Welcome to my Video Page!
I will be adding Videos as I get them done. I hope to have a nice collection of some of the things I have done.
The video below is of La Serenata by Tosti. It is the openener of a pretty long recital and it was one of the first times we performed it, so I have some memory issues here and there. This is in the summer of 1995 I believe.
Love Tosti songs!
This is "Fools Rush In" from a concert we did in Bowling Green back around 2000. I get a bit excited towards the end and start a note a third too high, but all in all it isn't too awful.
This is an informal recording we did for my Mom and Dad at First Baptist Church. Actually, I sing it pretty well here. Amy is of course as always right on top of it all.
This is "E la solita storia del pastore" from the opera "L'arlesiana by Frederico Cilea.
The Video below is from the Eastman School of Music Opera Department's production of "The Bartered Bride", Richard Pearlman, Director. 1985 I believe.
Marenka/Marie is sung by Jill Beckwith, and Hans by yours truly. This is a scene from the first act aria and duet.
Amazing Grace sung at First Baptist Church, in Bowling Green, KY with Shirley Kerrick at the organ.
This was the third time I sang this in church, and it was the first solo I sang in church period, at a Wednesday night prayer meeting with Dr. Rollin S Burhans, paster, Dr. Carl Moman, Minister of Music and the one who put me up to it to begin with.
Sorry for the poor audio quality. Old VHS tapes and old VHS recorders.
The aria "O Dieu de quelle ivresse" from The Tales of Hoffman by Offenbach: Opera Bonn 2004.
Yikes, it has already been that long!
The video below is from the early 2000s I believe, and is a gala concert with the Bergische Symphoniker with Romely Pfund conducting.
Siegfried Grote is included at the beginning of this video because I just love the guy. He was the Director and Intendant of the Eutiner Sommerspiele, now Festspiele, where I spent 5 beautiful summers singing the productions of the operettas Der Vogelhändler (The Bird Handler-dealer), Der Bettelstudent (The Beggar Student), and Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron). (I have some video of some of these as well.)
This is the aria "Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert!" from Franz Lehar's "Giuditta".
If you want to Fast Forward to it, it begins at Minute 2:00.
I loved singing this thing! Hope you like it!
The video below is from a performance of Simone Boccanegra as Gabriele Adorno with the Bonn Opera. Fiesco sung by Andreas Macco, Bass. 2002.
We would end our concerts with a medley of some sort. Here is an example of a Gershwin Medley we put together.
The video below is from a morning worship service at First Baptist Church, Bowling Green, Kentucky, which is the church my family was a member of since 1965. I am not sure of the date of this, but it was during the summer of the early 1990s, before the church burned to the ground. First Baptist has been televising the service live for as long as I can remember, and they never promote or ask for "offerings" on the broadcast. It is meant to serve the people who for whatever reason can't go to church.
I include Reverend Richard Bridges' comments about my mother and my family as well as the scripture reading before I sing, which is what I sing about.
"Come Ye Blessed" is the title of the song, I don't know who wrote it and I believe this is the one and only time I ever sang it. Shirley Kerrick, my piano and organ teacher, is accompanying me here.
The video below is actually an audio taken from a performance for the Friends of the Opera in Bonn in 2006. Chris Arpin is the accompanist. This is "My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster.
My first professional job as a singer was a summer stock show called "The Stephen Foster Story" in 1981. I had my 21st birthday in Bardstown, Kentucky where "My Old Kentucky Home" State Park is located. We did 86 shows that summer and the show has been running since 1959 and is a full musical using the famous melodies by Stephen Foster. It is an institution in Kentucky and they just completed a total renovation of the stage in 2019. If you ever come to Kentucky in the summer, you will want to see this show. Probably the best choral singing you have ever heard. It is a happy place!
The video is Faust's Aria and it begins at 49:19. This is in English not French, obviously I hope. This isn't the worlds best, but it ain't bad for a kid from Kentucky who has no idea what he is doing. I guess singing Kansas songs till 3:00 in the morning all those years as a closet musician wasn't so bad after all. This is a very rough video of a rehearsal of "Faust" by Charles Gounod with the Western Kentucky University Opera and Theater Department production in the iconic and wonderfully acoustical Van Meter Auditorium in January, 1983. Every second singing in that theater is a joy. The set didn't get completed until the day before the premiere. It was my first major role in an opera and I was still 22 years old at the time. I turned 23 in June 1983. Obviously we are all very young and other than the Stephen Foster Story two years before, and Carmen, El Remendado, two years prior, I had no experience or knowledge of acting. So, I am very stiff here.
The major roles here are sung by: Old Faust - Dr. Virgil Hale, Director of Opera and Voice professor at WKU, Marguerite, Sherri Phelps, Méphistophélès, Tony Conyer, Valentine, Ted Barr. I sang one other production of Faust in Gelsenkirchen, Germany in 1999 in French, I believe. I wished I could have done more productions of Faust, as well as Gounod's Romeo and Juliet, but it never came to pass. My voice sounds best in French. The other French roles I did were Bizet's Carmen, Don Jose, Massenet's Manon - Des Grieux, and Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann - Hoffmann.
Gianni Schicchi - Puccini (Complete)
Oswego Opera, Oswego New York
Role of Rinuccio
This video completely surprised me. It is the complete performance of Gianni Schicchi that I performed along with i Pagliacci in a double bill with the Oswego Opera Company. I must say, it is pretty darned good!
The Aria begins somewhere close to 14:30 minutes.
This was in 1986 I believe.
I pagliacci - Leoncavallo (Complete)
Role of Beppe
Oswego Opera Theater
This was the last half of the 2 Opera Night in Oswego.