Governor's Arts Awards
February/03/2026
Last night, I was awarded the "Arts Legacy Award" at 2026 Kansas Governor's Arts Awards. I was truly honored to receive this mention. A Legacy Award…I guess that means I've been around for awhile. It was great to chat with Governor Laura Kelly after the dinner and ceremony and share our concern and hope in the arts.
A few nights ago, I was on a retreat with fellow musicians from the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, Kansas. Of course, I am the Director of Sacred Music for the Diocese. We were asked, "When did music become impactful to you…when was the first time music moved you."
This question made me pause. When I think back, I can't remember a moment when music wasn't impacting and moving me.
It's with me when I rise.
It's with me when I go to work.
…walk on stage.
…teach a lesson.
…lead a rehearsal.
…conduct a choir and/or orchestra.
…when I worship my my Lord, the Creator of all beauty.
…when I sleep (many nights waking me from my sleep).
It has caused me to study this great art form in college in Illinois, took me to Kansas, to the east coast, and back to Kansas.
It's what has taken me around and around and around and around the world…gaining countless frequent flyer miles.
Singing, music, and the arts are a huge part of who I am.
I often remind my students that the human voice is the ONLY internal instrument. All other instruments are external in their production. In order to sing, you have to produce it from inside your body and then set it free. No other instrument has words and the colors of the human voice. The internal voice seeking it’s way to the external in order to be eternal.
And, if that’s my legacy to Kansas and to the arts, so be it. I can live with that. Thank you.
A few nights ago, I was on a retreat with fellow musicians from the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, Kansas. Of course, I am the Director of Sacred Music for the Diocese. We were asked, "When did music become impactful to you…when was the first time music moved you."
This question made me pause. When I think back, I can't remember a moment when music wasn't impacting and moving me.
It's with me when I rise.
It's with me when I go to work.
…walk on stage.
…teach a lesson.
…lead a rehearsal.
…conduct a choir and/or orchestra.
…when I worship my my Lord, the Creator of all beauty.
…when I sleep (many nights waking me from my sleep).
It has caused me to study this great art form in college in Illinois, took me to Kansas, to the east coast, and back to Kansas.
It's what has taken me around and around and around and around the world…gaining countless frequent flyer miles.
Singing, music, and the arts are a huge part of who I am.
I often remind my students that the human voice is the ONLY internal instrument. All other instruments are external in their production. In order to sing, you have to produce it from inside your body and then set it free. No other instrument has words and the colors of the human voice. The internal voice seeking it’s way to the external in order to be eternal.
And, if that’s my legacy to Kansas and to the arts, so be it. I can live with that. Thank you.
Washington National Opera/Kennedy Center
January/10/2026
I first stepped foot in the KENNEDY CENTER in 1972 as an 8th grader as a member of the Junior High School Band of America (same weekend the Watergate break-in happened next door). I sang my first performances with the Washington Opera (the predecessor to the Washington National Opera) on stage at the KENNEDY CENTER in 1987. Since then, I have had some of the most memorable nights of my career with the WNO…hundreds of performances in around 30 different productions. There were nights of triumph, nights of joy, nights of despair, nights of sadness...there was also September 12, 2001...a night where none of us knew whether we would perform at this incredibly sad time...but, we did...and we helped heal the audience...and ourselves. The WNO was the first major company to hire me and was one of the pillars of my 40 years (and counting) opera career. The Ring performances of 2016 were a highlight not only for me, but for an entire company and community. The WNO and the KENNEDY CENTER were the center of the opera world for those three weeks in May. I can’t imagine the production and the energy being matched on another stage or with a different company. I have been involved with at least 13 different Ring productions around the world…all were specatcular…this one was special. Other performances followed for me on that stage…but it was hard to match that energy. Performances of any kind of staged artistic endeavor always are best on the stage where they were originally intended. Things just fit together better that way. That the marriage of the KENNEDY CENTER and the WNO has ended truly is disturbing and disheartening. I have so many memories of performing at the Center…but, my memories are even stronger of the artists and company members who have meant so much to me for so long. My memories are of the many friendships that were nourished on and offstage and with those in the audience who became so cherished in our lives. The WNO leaving the KC is the end of an era…but it is not the end of true art. I know the staff. I know the great talent within the walls. I have twice served as the Artist in Residence for the company's young artist program and I know the great talent on the horizon. The Gesamtkunstwerk will continue but in a different locale. And may it continue to inspire, entertain, and enrich all those who seek beauty and excellence.
