imitate the three tenors. I first stumbled upon the three tenors in 1992 while watching tv. I was about seven at that time and when I heard those voices I thought it was the coolest thing. To my parents’ surprise, I watched the whole thing. I was glued to the tv, but more importantly, I was hooked on their voices. Of course, I had no idea that was operatic singing, but I loved it and La donna è mobile became my favorite tune. From that day on the big guy with the beard became my favorite “toy” as I tried to imitate him day in and day out.

Back to my story. So, some days later Dr. Moody asked me to stay after school to rehearse Una furtiva lagrima in preparation for my audition. I sang the piece with my “everyday” voice (At that point in my life I was not taking lessons). He thanked me and began to call the next person. I stopped him and I said with a heavy accent, “would you like me to sing it like Pavarotti?” He looked at me like “yeah, right!” but he agreed and so I sang it again “a la Pavarotti.” He liked it and said, “I think you should sing it like that.” I audition and won the school’s concerto competition. At the end of the year I performed the piece with the school’s orchestra. Believe me, it does not get any better for a kid to sing his first solo, his first aria with an orchestra. What an amazing experience that was, what an inspiration. Shortly after Dr. Moody encouraged me to take lessons and that is how I met Dr. Valerie MacPhail at Converse College. A year later I sang in the chorus for “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and shortly after Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro. Lessons became my favorite part of the week and slowly but surely, singing became an integral part of my life. I sang for countless productions at Converse College and The Spartanburg Repertory Company. With each performance my love for opera increase and slowly a dream took shape - to sing opera for life! Both teachers inspired a dream which I intended to follow. Today the dream is a reality and I am blessed to be able to do what I love. What a great feeling it is to be on stage connecting with the audience. What a humbling experience it is every time I set foot on stage - exposing my strengths as well as my fears and insecurities in order to portray characters big and small, characters that live in all of us, but sometimes are afraid to come out. Not only I have found music, but I found myself through music all thanks to an after school activity.  I recently had the chance of going back to my high school to sing for the choir, still conducted by Dr. Moody, still in the same room. What an experience that was. It felt as if I have never left and at the same time, it felt as if I have come full circle. After singing they all had a chance to ask me questions. I shared with them this same story and I hope that it inspired some of them the same way Dr. Moody and Dr. MacPhail inspired me to do something bigger than life. It ain’t easy, but it is well worth it.

Finding fun in the mountains | Chronicle - WCVB Home

Finding fun in the mountains | Chronicle - WCVB Home

Salamanders, Pizza, Opera and Cows!

     Last Saturday, before our Pasquale rehearsal, I was having a cup of coffee by the pool when I noticed something at the bottom. At first I thought it was a small toy, but when the tail moved and it walked I realized it was a salamander. I carefully got it out, put it in some water and took it up the mountain, near to where we have rehearsals at Sugarbush. In honor of the opera I named him Ernestino ;)

     

    Don Pasquale rehearsals are going great and today we have our sitzprobe, how exciting! It's so much fun working with this cast. Emily Duncan-Brown is singing Norina, Brian Wehrle is singing Don Pasquale, and David Castillo is singing Malatesta. Scott Parry is directing and Bruce Stasyna is conducting. The cast might be small, but we are mighty! This is such a fun opera, but also challenging. I feel like I'm singing one big long high note all the time! What a great challenge. I gotta say that rehearsing at the Sugarbush resort it's a big plus. There is nothing like singing surrounded by beautiful mountains, rivers and wonderful, clean air!

Bruce Stasyna (conductor), Brian, Emily and David

     Today the gang and I headed over to the farmers market in Waitsfield, VT-what a treat! Brian, David and I helped ourselves to some oven-brick-pizza, it was amazing. I got myself some Vermont maple syrup, a great dessert wine and a handmade wine stand (and also a few other nice handmade things for my wife and family...shh!)

