Gary Aldrich This is Me

Education

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1. 1. www.garyaldrich.com

   www.garyaldrich.com/thestudio/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/12/2007   Last Visited: 3/12/2007

   GARY ALDRICH, General Artistic Director
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   Conceived by Gary Aldrich and Richard Feldman
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   Re-adapted and directed by Gary Aldrich in 2002 and 2006
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   Aldrich gives notes from the stage at dress rehearsal

2. 2. www.garyaldrich.com

   www.garyaldrich.com/Frame-2-bi - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/12/2007   Last Visited: 3/12/2007

   GARY ALDRICH, bass-baritone, is equally at home in concert, opera, oratorio, and musical theater. A consummate cross-over singer, he moved from New York to Nevada in 2000 to teach voice at the University of Nevada, Reno, while still maintaining an active singing career.
   
   Known nationwide as "a singer who can act!"
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   GARY ALDRICH has employed his stage talents in every aspect of his musical career. Blessed with a voice of "uncommon compass and agility, he exhibits a brilliant, ringing top" (The Village Voice/New York) which has brought him acclaim in the lyric bel canto roles on the operatic stage as well as a lower extension which has brought him distinction on the concert platform in a wide range of both baritone and bass-baritone repertoire.
   
   He made his West Coast debut in the Verdi Requiem with the Sacramento Symphony. Other oratorio/symphonic credits include engagements as vocal soloist with the National Chorale and Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Honolulu, Sacramento, Phoenix, Charleston, Nashville, Berkeley, Monterey, Syracuse, Albany, Johnstown (PA), York, Sun City (AZ), Utah, New York's Amor Artis Orchestra, the Long Island Philharmonic, the Reno Chamber Orchestra and Philharmonic, New York City Ballet and Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre's acclaimed production of Revelations.
   
   He has been soloist with prestigious choral societies across the country, including San Francisco's Schola Cantorum and Los Angeles' William Hall Chorale, in four centuries of masterpieces from Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 through Stravinsky's Les Noces and Brubeck's A Light in the Wilderness, including the Verdi Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Handel's Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus, the Mozart Requiem, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, the Stabat Mater of Dvorak and Rossini, Dvorak's The Spectre's Bride, and RVWilliams' Hodie.
   
   Opera credits include Tosca's Scarpia with New York City's PALA Opera and Springfield (MO) Regional Opera. "As Scarpia, Gary Aldrich was absolutely mesmerizing... demonic!"
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   A native New Yorker, Aldrich holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in theatre and voice performance from the State University of New York. He continued his training as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Studio and for ten years performed and taught as a Teacher-Artist at New York's Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts. He is currently on the voice faculty at the University of Nevada/Reno.
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   Click on this icon to download a printable version of Gary Aldrich's Biography
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   (If you click on the image above, the link will take you to Gary Aldrich's personal photo album)
   
   ... on performing at Carnegie Hall
   
   Aldrich takes center stage at Carnegie Hall
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   Becoming a star was never Gary Aldrich's goal - even if he will be performing at Carnegie Hall this New Year's Eve.
   
   Aldrich, who teaches History of the American Musical and Applied Voice at the University of Nevada, Reno, has spent a lifetime performing in operas, concerts and musical theater. With his majestic bass-baritone voice, Aldrich's resume is nearly endless with international performances as well as performances on Broadway, the Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center.
   
   Obviously, his performance as the lead role in the operetta "Die Fledermaus" at Carnegie Hall didn't come easy. After more than 125 performances in opera, theater and solo concerts, Aldrich has certainly paid his dues.
   
   "The door is open to get to Carnegie Hall," Aldrich said. "It doesn't get much bigger and better than that. I'm sure walking out on that stage for the first time for dress rehearsal is going to be a real head-trip." Aldrich said that Carnegie Hall is the pinnacle of any musician's career.
   
   "There's a joke that says this kid is walking on the street carrying a violin case," Aldrich said. "He comes up to a guy and says 'how do I get to Carnegie Hall?' and the guy turns around and says, 'Practice kid, practice.'"
   
   Aldrich was born in a small town in upstate New York where he and his parents rarely had any exposure to professional musicians. However, his family still encouraged music.
   
   Aldrich's passion for music started when he began playing the piano at the age of 5. He was urged to practice as much as possible by both his parents - especially his mother.
   
   "I'm an only child so if anyone was going to [be a musician], it was going to be me," Aldrich said. "I had shown an interest in playing the piano and my mom had always wanted me to be a pianist."
   