Die Walküre in Miami
July/20/2024
Tonight, we perform the third act of Wagner's "Die Walküre" at the Miami Music Festival. This is my fifth visit to the festival…each trip has been very different. Tonight, I not only sing Wotan but am also directing the performance. This has been intimidating but I have enjoyed every second of it…well, with the exception of having a major allergy attack this week that brought on laryngitis. Things have greatly improved and I should be able to make it through the performance…but, we'll see. Strong video visualizations are being used in this presentation and the orchestra, mostly young musicians, sound fantastic as do all the ladies I'm on stage with. They have all been open to this endeavor…one that has most of them signing Wagner for the first time. Our conductor, Aaron Breid, is an outstanding young conductor. I'm sure we will all hear much more from him!!!
I've never directed and played a role in a production at the same time. Your eyes and ears have to be in 20 places at the same time…not to mention, you have to keep your own mind on your own performance. It's been a great challenge…and, I'd like to do it again. But, this time, I want to stay healthy through it all.
I've never directed and played a role in a production at the same time. Your eyes and ears have to be in 20 places at the same time…not to mention, you have to keep your own mind on your own performance. It's been a great challenge…and, I'd like to do it again. But, this time, I want to stay healthy through it all.
Bach and Blue
June/22/2024
This week, I returned to Decatur, Illinois for a Residency at the Five City Baroque Festival. Now, some of you are probably surprised that I'm taking on Baroque music at this time of my career. I have never sung Bach as a soloist but will sing the role of Jesus in the "St. John's Passion" tonight. It has been a great week of taking on something new, teaching, and just being back in Decatur. Decatur is also the home of my undergraduate alma mater, Millikin Univeristy (home of the Big Blue). This is also where my wife and I met and were married so many years ago.
It is always great to visit areas from your past. However, sometimes seeing the changes is difficult as well. A favorite restaurant may be missing or somebody put up a stop sign where it just shouldn't be. But, for the most part, things are very much the same. And, to me, that's a very good thing.
I'll be headed up to Eureka, Illinois tomorrow for a very special event. Five of us, all former students of Jack and Linda Schepper, will gather to put on a memorial recital in honor of our teachers who both passed away over the past few years. They had such a profound and lasting impact on so many people in Central Illinois. Jack and Linda were HIGHLY influential in me coming to Decatur as a college student as Millikin was their alma mater as well. I'm really looking forward to the performance tomorrow where I will sing some old favorites (no opera) and be reunited with old friends.
Millikin is a special place. I had a bit of a falling out with the University a few years back but am hoping amends can be made. It has educated so many musicians who are performing all over the world. A small school with incredible facilities, it is a leading liberal arts college that has done much good. May it always be so.
The first time I came to Decatur was in 1972. I was part of the Junior High School Band of America and Decatur was "home base". I was a tuba player. We rehearsed here and then headed out on tour before returning for our final concert. The location of that concert was the Masonic Temple which is basically next door to where the Bach concert takes places this evening. It is amazing how things come full circle…and, I'm glad that music has so often been the center of it.