Bill Brauer

     We also had a surprise for Bill Brauer. Bill is an amazing local artist who painted the poster for Green Mountain Opera Festival's production of La Boheme. If you are in the area or even as far as Boston, you gotta come a see the opera. There is an all star cast, including Mary Dunleavy as Mimi, Richard Troxell as Rodolfo, Jordan Shanahan as Marcello, and Eric Kroncke as Colline. They will be joined by the program's emerging artists, including Natalie Polito as Musetta, Philip Kalmanovitch as Schaunard, Geoffrey Penar as Benoit and Alcindoro, and Joshua Bouillon as Parpignol. Of course, you gotta come see Don Pasquale, too. Come one day to Don Pasquale and the next to La Boheme, the perfect balance of comedy and drama.

Broadway concert at the Round Barn Farm Inn

     Our "Broadway" concert at the Round Barn Farm Inn was a great success. We had a great turnout and the audience loved it! We had a lot of fun singing some great tunes.  Let's not forget the cows from across the road, they had a great time too!

Emily Duncan-Brown, Jennifer Szeto and Geoffrey Penar

Happy cows love Broadway!

Here is a one of my favorites, el maestro Kraus! What a voice! What an interpreter. This just makes me happy :)

One of the reasons I sing is Pavarotti

I'm singing in the clouds...literally

Old Sugarbush Ski House, built in 1958.

 





  I am now in Waitsfield, VT, singing at the Green Mountain Opera Festival. It is wonderful here; great people, great place, and great music.We are rehearsing at the Sugarbush Ski Resort at top of the mountain. For the past few days it has been cloudy and rainy...literally surrounded by clouds.

     I'm very fortunate to be here. The caliber of singers is outstanding and the best part is that we all get along :) Both the artistic director, Taras Kulish, and the emerging artist director, Bruce Stasyna, brought in a splendid group of singers.
     Last week we had a "sing in" at the Round Barn Farm Inn. I was blown away by all the singers. I have never been around such a large group of singers where everybody is so gifted and such fine artists. We raise the bar for each other. Both, La Boheme and Don Pasquale will be excellent shows.

     Warren and Waitsfield are beautiful towns, perfect if you like riding your bike. There are lots of hills and riding on route 100 is not for the faint of heart, so bike carefully! Nevertheless, I always ride my bike to the store, about 12 miles total. A few hills here and there on the way there...they are keeping me in good shape. Did anybody say tacos? Yes, there is a great taco house called The Mad Taco. They have the best burrito I ever had, the "wet burrito." It's a burrito covered in their homemade sauce, so it's a crossover with a chimichanga-out of this world!
     One last thing. The costume shop. I've never seen a better located costume shop. This one is in the basement of a beautiful farm house, overlooking fields and gracing cows. Needless to say, the costume ladies are some of the happiest I've ever seen!

New Tragedy of Carmen photos

Dayton Opera, The Tragedy of Carmen. Photographer Scott J. Kimmins.

Click here for more pictures

Opening night of "The Tragedy of Carmen"

Tonight is opening night. We are all so excited. It's been a long way coming and we have a terrific show with a terrific cast! Good luck to all cast and crew, it will be a night to remember.
On a side note. I had a dream (nightmare almost) in which we performed another show right after Carmen! The curtains came down after Carmen, immediately came up and the other show started...and I did not know what it was! I was making things up as we went, ah!

The Tragedy of Carmen-News Channel 2 Spot

The Tragedy of Carmen-News Channel 2 Spot

Carmen on stage at the Victoria: wdtn.com

How awesome our home is! Planet Earth's Northern Hemisphere

A 120 megapixel collage of pictures make up this beautiful video. No photoshop! No Tricks! Just our beautiful home.

Dayton Opera Presents "The Tragedy of Carmen"

The Tragedy of Carmen-First Dress Rehearsal

How exciting! Tonight is our first dress with orchestra. We all have been waiting for tonight for the past three weeks. What an amazing cast at the hands of director Gary Briggle and maestro Jeffrey Powell. This has been an amazing journey of discovery. We all made the characters our own, each day discovering a new layer to such intriguing characters. This has been an amazing experience and I have grown both as an artist and person.

