Kevin Rockower

Kevin has been performing in musical theatre for several years. Now, however, his voice is growing too large for musicals, and he is switching to opera. He has spent the month of June preparing for TOP by studying German in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, and soaking up as much culture as he can.

I have never seen my father go fishing and I never knew why there was a big blue tackle box in the garage.  What I do know is why it was removed.  When I was about three years old, I rummaged curiously through the tackle box until I happened to hook a big, well… me.  There I was, alone in the garage, with my finger stuck to a fishhook attached to a tangled fishing line. I was hopelessly stuck.  Nobody could hear me in the garage.  I was stuck there, scared and abandoned.  Tears came to my eyes but I remember needing more comfort than crying afforded.  So I began to sing.  I don’t remember if it was a familiar song or something I created on my own, but it worked. I sang and sang until someone finally found me.

To this day the memory fascinates me.  What might have been a traumatic experience became one of strength.  The pain that normally led to tears was transformed into music. The song brought comfort and each time a wave of fear rose up, it fueled my singing even more.

Since then I have found more pleasant reasons for singing.  My love of music propelled me into musical theatre where I used my voice to lift the spirits of others.  More recently I’ve discovered a larger, richer voice within me and hope to apply it to the vast and magnificent repertoire of opera.

Music can play a variety of roles.  It can comfort, sadden, and even lead men toward war.  Music offers this inexplicable range because it speaks to each person at a fundamental level.  It passes beyond intellect to fulfill a desire that accepts no substitute.

Music did not save me from the hook, my parents did.  Music has never cured my ills, saved my relationships or stopped me from sticking a hook in my finger.  But with its power and beauty, music has always led me through the pain and into happiness.