Brian Jagde feels 'really at home' at Royal Opera
Feature
‘As Rodolfo Or Cavaradossi, Opera Tenor Makes Music Education A Priority’
Gabbie Watts – 90.1 FM WABE Atlanta
Sometimes in the opera world, performers get a call from someone that says, “Will you come star in our opera that’s already in rehearsal?”
Brian Jagde got that call recently to perform as the character Cavaradossi in “Tosca” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
As an up-and-coming lyric tenor superstar, Jagde has already been debuting around the world in leading roles: at the Metropolitan Opera as Count Elemer in “Arabella,” as Don José in “Carmen” at Opéra de Limoges, as Cavaradossi at Santa Fe Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, as Alfredo “La Traviata” at Opera Grand Rapids, as Rodolfo in “La Bohéme” with Lorin Maazel and the Münchner Philharmoniker, to name a few.
While hopping from opera company to company throughout the world in these big roles, Jagde holds a deep commitment to music education. In each city he performs, he visits schools, live-tweets performances, answers questions asked through his website and donates to music education programs.
“When I’m in areas, I try and donate my time to schools and sing for kids and talk to kids about opera and about music and anything they really have questions about,” Jagde said. “That’s always fruitful for me because I really enjoy seeing their faces light up. These kids are very interested in these things, and I think it’s a great learning tool for how to live life.”