And now, a few thank yous:

Dayton Opera (Tom Bankston, Pam Eyekin, Church Duritsch and Wendy Merkert), thank you for entrusting us with such a great show.  
Gary, thank you for guiding us and helping us explore this masterpiece. Thank you for trusting us and letting us experiment, search, discover, and grow. I have learned so much from you!
Jeff, you're a star. We know we are in good hands. Not only you are a great conductor, but a great friend.
Milena Ostojich, you are the best stage manager-what would/will we do without you?
Matty Sayre (asst. stage manager), thank you for your patience and keeping us on track. Sorry for knocking down the props table.
Peter Fitzkee, wax on...wax off. May the force be with you. You are a master fight choreographer.
Tom Venditelli and Megan Kelly, thank you for making us look so good!
Alan Bomar Jones, Tim Lile, and Jamie Cordes-you guys are amazing actors. I have learned so much from you. Thank you for bringing your expertise and touch to this production.
Carol Walker, what an amazing pianist and accompanist you are! Thank you for your support and input night after night.
John Rensel, amazing light design!
Emily von Stuckard-Smolinski, props queen! Thank you for making those huge knives less lethal!
Bart Blair, costumes maister!


and last, but not least

Jenn, Julia and Patrick-Thank you for this amazing four months. So many good stories! We had a great time and I will miss you all. You guys are awesome.

Let the show begin!

Obsessions that kill

Obsessions that Kill

     Obsession. We all get a little “obsessed” from time to time over little simple things. A good latte, dark chocolate, a certain type of food, and even a sports team might become an absolute necessity we can’t live without, but how many of us become truly and blindly obsessed? To the point where we loose track of ourselves, our ideals, our morals, and even life itself. Obsession is bad, throw in explosive aggressiveness, passion, a free spirited untamable woman and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. This is Carmen’s Don José or as I like to call him José, no Don, because believe me, there is nothing Don about him.
      In Bizet’s opera we do not learn much about José’s past. We only know what we see, an obedient soldier (in the beginning). Of course this is a José conceived by Halévy and Meilhac for a conservative Parisian audience. Why is José in Sevilla as a soldier to begin with? Maybe because he got into a deadly dispute with a man over a game of tennis! In Prosper Mérimée’s novella we learn of such an event and if you thought “red flag” or “anger management” you are right. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
      I can see José angered to the point where he completely whites out, where he can no longer restrain his emotions, where his body takes over and God have mercy on whoever is in front of him. I can also picture him completely desperate, with bloody hands, not understanding what had happened and the only thought is to run away. He joins the army (in the novell and opera), in my opinion, because he fears himself and he believes that a strict regiment and obedience is the only thing that can keep him safe...from himself.
Halévy and Meilhac add the character of Michaella in order to show the audience a glimpse of José’s past. Michaella, a devoted Catholic, grew up with José. Maybe they use to go to mass together? maybe José’s mom wanted them to get married? To me the librettists, with the addition of Michaella, are setting up not just a love triangle, but also, an option for a better life-salvation.
      Enter Carmen. We all know who she is and has always been-a woman who grew up fending off for herself with the gypsies, a woman mothered by the streets of Sevilla, a woman whose currency is here body, a woman who belongs to nowhere, a woman who belongs to no one. Carmen gives herself to José in passion, with her flesh, hungry for carnal love. Her red flower entices José like a venus flytrap. Carmen traps him in a way Michaella cannot and would not.
      The bugles sound and in those calls José hears not just a call to duty, but a reminder of a restrained and obedient self. Maybe a call back to Michaella? Nevertheless, passion and love resound more loudly than the bugles-fate is sealed for José and Carmen, there is no turning back. Carmen should have let him go, but she has never been rejected before. In my opinion, it is not love that makes her ask him to stay, it is pride. In order to love, one has to be exposed to love-like the unselfish love of a mother for her child, something which I fear Carmen never had. Love is not selfish, love asks for nothing in return. Carmen loves to be loved, she wants everything from a man in return for her “love.”
      José’s time in jail is where his obsession slowly begins to brew. In holding the flower that she gave him, he holds her. The flower is his and no one will pluck it away from him. Carmen gave him something no one ever gave him and he wants more-he wants it all for himself. Out of jail and demoted to the lowest rank. His obsession now begins to dismantle his integrity and with it giving way, obsession begins to take control of his every action. In the novella José catches Zuniga, his superior, with Carmen and in a moment of rage kills him. In the opera they fight, but are separated. With his military life destroyed by his actions, Jose  joins the gypsies and becomes a bandit.
      In the novella we do see one glimpse of humanity from José. After being with the bandits for a while, during a heist gone bad, one of his companions gets injured. While everybody runs for cover, José is the only one who turns back and saves his friend while under fire. In the novella Carmen is married to a bandit, but not for long. Yes, you guessed it, José kills him in a knife fight. No one can get in his way, no one can get between him and his love for Carmen, not even Carmen.
      To make the story short, Carmen leaves José (I would not blame her) and runs off with Escamillo, the toreador. José learns about this and returns to Sevilla to claim what is his, Carmencita. There he finds a Carmen who loves him no more, but he wont have that. José kills Carmen. Was he obsessed with a woman? Was he obsessed with the idea of love and being loved? Were both obsessed with being “loved”? This brings up another question. Why does Michaella come to Sevilla looking for José? Did his mom really send her? Why does she risk her life by going out into the mountain looking for José? Does she love him or is she obsessed with him? She is, after all, seeking someone who does not love her as she loves him.
Oh, yes, Escamillo...Well, he is obsessed with bulls and Carmen.You want to know what happens to him? Come to the Tragedy of Carmen and see it with your own eyes.

