In the late Spring of 2014, my (then) girlfriend and I packed up her collision-damaged, maroon Ford Taurus sedan and hit the road. We were on a life-altering journey to move our lives from the blistering desert of Phoenix, AZ to the brick-laden, historic streets of Boston, MA.

No jobs. No place to live. Just the hope of something new - New cultural opportunities back on the East coast in a city that just seemed right.

Kind of stupid, in retrospect. But that’s the blind optimism you fly around with when you’re 25 years old. It will all work out the way it’s supposed to.

And you know what? It kind of did. That’s not to say it wasn’t a challenge. Finding a landlord who would accept our savings sight unseen wasn’t easy. Finding work that didn’t drain my spirit at every turn wasn’t either. I went from being a community college Voice professor to a “Cluemaster” at an escape room seemingly overnight.

An entire year spent ingratiating myself to two of the worst “bosses” I’ve ever met. If you ever think about working at an escape room, just, I don’t know. Think again.

But I knew it would all be worth it. I was in a city surrounded by history and culture. I was being paid to sing with orchestras.

The orchestras play on cool, old instruments!

Look over there, that’s Paul Revere’s grave!

Damn, it felt good to be a gangster. And it felt great to be a Bostonian.

This city places value on art and history and culture. We have amazing museums with paintings by Monet and Van Gogh down the hall from Egyptian mummies. Some days, the lines for the museums spill out the door and go down the street. On any given night, I can see a professional production of a play or musical, sometimes even a Broadway bound play or musical. Hell, we even have an Aquarium with a famous 90 year old sea turtle!

So, in a city where art and culture is at the top of the list, why is "“art song” such a hard sell?

Well, for starters, it’s difficult for the average person to comprehend. The average American in 2024 doesn’t seek out classical music. The average American in 2024 seeks out Taylor Swift. That’s why Taylor Swift is the one at the Superbowl chugging beers instead of Fanny Mendelssohn.

Once the average American understands that “art song” is a form of sung classical music (but not opera!), you’ve already lost them. They don’t know why they should come. We missed the point.

Maybe “art song” needs a rebrand. Maybe “classical music” needs a serious rebrand. But that’s another blog…

I’ll start with a few pitches:

Beautiful music and poetry that will make you weep simultaneous joy and sorrow deep inside of your soul, but you won’t really understand why.

Damn, dude. If you could bottle that feeling and sell it on the street, you would get rich.

Locally-grown artistry so tremendous that it will leave you questioning how you look at your neighbors.

Your commute to work will be forever changed.

Piano, voice, and poetry converging into a healing medicine, taken aurally.

GIMME GIMME GIMMEEEEEEEEEEEE NOW NOW NOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

I sometimes wonder if it’s a mistake to make our young singers study and perform art song at the college level. As maturing artists, we get confused.

Recitals are something I did to earn my degree. They’re not a viable stream of income for me, so they’re not important.

Oof. What about your artistic soul - Is that important? How about your legacy? At the end of the day, no one is going to look back on your life and think, “Of all the people that made a modest living as a professional performing artist, he made the most money. And he never even gave a recital.”

On March 30th, I’m producing a concert of art song. It will make you feel deep feelings. Dana Whiteside will break your heart into pieces when he sings Songs of Travel. It’s going to be better than therapy, and for a small fraction of the price.

‘Nuff said.