A recent graduate of the prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Program, Charles Edwin Taylor appears to be on the fast track to a burgeoning career. He has achieved his success, however, in the face of what many consider insurmountable obstacles: no college degree, limited musician’s skills, and a late start. Armed with raw talent, a powerful voice, and sheer determination, Taylor persisted. His perseverance paid off when at the age of 31 (his last year of eligibility) he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
His singing continues to garner glowing reviews, such as Fred Cohn wrote in a recent Opera News: “Charles Taylor, the evening’s Enrico, was not a debutant, but this was the most important house assignment yet for the 2001 National Auditions winner. The gamble paid off: this is clearly a first-class voice, with a natural, unforced heft that will, one day, surely propel Taylor into the heavy-duty Verdi baritone repertoire.” (Jan. 2006)
Unbeknownst to many, however, Taylor surmounted an even more difficult obstacle: addiction. His love affair with drugs began in his early teens when he first tried marijuana. From marijuana he moved on to cocaine and eventually methamphetamines. Taylor’s addiction continued through his mid-20s until he finally hit bottom. Faced with the rejection of the people closest to him, he decided to get sober and turn his life around.
Late last year Metropolitan Opera baritone Charles Taylor spoke with CS. Even after achieving remarkable success as a performer, Chuck, as his friends and family call him, is still a “regular guy,” willing to talk about his struggles along the way to a fine career.
Did you grow up in a musical atmosphere?
I was born in Phoenix, but was adopted and moved to Prescott [Arizona] nine weeks later. My mother loved to play the piano and sing. My grandmother played the organ at the Veterans hospital, so that was the first place I ever sang in public. Dad likes to listen to music but he is not what I would call musical. In elementary school, we had basic music classes, but I did most of my singing in church until high school, when I joined the chorus and performed in some shows.
When I was 8, I started to take piano lessons, but my teacher “fired” me for not practicing. It did not bother me then because I preferred to be outside playing, but now I see it as a negative that has made learning operatic roles more difficult. I have always loved music and was always surrounded by it, but I just could not be held down long enough to practice.
When did you start to use drugs?
When I was 13 or 14 years old I tried pot and instantly fell in love with it. It was the best feeling I had ever had, and I wanted to have it as often as I could. How often I smoked was simply a matter of availability. I would get high whenever possible. When I got older, I was able to get more drugs, so I used more. As a result, I was asked to withdraw from Prescott High School during my junior year. My parents then sent me to a strict Mennonite boarding school in Oklahoma and I graduated from there.
When did you begin studying singing?
When I was 13, I began voice lessons, but I did not take them very seriously. I loved the adulation of performing in public and I had good raw talent, but unfortunately, the more my drug use increased the less serious I was about my singing. In the back of my head I had the idea that I would like to be a performer, but I did not work at making it happen. My main interests in high school were partying, dating, and getting high.
Tell us about your college days.
I’ve been to several colleges. After high school and a trip to a drug treatment center, I went to Wheaton College in Chicago to study music and play football. There, I was a fish out of water, because I did not know how to read music. All I could do was sing. Singing and football were not a good combination either, so in Chicago I went off the deep end. At that time, someone very close to me died, and I used that as an excuse to get high as often as possible. By the time I left there, in 1991, I had acquired a serious cocaine problem.
I then moved to Phoenix, where I began to take methamphetamines, which are even worse. I did not really want to be in college, but my parents did not know what to do with me. I kept them happy by enrolling in Grand Canyon University, but I actually went on a two-year drug binge.
By 1994, I had dropped out of school and was living in my van. I was, however, still singing, with a local group called the Royal Renaissance Singers, often while high. One day in September, I came to rehearsal in a bad state and was fired by its founder, Arlyn Brewster. That singing job was the last good thing I had at the time. I look at the day she fired me as the point at which I took the first step towards getting sober.
Within a few weeks after that I was in treatment. Arlyn is still a very dear friend and I owe her a great deal. By the time she fired me, I had alienated my family and left the girl to whom I was engaged. I was out of school, jobless, and homeless, all of that. When Arlyn stood up to me and took away the one remaining good thing, she woke me up to reality.
Since I had also been kicked out of the place where I had been living, my parents let me “crash” on their couch for two nights. During that time my mother said, “Your father and I love you and want to help you. Maybe we want to help you more than you want to help yourself. This is your last chance.” She said that I could either talk to a certain highly recommended drug counselor and follow his suggestions or remove myself from the family.