Prosper Mérimée’s Carmen

The Tragedy of Carmen

Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Friday, May 18, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 3 p.m.

Victoria Theatre, Dayton, OH
Dayton Opera

The best coffee @ Ghostlight Coffe, Dayton, OH.

For us, artist, there is nothing better than a great coffee shop. For me a good coffee shop is like a second home when I spend a lot of time away from home. This is the place where I go to do score work, memorization or have a well deserved break. Now that I'm in Dayton, OH, I have found such a place-Ghost Light Coffee. It is located in the Historic South Park Neighborhood (1201 Wayne Avenue Dayton, Ohio 45410). Their drinks are some of the best I ever tasted and I guarantee you that you'll be greeted by a friendly, welcoming, and knowledgeable staff. They are also very supportive of the arts and they have guest artist perform throughout the month. So, if you are in Dayton and you would like a great cup of coffee in a cozy setting, make your way to Ghost Light Coffee-sit back, relax, and slowly sip away at a gourmet cup of coffee masterfully made by Shane Anderson (owner) or one of the following great baristas; Gracie, Lilly, Adam, Brittany, Sarah, Mandy and Cooper.

"The Artist"

     This weekend I was fortunate enough to see my wife in Nashville, TN. Even though it was a short stay, it was a very much needed break and it recharged my batteries; now I can keep going strong and inspired. Before my departure we went to see “The Artist,” a movie which mades us laugh, cry and think. So much can be said through silence, so much can be felt from silence, so much can be emoted through silence. What a powerful and beautiful thing it is and how true it is to the life of an artist.
      It is in silence what we singers do so much of our work. Researching, translating the score, preparing the score, memorizing melodies and lyrics, and creating our characters. It is ironic that for someone who makes a living singing, it all starts from silence. We spend so much of our lives on the road, doing what we love, but away from those we love the most. It is a lonely life sometimes, but it is then that silence becomes our consoling friend. In silence I close my eyes and I go back to my childhood, to my friends, to my grandparents' home, to thanksgiving dinner with my folks, to the first time I met my wife-silence keeps me company. In silence I find inspiration, in silence I hear the drama of life, in silence I find my true voice.
      The next time you go to the opera, remember that when you hear us sing at the top of our lungs, it all comes from deep within our silence. Silence is a powerful thing, can you hear it?

