Michael Ballam: Utah tenor's career comes full circle

Ballam rented a tuxedo for the occasion and, with no money for a cab, walked a half hour to the War Memorial Opera House through some of the worst parts of the city. He arrived before the theater opened its doors and was the first person to be admitted. Sitting in the last seat at the top of the balcony, he soaked it all in, the orchestra pit, the stage, the people.

"The curtain went up and the orchestra plays that incredible prelude," he says. "Then this tenor voice came zinging out of the dark and hit me right here (he points to his forehead). There were no mikes, just one guy standing there on a stage filling the air with his voice. I swear I lifted right out of that seat. I turned to the lady sitting next to me and said, 'I'm going to do that some day.' She patted me on the knee and said, 'That's nice.' "

Ballam forged an opera career by sheer force of will and a relentless work ethic. He graduated from Utah State in just three years because he was in a hurry to pursue his opera studies. That meant carrying such a heavy classload that he had to get special permission each semester from the dean. He continued his maniacal pace while doing graduate studies at Indiana University, the country's premier opera school. He'd sing until he got hoarse, then he'd play piano, and when his voice recovered, he'd sing some more. He spent eight hours a day just practicing his music.

When Ballam discovered the vast collection of opera music in the university's record library, he was like an addict on a binge. He'd show up early Saturday morning and lose himself in music. He listened to all 27 of Verdi's operas. He listened to Puccini and Mozart and Wagner. He listened to the spaghetti operas. At midnight the librarian would have to kick him out of the library.

"I had some catching up to do," he explains. "Some of my colleagues had grown up in New York and had been to the Met and had grown up with this music. Coming from Utah, I was way behind. But I caught up. It was important to know what was out there."

Before his 25th birthday, he completed his master's degree and doctorate in music in just four years — the previous school record was eight — while also singing 14 major roles in school and professional productions. When the master's committee informed Ballam he had passed oral exams for his master's degree, Ballam told them thanks, then handed them his doctoral dissertation, much to the dismay of the professors.

"I never slept," says Ballam. "I was driven beyond words."

"What he did was unbelievable," says Vera Scammon, his professor/mentor at IU. "He moves mountains, that guy."