   Performing, however, was not Aldrich's strong point until he auditioned for a play in high school. "When I was about 15, I tried out for a show in my high school," he said. "I was terrified at the possibilities of singing in front of anybody."
   
   About a year earlier Aldrich's voice had changed into the singing voice he would come to perfect. "I knew that there was a voice there and I knew it was a pretty good one," he said. "But nobody else knew - it was one of the best kept secrets around." It was the last day of auditions and Aldrich was hesitant to try out at the last minute but something made him do it.
   
   "It was one of those moments that I'll never forget because the whole auditorium went absolutely silent," Aldrich said. "I finished the audition and the entire auditorium just broke out into applause. It changed my life."
   
   After earning degrees in both theater and music at the State University of New York, Aldrich began his professional life as a performer. He did not start the operatic part of his career until his late 30s when an agent discovered him at one of his smaller performances.
   
   "It was in the back of my mind that maybe one day I could sing at Carnegie Hall," said Aldrich, who was uncertain at first to sign with the agent. "I took the plunge and I started traveling all over the country." For about 15 years Aldrich lived out of a suitcase, traveling from performance to performance. His personal life suffered from his constant work and eventually Aldrich decided to settle down when he moved to Reno in July 2000.
   
   Since then, Aldrich has opened a private home studio where he teaches voice to 28 students. His attempt at tempering his singing career was short-lived, however, as Aldrich received a call from a conductor he worked with at the Lincoln Center a year earlier who offered him a chance to perform at Carnegie Hall.
   
   "I had no sooner said, 'I'm tired of all the traveling and I don't want to lose my personal life' than the call came and that all just went to hell," Aldrich said. "How can I turn that down?"
   
   After performing for about 40 years, Aldrich still gets butterflies in his stomach. But he assures it's no longer nerves, but rather excitement. His achievements in the world of performing have brought him joy and grief - but more joy than anything else.
   
   "One thing I think I would say to anybody is never give up," he said.
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   Gary Aldrich is the bass soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Reno Philharmonic this weekend.
   
   If you can't do it, you shouldn't teach it. So says Gary Aldrich, a University of Nevada, Reno voice professor who spends a good deal of time on stage.
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   Aldrich was born in New York, earned his own degrees in theater and vocal performance from the State University of New York and continued his training as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Studio. He has worked "in the business" for over 30 years, and has taught for most of them as well. He has performed everything from pop music in nightclubs to full-scale operas with Washington Opera, Utah Opera and Hawaii Opera Theatre. This weekend, locals can hear him solo in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony during a Reno Philharmonic concert.
   
   "Beethoven's vocal writing, in terms of his ensemble work, is very complicated." Aldrich said. "It's a mine field, musically, especially when more than one person is singing. . . . It presents challenges that you always have to be prepared and get in shape for."
   
   Aldrich moved to Reno in July 2000. He said the presence of the philharmonic, Nevada Opera and Reno Chamber Orchestra made his decision to leave New York easier. He moved despite business contacts telling him there was no future outside the Big Apple.
   
   "It just isn't true," he said. "You can do what you do from anywhere, which is really nice because I'd much rather be here than there."
   
   Aldrich said he fell in love with Reno's climate, which boasts more sunny days than he saw on the East Coast.
   
   "I've found that since I've been here my physical and emotional energy has skyrocketed," he said. "I respond very well to sunlight."
   
   Along with teaching voice at UNR, Aldrich directs

3. 3. Director splices Juliets for UNR performance

   www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/2/2003   Last Visited: 4/3/2003

   Gary Aldrich, artistic director of the University of Nevada, Reno's Lyric Opera Theatre, spent years researching all things "Romeo and Juliet."
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   "We're trying to do a true crossover," Aldrich said. "We've chosen to tell it in a number of different ways."
   
   For the audience, said Aldrich, the trick will be buying into a story that moves from straight theatrical to opera to dance and back again. That, and accepting five different performers in each of the title roles. Since each reading of the show is different, Aldrich thought it was important to offer five different sets of leads, each focusing on a different aspect of the characters.
   
   "We want them to blend as far as the situations are concerned," he said, "but not personalities."
   
   The costuming is contemporary and sets are sparse, but all actors in a particular role will dress similarly to aid the viewer.
   
   Aldrich said he believes the story of "Romeo and Juliet" has remained popular over the ages because of its universal themes and the fact that almost everyone has memories of their own young loves. That said, he believes his presentation will remind people that there are many ways of seeing the same thing.
   
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