CU Opera Songbirds Hit the High Notes
In June, two renowned opera singers from CU were inducted into the. Cynthia Lawrence (Mus’83; MM’87) studied music at CU and went on to share the stage with Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti more than 70 times. Keith Miller (Art’97), on the other hand, was a star football player who pivoted to opera after graduation. They have both performed stints as principal artists at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Soprano, equestrian, stunt woman
“When I heard about [the Hall of Fame induction], I couldn’t believe it,” Lawrence said. “To be recognized is beyond an honor.” But the honor is no surprise to those in the singer’s orbit. Lawrence has performed with virtually every opera company in Colorado and worldwide, from Paris to Prague, with legendary performers like Plácido Domingo and Mirella Freni.
"Cynthia has a world-class voice. People say she was kissed in the throat,” said acclaimed tenor Mark Calkins (MMus’87), who met Lawrence at CU. (They married in 1985.) “She won the Metropolitan Opera contest in 1984 at age 23 — a stunning achievement.”
Lawrence credits her success, in part, to her time at CU. “It’s a great school with great facilities. Barbara Doscher was one of the best voice teachers in the world,” said Lawrence. She also points to her background as a competitive equestrian. “If you’re nervous on horseback, that horse may dump you in the dirt,” she said. “In opera, you also have to keep your nerves underneath you. That discipline, concentration and preparation made me a better performer on stage.”
In addition to jumping horses, Lawrence credits childhood time on the trampoline with her ability to perform dramatic free-flying leaps in Puccini’s “Tosca.” Lawrence, who insisted on doing her own stunts, perfected numerous daring feats on stage. She frequently plummeted backward (into a hidden foam pit), and her most notable stunt was a 26-foot forward jump at Royal Albert Hall.
Bass-baritone, athlete, thespian
Keith Miller grew up on a beet farm in Ovid, Colorado, a town so small that its high school football team consisted of six players and there was no school choir. A football scholarship recipient and three-year starter as a fullback, Miller played opera music in the locker room and sang in the shower.
He was inspired by varsity players singing the CU fight song on the sidelines. “These guys, my idols, were singing like they were warrior poets,” he said. Not long after the 1994 Michigan game, when CU made one of the greatest comebacks in Buff history, Miller took his then-girlfriend to see “Phantom of the Opera” in Denver. “I felt the same emotion at the opera that I had during the Michigan game,” he said.
In 2001, while working out with the Denver Broncos at North Dakota State University, Miller took refuge from a snowstorm in a music practice room. “I started singing along to “Don Giovanni” — and someone knocked on the door.” He was offered a scholarship on the spot. He declined, but decided it was time to start following the music. On the way out, he saw a flier for the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Minneapolis and decided to audition. Suddenly, Miller had a dozen job offers to sing and decided to pursue singing full-time.
The next fall, Miller enrolled at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and, after graduation in 2006, auditioned for the Met in New York. He made his debut at the opera’s opening-night gala. At the reception, he bumped into someone who remarked, “Wonderful performance,” in a familiar Scottish accent. It was Sean Connery.
Beyond the Hall of Fame
Today, the inductees are still showing off their versatility. Miller serves as founder and CEO of CedoHealth and has recently moved back to Colorado to re-engage with the Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF). (For six years, he served as director of opera and oversaw the CBMF’s Opera Young Artists Program.) He also has his sights set on film acting. “There are things out there creatively I want to do,” he said. “My journey’s not done.”
Meanwhile, Lawrence works as the endowed chair professor for voice and opera at the University of Kentucky, where she’s teaching the next generation of opera singers. “I love teaching. When students have that ’Aha’ moment, when they finally get it — that’s the prize.”
Illustration by Chris Buzelli