Marcello Giordani, may I sing with you?

So this afternoon the Dayton AIRs sang in a pre-recital to the Marcello Giordani recital at Dayton Opera. Unfortunately I had a rough week due to a cold. Of course I was very excited about the prospect of singing before Mr. Giordani’s recital, but at the same time I was upset (at myself) that I had to sing when I was not at my best. Nevertheless, the pre-recital went very well for all of us and the audience loved it.
I have to admit that I would have loved to have sung when I was healthy, but oh well, it happens to all of us (singers). After the event I told myself, “Marcello will make your day better,” and yes he did.

Before his last two pieces, O sole mio and Nessun Dorma, he walks up to the piano and makes an announcement.
Giordani: A little bird told me that there are two tenors in the audience.
Me: (heart skips a beat).
Giordani: One is Italian...
Me: ( I think, I'm part Italian....)
Giordani: and the other is Argentinian.
Me: (heart stops)
You gotta understand, this WAS NOT planned, I had not idea....
Giordani: Where are they?
Me: (I shyly raised my hand like a three year old. I was in the front row)
Giordani: (with a puzzled look) Are you a tenor...from Argentina?!
Me: Yes! (two octaves above my speaking voice. Again, like a three year old)
Giordani: De donde? (from where)?
Me: Buenos Aires. (heart still not beating really)
On top of all this, the audience is having a great time-they think this was planned.
Giordani: Come up?
Me: (and I cannot believe I actually said this to Mr. Giordani) Are you kidding me? (Again, two octaves higher...)
So as I was walking on stage I keep telling myself, “this is not happening, what is happening? Is this for real? I gotta be dreaming. Am I dead and did I make it to the gates of heaven?”
We shake hands. As we are shaking hands...
Giordani: there THEY are? (Looks out into the audience)
From the audience I see the TWO tenors he was talking about. OBVIOUSLY, I was not one of them...somebody unintentionally crashed a world famous tenor’s recital-me! When I saw these two gentlemen coming towards the stage, I thought, “I am so fired.”
One of the tenors was from Cordoba, ARGENTINA. To my defense, what were the odds of having two Argentine tenors sitting in the same audience in Dayton, OH? (I’m playing the lottery after this.)
So off we go, the music stars and the lyrics instantenously combust in my brain. I took a deep breath and found them again.
Line up: Italian tenor, me (the unplanned tenor), Giordani, the planned Argentine tenor.
We each sing a phrase with the great Giordani singing the famous B section. As I’m singing, “Pe' ll'aria fresca pare già na festa. Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole,” I see and hear Mr. Giordani mouthing me the words. I asked myself, “ why is he doing that? I’m a tenor, I know it...” BECAUSE HE DOES NOT KNOW YOU! He doesn’t even know if you can carry a tune! That’s why Matias!
You might be asking yourself, “So, how did you guys do the end?” We took turns, like at the good ol’ Three Tenors concerts. We each sang, “sta ‘nfronte a te!” and held the last note...
Mr. Giordani graciously let us take a bow and we all got a standing ovation. And no, I am not making this up, an audience of two thousand can attest to this. Of course, I’m still walking on clouds. Thank you Chuck for the great sitting arrangements and thanks mom and dad for my nationality.
Thank you Mr. Giordani for your kindness and letting me share the stage with you. I am humbled and honored. Today was a day I will never forget.
Talk about being at the right place, at the right time...at the right row, and from the right nationality.

