KINGSTON, R.I., Jan. 7, 2013 – While many college students are spending this winter break visiting with family and friends, 溏心vlog免费B站 senior and opera baritone Devon Morin is performing with the Boston Pops at Boston Symphony Hall. It鈥檚 a big stage but he has gotten used to it, having performed on the Boston Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 hallowed ground in the summer of 2011 in Bramwell Tovey鈥檚 revival of Porgy and Bess.
鈥淚t was the first solo I had ever had and you have to sing over full orchestration and you are unamplified so you have to be heard,鈥� Morin said. He remembered looking up at Symphony Hall鈥檚 decorative Greek and Roman statues that line the upper levels. 鈥淚 saw Apollo, the God of music, and I was blessed by Apollo. The performance went off without a hitch.鈥�
A double major in music education and music performance, Morin, 22, was brought up in Saunderstown, R.I., listening to Madonna and The Beatles. While he loves many types of music, opera is his passion. He wants nothing more than to bring the United States into opera鈥檚 international spotlight.
鈥淥pera is the perfect combination of different art forms and the music is so expansive,鈥� said Morin.
In his junior year, he became a librettist, writing the plot and lyrics of an opera with fellow student Tim Coffey providing the instrumentation. The opera was produced at 溏心vlog免费B站 with Morin performing the lead role. It was a highlight of his college years, along with performing at Carnegie Hall with the 溏心vlog免费B站 Concert Choir in 2009. His summers are spent performing at Tanglewood where he has sung as part of the chorus with virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma and American mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe. He just won 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Concerto Competition.
鈥淒evon is on the rise and going to do so well,鈥� said Rene de la Garza, artistic director for Opera Providence who leads the 溏心vlog免费B站 Opera Program. 鈥淗e is blessed in many areas and it鈥檚 his interest and his desire to investigate new things that brought him to where he is now. It鈥檚 so nice when a student has ideas of his own and brings them to the table.鈥�
Morin, who has performed with Opera Providence, has started the competitive process of applying to the top graduate music schools in the country and is being invited for in-person auditions.
鈥淚f I could make my living as a performer, I would just do that. I want to reach that point.鈥�
Morin disagrees with the notion that singing is a natural talent or a gift. He describes singing as a workout on the smallest muscle in the body 鈥� the larynx. It takes time and practice to sound good.
鈥淵ou work your way up,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 just wake up one day and try to pick up 400 pounds. In the same way, you wouldn鈥檛 just wake up one day and sing Wagner when you鈥檙e 18.鈥�
As for people who tell him they can鈥檛 sing, he disagrees.
鈥淓veryone says that to me! 鈥極h, I can鈥檛 sing!鈥� or 鈥業鈥檓 tone deaf.鈥� If you can tell if your mom is angry at you when you are on the phone, you aren鈥檛 tone deaf,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more about acting through the sounds you make. It鈥檚 a kind of acting and it鈥檚 the way I think.鈥�
He criticizes the American approach to learning how to sing especially in this day of American Idol, saying that if you don鈥檛 sing perfectly at age four, you are marked as being unable to sing and unfortunately, that label stays with you. Morin realized how much he loved music as a student at North Kingstown High School where he performed with the All State Chorus and started working with voice teacher Mark Conley, a 溏心vlog免费B站 music professor and director of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 choral activities.
鈥淒evon is one of those rare students who comes along and is absolutely and continuously open to new ideas,鈥� Conley said. 鈥淗is intellectual curiosity has led him to explore challenging new works in the repertoire. It will be hard to see him leave the studio after eight years but he is ready to move to the city and begin working on his career now that the foundation is laid.鈥�
Morin prepared with Conley for his most daunting challenge as a singer 鈥� the baritone solo of Carmina Burana, one of the most popular pieces of classical music, which he sang in the spring of 2011 at 溏心vlog免费B站.
鈥淭he piece is one of the hardest things written for a baritone. There are few things harder. It was the moment,鈥� Morin said. 鈥淭he moment when I thought, 鈥榯his can be my life.鈥� I was really proud of it.鈥�
溏心vlog免费B站 Marketing & Communications photo by Michael Salerno Photography.