We recently connected with Franco Pomponi and have shared our conversation below.
Franco , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?
I was working a grueling telemarketing job 50+ hours a week and the only time I had to study or take lessons was on my lunch or dinner break because I was so tired when I got home and it was usually after 10pm by then. I had recently done an audition for a local orchestra and at the time, for me, it was a big deal! I got the call at work that I got the part! I was to sing one of the soloist roles in Handel’s Messiah! It was only for $100 but “Hey! I’m now a professional !!” I remember thinking. When I was heading home after work, the night I got the call, I put on the Messiah in the car and I was boisterously singing along with the recording. It came a very fast passage with a lot of “fioritura” and the words “for he is like a refiner’s fire!” I was wailing at the top of my lungs with excitement and the joy of getting a singing job, that didn’t realize I was a tad over the speed limit…. well about 25mph over and sure enough, I was brought back to reality by the sight of flashing blue and red lights in my rear view mirror and the sound of a siren competing with poor Maestro Handel. The officer handed me my ticket for $125! I remember yelling at myself, “Man, you just lost money on this gig!”
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hello, I am an international opera singer and I am also one of the founders and Artistic Director of the Opera Festival of Chicago which had it’s premiere season in the summer of 2021.
I have performed leading baritone roles at major Opera houses and Concert Halls worldwide including
Barcelona, Madrid, Moscow, Brussels , Zürich, Geneva, Lausanne, Paris, Versailles, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice, Netherlands, Palermo, Athens, Budapest, Helsinki, China, Qatar, and in the Americas at the
Metropolitan Opera, Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Toronto, Santa Fe, New Orleans, Miami, Spoleto Festival, San Diego, Boston, Dallas, Portland, Washington D.C. and Carnegie Hall in New York, Orchestra Hall Chicago
, with the renowned orchestras of
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston, Orchestre du Paris, Orchestre Radio France, Grant Park Symphony, Qatar Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Musiciens du Louvre, Orquesta y Coro Nacional de España.
I grew up in the Chicago area and from an early age I was involved in choirs and choruses. I was fortunate enough to go to a
public school system that had active music and arts programs starting in kindergarten. My first performance was at 5 years old in a small production of ‘Peter and the Wolf’. Somewhere around the 4th or 5th Grade my teacher assigned me a solo. At that age I had no aspirations of classical music, I was just doing what my teacher told me to do! When I got to high school I can remember that I didn’t want to be in school chorus any longer. I had already discovered the great rock bands, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Who, David Bowie, and especially Roxy Music. From then on I was SURE I was going to be a big rock star! I met some guys from school and we became fast friends (as we are to this day) and we started a classic ‘Garage Band’. We practiced every day and went to see bands whenever we could. I met other great Chicago artists and musicians like my friend, Nicholas Tremulis and my palate was enriched as I was turned on to great films, ballet, theater and food! High School ended, the band broke up and I was really lost for a bit. I decided to go to a local community college and there, by chance, I met a very charismatic singer by the name of Carl Lawrenz. He had a big heart but authoritarian energy and I was shy and very impressionable. It was an excellent match. Carl heard something in my singing and without ever hearing a classical music concert or opera, he taught me an Italian opera aria and a couple German Lieder songs.
I learned them by rote, as I had a good ear from my rock days. My grandparents were also Italian so I knew the sound and cadence of a foreign language. I worked with Carl for long time and then I went to undergrad at UW-La Crosse. It was a small, state school at the time. It had a decent music program but an incredible theater program. While there, I was able to really hone my craft as a theatrical performer. I performed in operas, concerts, musicals and straight plays. I don’t think I would have had the same opportunity to learn the extensive craft at a large university. My first big role was ‘Berger’ in the musical “Hair”. The show was a hit and the experience blew my mind and changed me forever. I knew from then on that I was destined for a life on the stage. After I graduated I auditioned and won a scholarship at the AIMS program in Graz. It was there that I was first surrounded by opera 24/7. I met and sang for great Met artists like Eleanor Steber and the famous music critic and author, Henry Pleasants. Both of them were very supportive and gave me confidence in my potential. However when they told me I should audition for Juilliard, I was shocked at the suggestion as I didn’t think I could ever get invited to such a prestigious conservatory.
