Clyde Berry
“Best accompanied by a shower or vacuum”
Fort Worth, Texas
Please tell our readers about your career highlights so far.
After a decade of teaching the arts in public schools, about seven years teaching college, and tons of community/regional theater, I’m most proud of my new position as director of education for Fort Worth Opera. This job takes my love of teaching and the arts and allows me to inspire and be inspired by all the talent that’s out there. I love exposing people to the arts and watching them become devotees.
What are your goals for the next five years? The next 10 years?
Fort Worth Opera will have the best Young Artist Program around. I am determined to make this the place for a singer to come and get some polish before going out and kicking some opera butt.
When you turn on the radio, what do you listen to?
The ‘80s. Is there a Breakfast Club Opera yet?
Who is your mentor, or the most influential person in your life as a singer?
Darren K. Woods
What is your dream role, and why?
My current job is a dream already. I really want to pull the community together through the arts. In this multimedia world in which we live, opera is the most gripping, moving, and lasting way of expression, passion, and inspiration. I want to share that with as many people as I can.
How do you balance career and family?
I have two very devoted cats.
What is your favorite article you’ve read in Classical Singer, and why?
As a new reader, I like the articles featuring current readers. [They] help me to see what singers want to accomplish and where they are coming from.
Who is your favorite singer and why?
I have to say I’m a huge fan of Sting. I love his lyrics and find them incredibly moving. His mix of classical themes and literary references is my inspiration for cross-curricular programming.
What is your favorite techno tool?
Facebook. It’s verging on an addiction. Oh, and YouTube, too. There is a wealth of people and performances out there to meet and watch.
Do you have a motto by which you live?
The ocean touches all we do, yet we stand on the shores of what we know.
Anything else you’d like to say during your moment in Center Stage?
The arts are the most frustrating, crazy, and amazing world in which to work. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to do something else.
