This marks the first in the series of The Lookout’s online
profiles. This week, Associate Editor Rich Tupica sat down with
Dr. Michael Nealon to talk about his start in the field of music
at an early age.
How did you originally get into singing classical music?
I think I was 7 ½ years old, living in Hicksville, Long Island,
which happens to be the birthplace of Billy Joel. We went to the
same high school, although he is considerably older than I am.
In fact we had a lot of the same music teachers.
It was one of the teachers at the high school, who was a teacher
of Billy Joel’s, who started a group called the Singing Boys
of Long Island. It was in that boy choir tradition, that
dates back, especially in England. I joined that at 7 years old.
That sort of started my musical career.
What type of voice did you have when you first started to sing?
Starting that young, I was of course a boy soprano, which I was
able to hang onto until about the age of 14. Then typically
there is a year in there where you are not really singing,
because your voice can’t be trusted. For me, my voice turned
into the tenor range, kind of more church tenor, not a Pavarotti
or that kind of thing. That was never really my inclination.
I’ve heard that you traveled a lot as a young singer. How did
that come about?
Within two years I was singing with the New York Metropolitan
Opera. We would sing songs in Central Park. I cut some of my
first LPs (vinyl records) singing Mozart and those types of
things. I spent about a month of every summer traveling through
Europe, traveling the United States, the East Coast, playing
concerts. (I was also) singing for the Pope in Rome and in St.
Peters, and the Queen of England. I stayed with that group until
I was 18 years old.
What has all that traveling done for your teaching and
education?
It was an incredible education. I think that is what the arts
can provide for you. The world can be your textbook, the art
works that you surround yourself with, the places we were
performing, like Notre Dame in Paris.
Did you learn knew languages while traveling?
In first grade I began studying French as a language, which I
studied all the way through high school. Later I picked up
German, Italian and Latin, and some other languages, as a
musicologist. My first trips to Paris and France, I could be
relied on by my pals in the group as the translator. I was
pretty fluent by the time I was in the seventh grade.
What was your family like? Were there any other musicians?
I was one of six kids. Five of us were boys. In fact I have a
twin sister, and she’s the only girl in the family. It seemed
like what most kids did was play ball. My lifestyle was just a
little bit different. I was going on tours; spending a lot of
time in recording studios and doing that kind of work. But I had
very supportive parents and I stuck with it, which is important,
not only in the arts, but just for young people to do in
general.
How long have you been a chairperson at LCC?
It has been a year and two weeks, so it was back in the spring
of 2007.
I came here in 1998. It was my 10-year anniversary and I
decided to take up a new talent and move across the hall.
But I’m telling you there is no finer group of faculty and
staff, and certainly no better cohort of students to work with
than the folks who share that interest and passion for what the
humanities and the performing arts can be all about. |
Adviser's Blog
Dr. Michael A. Nealon