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HIS PATH TO OPERA:

I was a soprano in the San Antonio (Texas) Boys' Choir (at age 10), but it was nothing near opera. I didn't even know that opera was something done regularly. I thought I would go to college (at the University of Texas at San Antonio) and be a high school choir director. The teachers recommended I do something in performance. I spent about a year and a half there, moved to Colorado with my brother and started studying with a voice teacher. She invited me to her vocal arts symposium. Through that I met James Albritten and Steve Lacosse of the (University of North Carolina) School of the Arts. They recruited me, and I was given a full scholarship in 2004... I finished senior year but need 12 credits to get my degree. I was accepted into Florida Grand Opera's young artist program for this season, (and) will be leaving September 18 for Miami.

HOW HE WON THE PRESTIGIOUS 2008 METROPOLITAN OPERA NATIONAL COUNCIL AUDITIONS (and a $15,000 prize):

The whole thing was just surreal. All nine (finalists) got to sing on the Metropolitan Opera stage with the Metropolitan Orchestra, in front of a packed crowd... Once the music started, I kind of settled in and felt more comfortable. We waited backstage, and they called the five (equal) winners out one at a time. My first name is actually Erich, and when they called my name it didn't register for half a second. I walked on stage, taken aback by the whole thing. My mother and father were in the audience and it was nice...This opens a lot of doors for me for places to audition. It has gotten me a lot of national recognition and kind of puts my name out there.

WHAT LED TO HIS UPCOMING PERFORMANCE with THE GREENSBORO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA:

I did the Charles A. Lynam Vocal Competition last October (at UNCG) and got third place in the young artists' division. But I won the concert with the Greensboro Symphony.

WHAT HE LIKES ABOUT THE OPERA:

Making beautiful music has always been one of the things I have loved to do. I love the adrenaline before going on stage... If you are doing comedy, you love to hear the audience laugh, and if it's serious, you like to hear the silence. The thing I love most is when you are singing and hear complete silence. That means they are really involved and hopefully really enjoying themselves. Those are the moments that give me goose bumps.

HOW HE SPENT HIS SUMMER:

I was at the Merola Opera Young Artist Program in San Francisco. You work with multiple teachers and sit in on master classes and learn quite a bit. I was part of the first concert and the grand finale. It rekindled my passion for singing opera. I had been getting tired and run down by the end of the year and debating whether it's something I want to do. After the first week, when there was acting and strictly music, it brought the fun back into it. There was no homework due or papers to write, just focusing on what I want to do.

ON LAUNCHING HIS CAREER:

It has been kind of chaotic and a lot of work, traveling and taking a lot of auditions. But it's very enjoyable... It's kind of surprising how many people are involved in singing opera. The younger crowd is growing in opera houses. There are quite a number of people going to school for singing opera. It seems like it is becoming popular again. I would imagine that high-definition simulcasts of operas in theaters is helping that. San Francisco Opera did a simulcast of their production of "Lucia di Lammermoor " in a ballpark, and an astonishing 23,000 people showed up. It was free, but the fact that 23,000 people were willing to give up their evening to see an opera spoke a lot to me.

- Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane

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