End of outreach-Dayton Opera 2012

Tomorrow marks the end of our first week of outreach. We have seven more weeks of it and today I asked myself as I was driving back from our afternoon show, "what is the importance of outreach?" Well, that got me going. I don't even know where to begin. Opera, like many other art forms, has become a foreign art form to today's youth. Art programs are being cut left and right all over the nation, the economy has put a damper on the proliferation of the arts, and the media is over-saturated with bad music. Kids are not being exposed to the classical arts, something completely the opposite to my experience as a boy growing up in Argentina.
I grew up in a house where my mom was a guitarist, singer, and painter. She would also turn on the radio (yes, a radio, remember those rectangular heavy things that had an antenna and their name did not start with an "i"?) at night to the classical station, so that I would fall asleep to Brahms, Beethoven, and Mozart. I grew up in a culture where the schools made it a point to teach us our folklore, most importantly "our" music and dance. Turning on the television and stumbling upon the "Three Tenors", a ballet, or an opera was an every day occurrence. In synthesis, the arts were all around me, like it or not. The good thing is that I happened to like them very much.
Nowadays, where are the arts? Where are they hiding? Who is hiding them? and, why? It is sad that when a program needs to be cut, music is the first one on the list. Sad because music is culture and history. When you deprive a child of a music program, you deprive that child from gaining an artful insight into his culture and that of the world. Also, and I based this on my experience in junior high and high school, singing in the choir was not "cool."
Oh, the media! Excessively saturated with synthetically produced music that resides behind a pair of headphones, performed by “artists” whose shelf life expands from their teens to the end of their...teens. Yes, there are good pop artist out there. They write their own lyrics and music and some are brave enough to create their own style. Unfortunately, most teen idols are created in a mold, a mold that is hard to break, a mold that turns them into somebody’s big paycheck. Worst of all, a mold that comes with an expiration date on it.
Opera singers stay out of the mold. We strive to become our own artist in order to add variety, singularity and diversity to the art. We strive to do justice to the score, to the composer's vision, to the librettist's text. We aspire to be the muse’s voice. We long to add our own touch to an artform that expands hurndres of years- deeply rooted to history, culture, and traditions. We do not do it for the money or the fame. We do it because it takes us to a higher place. It lifts us up from the mundane and it keeps us away from the “molds.” As far as our expiration date? Just like a good wine, as we age we get better (hopefully).
Thirty minute television shows, forty minute school periods, the ability to skip onto the next track half way through a song; they all add up to “short attention span.” Kids have been trained to stay focused only for so long and not just that, to click “next” when they do not like something they see or hear. So how can we get a child to appreciate a one hour symphony or three hour opera? How can we get a child to appreciate a “live” singer over one that sings to them from behind their earbuds? How do we expect them to react to acting and singing when it comes at them from all angles, unedited, not digitally enhanced, not artificially amplified? The important answer is exposure, it’s outreach!
Sometimes, when I am on stage, I take a quick glance (without breaking the fourth wall of course) at their faces as my colleagues sing a high note, sing fast coloratura, dance and sing at the same time, sing in Italian, French, or German, and what do I see? Amazement and confusion, all good states of mind. It is a wonderful thing to see a child smile at us from the audience and it is a humbling experience to see their confusion, why? Because it means that they have witnessed art, “live” art, for the first time. Amazement and confusion go hand in hand. I’m pretty sure that I had an amazed/confused face the first time I heard the “Three Tenors,” but God knows how much that has changed my life.
We owe it to the children to let them experience what we experience everyday: the joy of music, of making it, of being “it.” Singing opera has changed my life. I live a life full of meaning, direction and purpose- all thanks to exposure. I have also experienced many hardships as a child, but music is what kept me going, what kept me from turning to the many evils that can hurt a child. This is why outreach programs are extremely important. These programs plant the seed of curiosity, a seed of a dream, a seed of a future. They keep the artform alive and in return we inspire the next generation. All I need is one amazed/confused face from the audience to know that I have done my job.
Expose your child to art, to music, to opera...and watch their faces, you’ll be amazed ;)