My mom is a petite lady who was then undergoing debilitating cancer treatment, but she made the choice quite clear. I actually told her that I had to think it over, and she gave me one hour. I figured I’d talk to the man, go for treatment, and then plan my next move. Addicts are always trying to work an angle. Fortunately, I did listen to that excellent counselor, who still practices in Phoenix. He got me involved in a treatment center, where I was introduced to the 12-step recovery program. It got me sober and has kept me that way. I still participate in 12-step fellowships, and I have been drug free for over 11 years.
At the Met, I encountered Andrea Gruber, who had similar problems up to 11 years ago. We became friends because we have a common language as a result of our experiences, and I think we have helped each other. One of the key components of the program is helping others. Neither of us sets out to give advice, but there have been times when each of us has supported the other.
Have you seen others in the opera industry who you suspect might have a drug problem?
Abuse of drugs and alcohol is prevalent in all aspects of the business, from singers, to management, to administration and support staff. There is no area of society that does not have this problem. In all probability, there are just as many accountants on drugs as singers.
How did you get into the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program?
I was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2001 and I joined the Lindemann program for the 2002-03 season. The Met requires a young American singer to commit three years to the program. They evaluate your progress annually and contracts are for one year at a time, however. For pianists and foreign singers the program runs for two years.
I could not be doing what I do today if I had not been given that opportunity.
Do you always work with a coach?
Although I have made up much of the musical deficit I acquired because of my lack of application at school, I still find that working with a coach is mandatory. It keeps me from practicing anything wrong that I would later have to restudy. I really did most of my learning in the Lindemann program and it definitely was trial by fire! Since I don’t play piano, I have a pianist record the music I need on a mini disc. That way I’m not working from some other singer’s interpretation on a CD [and] I get the notes on the piano, clean, accurate, and precise. After that, I’m able to take the mathematics of music and hopefully turn it into art. Working with a coach helps me do that.
Is weight a consideration for men as well as women these days?
People are always after me to lose weight. Although being slim may not be as important for men as it is for women, trust me, opera is a visual art, now more than ever. If you look at the focus of modern productions, and think about the singers who get the most publicity, you will be sure of that. Sometimes I even think about weight loss surgery. Today’s society is completely overwhelmed with health and fitness, and we classical singers have to compete for the public dollar with performers like Britney Spears.
You recently got married.
Yes, a year ago. My wife is a mezzo-soprano who sings under her maiden name, Kelly Gebhardt.
How does the two-singer household work for you?
[Hearty chuckle.] Since both of us are singers, we understand each other’s temperaments and the lifestyle. Trying to start a family when we both have future engagements is a challenge, however. I don’t want to be in Europe when she goes into labor.
When we were first engaged, we spent almost 12 weeks without seeing each other. Neither of us wants to do that again! Now we try not to go for more than three weeks without meeting. Conversely, we’ve also found that we can’t handle more than four or five weeks of seeing each other nonstop! She needs her life and her interests and I need mine. Space is also an important part of a relationship.
Can you describe your singing technique?
My technique is still in the process of formation. My current teacher, Ruth Falcon, has helped me a great deal. I’ve also gleaned a good bit from Dr. Robert White, Mark Oswald, Diana Soviero, from Dr. John Lueck and Judith Auer in Colorado, and from my first teacher, Joanne Ramsey. Each of them brought something to the table that I needed at that particular time. I don’t think any teacher can be all encompassing. Any readers who would like to know more about the teachers with whom I’ve studied can contact me through my website: www.charlesedwintaylor.com.
What have been the highlights of your career so far?
First of all, being on the Metropolitan Opera stage for the National Council Finals in 2001.
Second, singing Scarpia in Tosca at Opera Fort Collins in Colorado when I did not know any better. It was completely off the reviewers’ radar and I did it for the pure joy of performing and making music. It was not tainted with any of the other “stuff” that sometimes happens in opera.
Third, appearing as Sharpless in the Met’s Opera in the Park Madama Butterfly during the summer of 2005. I performed before more than a hundred thousand people and it was mind blowing! It’s probably the closest a classical singer can ever come to feeling like a rock star!
What important performances do you have in the near future?
In December, I’ll be in Palm Beach Opera’s Cavalleria Rusticana and “Pagliacci.” Then I go to the Met for Germont in La traviata and Roucher in Andrea Chenier. Last June, I went to Genoa for my first Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera. That was exciting, and I get to sing the same role with Opera Colorado this coming May! I’ll also be with the Met in the New York City parks, singing Germont, and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly.
