Q. How did you get started with opera?
A. When I moved to Victoria for college, I wound up in Pacific Opera Victoria's production of Eugene Onegin.I'd participated in lots of musical theatre productions in my home town, but this was completely different.The thrill of putting together such beautiful music, the gripping story, and lavish scenery was like nothing I'd ever experienced. The bug bit, and I've been enthralled ever since.
Q. Have you ever sung Rigoletto before? If so, where/when?
A. Actually, Pacific Opera Victoria presented Rigoletto a few months after Onegin, and I had the privilege of performing in the chorus once more. Lucky me!
Q. What is the most exciting thing about Rigoletto for you?
A. By far it's the way Verdi grips onto the real dramatic situation in each scene. This deceptively beautiful music weaves the subtext effortlessly. Verdi was driven by the tinta that music could lend to a dramatic moment, giving it layers and layers of meaning and colour, and there's not a single second where that isn't the case. So awesome!
Q. What might you say to someone who has never been to an opera before to get them excited about this particular show?
A. We're given a bleak, dark look at a man whose every endeavor ends in ruin. His wife is dead, his peers hate him, his boss permits him to exist because it's amusing. He is filled with hurt and paranoia. All that is left for this man is a daughter and her innocence. But how long can that last? or... [he says jokingly...] Rig is an HBO series set to music. Do you like HBO series? I thought you did.
Q. When you are not immersed in opera, what is your favorite past time?
A. Can brunch be a past time? [We think so!]
Q. Everybody has a guilty pleasure when it comes to music, what yours? (I listen to the beat 94.5 Top Ten pop music exclusively when in the car, my fav is to cluck along (like a chicken) with overplayed top 10 songs.
A. Not gonna lie, the fresh, delicious rap stylings of Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) are pretty much the best thing ever!
Q. Anything else you can think of that is relevent, or a question that you would to answer that we didn't ask
A. Hmm. How about a favorite quote?
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."
- CS Lewis
And we'd like to shout out a hearty congratulations to Aaron who will be singing the role of Schaunard (La Boheme) in Vancouver Opera's 2012/13 Season!!! Bravo Aaron!
Don't forget to pick up your tickets for Rigoletto! They're going fast! February 15 and 17 in Vancouver and February 18 in White Rock (South Surrey)!
Oh, and if you'd like to read more about Aaron, visit our artist page for his full bio!
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