News > March 20, 2008

By Claire O'brien | Staff writer

A university alumnus who was a star within the “Wake Forest Bubble” has gone on to find even greater success in the outside world. Christopher Magiera, an operatic singer who received a Bachelor of Arts from Wake Forest, is now a prominent voice on the national opera scene.

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Christopher Magiara, an alumnus who is now a prominent voice in the national opera scene, got his start in Brendle Recital Hall as a university student. (Photo courtesy Office of Creative Services)

Magiera graduated from the university in 2005 after a distinguished career which included membership in the Wake Forest Concert Choir, and a cappella group Temporary Reprieve and a role in L’isola disabiata, which the university produced in his senior year.

“My favorite music-related Wake memory is probably singing in a Master class with Ben Heppner. He’s one of the best known opera singers in the world, and he was very encouraging to me at a young age.”

Magiera benefited from the community environment at Wake in several ways.

“So many singers do only music from a young age, and that is great and most of them turn out very technically strong, but they lack social skills. I got both sides – the social aspect of a regular school with a strong music background. The theory aspect of the education is really quite great, and I also found the voice teachers great too. Teresa Radomski took a special interest in my future … giving me extra lessons to make sure I was progressing as much as possible.”

After graduation, Magiera achieved distinction through the receipt of notable awards.

He was recently a finalist in the 2008 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions and received over $10,000 for his success.

He received the Hans Hachmann Memorial Award and the Grand Prize in the Junior Division of the Florida Grand Competition, and he has also been honored with commendations from colleagues within his field.

Magiera has a resume that includes lead roles in a wide range of productions from Verdi’s Falstaff to Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. “I would love to perform Rodrigo from Don Carlo. I’m still too young to sing it, but it is a very dramatic and exciting role with some of the most powerful music I know”.

He is currently studying at the Yale School of Music and will debut at the Carnegie Recital Hall this month. This summer he will be a Resident Artist at the internationally renowned Glimmerglass Opera in New York. He will be recreating the role of Danieli the innkeeper in Das Liebesverbot, Wagner’s comedy about the misadventures of several citizens of Sicily. William Thomas Walker of Classical Voice of North Carolina described Magiera as a “robust baritone with natural acting talent.” Still, Magiera remains grounded. “Any time I get something offered to me, I have to remember that there are a hundred other baritones who would take that part at the drop of a hat if I couldn’t do it.” When asked if he had any advice for current undergrads, Magiera replied, “Three years ago I was a senior at Wake and hardly what anyone would call a great singer. Three weeks ago I sang on the Metropolitan Opera stage in the Grand Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, fulfilling a dream of mine.”

“If you work hard enough and keep at it long enough, things have a way of working out.” Magiera is a prime example of the diversity of the fields in which university alumni become involved.