Five years later, I returned to Millikin as a Music Major (Tuba). I gave up the tuba (for the most part and after years of playing) during the first week or so and took on vocal studies. Once I heard the Millikin Choir, I knew I just had to sing. I was also soon, thereafter, cast in my first opera (The Marriage of Figaro). I was so green. I had never seen an opera. Actually, I didn't see an opera until I was in two or three. I remember, during my first month at Millikin my teacher, Jocelyn Reiter, gave me the fairly simple Italian piece, "Caro mio ben" to learn. She also wanted me to visit The University of Illinois (about 40 miles away) to hear a tenor who was coming to give a recital. She was hoping her young student would become more and more inspired to sing. So, I went to the concert. When I got to the Great Hall at The Krannert Center, I was amazed at the beauty and size of the auditorium. But, when I picked up my program and opened it, I was shocked that the first thing on the recital was "Caro min ben". I thought, what kind of a putz is this who is singing one of my earliest learned songs. Well, let me assure you, Luciano Pavarotti gave a tremendous recital that day. Fortunately, I was able to go on and sing with the great Maestro many times. But, this kid from a small farm town got a great education that day.
Oh, and lest you think that all of those years playing the tuba went for nought….my son took up playing the tuba and now has a master's degree in tuba performance. Jack and Linda Schepper's influenced lives in so many ways. Again, the circle remains unbroken.
It is always great to visit areas from your past. However, sometimes seeing the changes is difficult as well. A favorite restaurant may be missing or somebody put up a stop sign where it just shouldn't be. But, for the most part, things are very much the same. And, to me, that's a very good thing.
I'll be headed up to Eureka, Illinois tomorrow for a very special event. Five of us, all former students of Jack and Linda Schepper, will gather to put on a memorial recital in honor of our teachers who both passed away over the past few years. They had such a profound and lasting impact on so many people in Central Illinois. Jack and Linda were HIGHLY influential in me coming to Decatur as a college student as Millikin was their alma mater as well. I'm really looking forward to the performance tomorrow where I will sing some old favorites (no opera) and be reunited with old friends.
Millikin is a special place. I had a bit of a falling out with the University a few years back but am hoping amends can be made. It has educated so many musicians who are performing all over the world. A small school with incredible facilities, it is a leading liberal arts college that has done much good. May it always be so.
The first time I came to Decatur was in 1972. I was part of the Junior High School Band of America and Decatur was "home base". I was a tuba player. We rehearsed here and then headed out on tour before returning for our final concert. The location of that concert was the Masonic Temple which is basically next door to where the Bach concert takes places this evening. It is amazing how things come full circle…and, I'm glad that music has so often been the center of it.
Five years later, I returned to Millikin as a Music Major (Tuba). I gave up the tuba (for the most part and after years of playing) during the first week or so and took on vocal studies. Once I heard the Millikin Choir, I knew I just had to sing. I was also soon, thereafter, cast in my first opera (The Marriage of Figaro). I was so green. I had never seen an opera. Actually, I didn't see an opera until I was in two or three. I remember, during my first month at Millikin my teacher, Jocelyn Reiter, gave me the fairly simple Italian piece, "Caro mio ben" to learn. She also wanted me to visit The University of Illinois (about 40 miles away) to hear a tenor who was coming to give a recital. She was hoping her young student would become more and more inspired to sing. So, I went to the concert. When I got to the Great Hall at The Krannert Center, I was amazed at the beauty and size of the auditorium. But, when I picked up my program and opened it, I was shocked that the first thing on the recital was "Caro min ben". I thought, what kind of a putz is this who is singing one of my earliest learned songs. Well, let me assure you, Luciano Pavarotti gave a tremendous recital that day. Fortunately, I was able to go on and sing with the great Maestro many times. But, this kid from a small farm town got a great education that day.
Oh, and lest you think that all of those years playing the tuba went for nought….my son took up playing the tuba and now has a master's degree in tuba performance. Jack and Linda Schepper's influenced lives in so many ways. Again, the circle remains unbroken.
Appearance on Podcast
September/28/2023
Recently, I had a great time being interviewed for "The Daniel Hendrick Experience" podcast with Mr. Hendrick, himself, asking all the questions. In the interview, we talked about vocal technic, performing, the business, faith, and so much else. Take a look and a listen…and enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9QgL2Ngvg8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9QgL2Ngvg8