30 performances. Seven cities. Five house debuts and two role debuts.

Not many people get the chance to see an opera singer up close and personal. Even in a recital hall or opera house, there is a distance created by the stage. The connection comes from the music and the artistic involvement on both ends of the spectrum.

But on Tuesday, New York students were able to get an experience few others can claim to have – seeing an opera singer up-close. And by up-close, I mean arms length. Brian Jagde, the tenor making major house and role debuts around the United States and Europe over the coming months, came to Time In Children’s Arts Initiative and performed.

Jagde understands well that his singing schedule is the kind that aspiring opera singers dream of. "What they don't realize, is when you start to make it, it doesn't get any easier. It gets harder." Maintaining his instrument is an ongoing job, and the hustle of the audition circuit is only one chapter of that process. "You have to continue to get better," says Jagde of his constant work with his teachers and coaches. "You're working really hard to just even have a job and to have a career, and now you have to keep it. The work never stops. It's not that you make it, and then you're there."