I went home to Chicago and had a few horrible auditions. My operatic voice at that time was wild and unruly. Some days it worked and most days …ha, shit! That winter Juilliard was coming through Chicago to hear auditions and remembering Steber and Pleasant’s words, I reluctantly applied. I will never forget that day of the audition. The night before and the morning of, there had been a classic Chicago blizzard! As I drove into the city, cars were sliding off the road and I thought it was folly to bother goin the rest of the way in. “They won’t even be there!” I thought!”. Yet something kept pushing me onward. I arrived at the hall and there had been many cancellations so I was sent right in without even warming up. I remember the head of the auditions, slowly looked up as I started singing and I could tell, I was in the zone that day! She asked if I would sing that aria again as she turned on the video camera. I sang a couple arias and then left. I waited but no news came. I felt I had done a good job but I was getting blue. Five and half months passed when I received the acceptance letter! I could not believe it! My parents started to cry…and, I had received a full ride, too! The work at Juilliard was very hard and I had so much to catch up on but I was given the best training and I loved every minute of my time there. Working with greats like Frank Corsaro, Nico Castel, Diane Richardson and Enrico di Guiseppe as well as so many others I really honed my craft. After Juilliard I joined the young artists from the Lyric Opera of Chicago and at that theater I made my major operatic debut. I joined the Metropolitan Opera in 2000 and in 2002 made my European debut in the title role of “Hamlet” at the famous Liceo in Barcelona.
In 2017 I began working on the idea of beginning an opera festival in Chicago with a few colleagues I had met who had similar aspirations.
In 2018 we formed the Opera Festival of Chicago. The pandemic hit and It took us a while to get our “ducks in a row”, however we all had incredible passion and were able to inspired others to come along. Many thought we were crazy. “You can’t start and opera company in a pandemic!”, “No one is interested in Classical Music anymore!” “Do you know how much opera costs?” and yet as I told the story of what we were doing, I started to receive some donations by friends, artists, colleagues and then a few generous angels came through where we could hire a General Director and put a Board of Directors together. It took a lot of work from all of us and thankfully we all were good at one facet or another. I could never have done this on my own. We created an online series during the shutdown and had mini concerts, interviews and because we were nimble and new, we got interest. In 2021 the Board got together in May and said “Let’s have a season!” So we put the pedal to the metal and I started to find artists and repertoire. It was a miraculous success and immediately we were known as a new company to watch. The classical music station WFMT picked us up in just our 2nd season and we were heard all over the world through their affiliates. We just wrapped our third season and the critical acclaim has been tremendous. From an artistic standpoint we are exceptional but the work at building the infrastructure is ongoing and the challenge now. Chicago has a wealth of musicians, artists, singers, craftspersons and technicians. So many have been generous with their talent, time and energy as they really feel we are doing something beautiful and special here. I owe so much gratitude to all those who have made it possible.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
First of all, we are all creatives. We create our world and the lives we live in, given our unique set of circumstances, even sometimes just to make it through the day. Someone who makes lunches for children creates them, an office worker fashioning an email or spreadsheet, a doctor who comes us with a new instrument for an operation or procedure has transcended the abstract and created. To me, that is Art. Anything undone to being manifested has an element of creativity. I think this is why art is so important. It takes thinking and movement in the abstract. Any building that you see was a thought first. Then someone had to draw up a design and someone had to do the math to make sure it was physically stable and someone had to form the architecture, cut the wood, mix the concrete in the right way, find the colors for the walls, let alone design and build the furniture. Every step takes creative energy. Singing opera and building an opera company is similar. In singing one needs to build a technique with voice teachers, music coaches for style, acting and movement teachers, fight choreographers etc. and it takes thinking in the abstract to process all that information properly and then. hopefully, transcend that technique back into the abstract to become an Artist. Creating a company takes a team of creatives. A maestro for the orchestra, an Artistic Director for the production design and finding artists, a Development person, a Media person a General Director to keep it all the parts moving, technicians, set designers, lighting designers, stage managers, etc. Only when all the pieces and people and players come together can you have a show!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
It’s funny how life is, isn’t it? When I first started in opera I wanted to be edgy and hip and bring “Cool” to opera. I love movies, Film noir and European films. I loved the flicks, Maltese Falcon, None but the Lonely Heart, with dark themes like Nights of Cabiria, Mean Streets, Fingers, Rumblefish, Diva and Subway to romantic ones; Room with a View, Casablanca, and hundreds of others. I was a sponge for theater especially to go hear great actors such as Randall Duk Kim or Kevin Kline perform the most difficult Shakespearian roles with ease and power or . I wanted to do that in opera. I think I was able to bring a lot of what I learned, borrowed and stole from other great performers to opera but I soon realized… opera was already Cool! In my day “Cool” did not equate to “Popular”. To be cool was unique, talented and confident. I think the term has been hijacked. I love the craft of opera. I love the art of opera. I love the timeless stories of passion, love, power, betrayal. I love the lessons it conveys to humanity. I also love the artists. Each one is so unique, like a painter with certain gifts that only they have. My goal is to preserve this amazing art form and the craft and to be in and create productions that not only entertain, but to move people. I would like to see Opera Festival of Chicago grow to a top tier company and a destination for opera lovers worldwide.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.francopomponi.com www.operafestivalchicago.org
- Instagram: @francopomponi
- Facebook: Franco Pomponi
Image Credits
Matilde Fassó, Deborah Grey Mitchell Denis Lacharme