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Michael Ching: From Opera to Opry

Michael Ching:  From Opera to Opry

Introduction to Michael Chang.  1:17 min. Interview: Raymond Elman + Cindy Sadler. Music composed by Michael Ching. Videography:  Lee Skye   Recorded via Zoom:  2/1/2023, Miami.

 

 

MICHAEL CHING (b.1958) is an American composer, conductor, and music administrator. He is best known nationally as the composer of innovative operas, including his a cappella adaptation of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (2011). His other major operas include “Buoso’s Ghost” (1996), “Corps of Discovery” (2003), “Slaying the Dragon” (2012), “Speed Dating Tonight!” (2013), and “Alice Ryley” (2015). He wrote the librettos of many of his own operas.

Ching was born in 1958 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Before he was one year old, his family left Honolulu, and he grew up in New Orleans and Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Ching started piano at the age of six and was quite skilled at it, at one point considering a career as a concert pianist. In addition, he studied flute, violin, and oboe, mostly for the sake of composition. He started composing as a child, and by the time he reached high school he had studied composition at Interlochen.

He attended Duke University on a composition scholarship, studying with Robert Ward and Iain Hamilton. He graduated in 1980, and his senior project was a one-act opera retelling a vampire story set in New Orleans.

Ching began his career as a National Opera Institute apprentice 1980–1981 at the Houston Grand Opera Studio, where he was involved in the company’s productions and continued his composition studies with composer Carlisle Floyd. From 1981 to 1985 he held increasingly responsible positions at the Greater Miami Opera/Florida Grand Opera. He subsequently held conductor and executive director positions at venues including Texas Opera Theatre, Chautauqua Opera, and Triangle Music Theater.

In 1989 he was appointed Assistant to the General Director of Virginia Opera. He was subsequently the company’s Associate Artistic Director from 1991 through mid 1992.

In 1992 Ching joined Opera Memphis as Artistic Director, a position he held through 2010. He was the opera’s General Director for most of those years as well.

He left Opera Memphis for Iowa in the spring of 2010 when his wife Barbara, a university professor and a native Iowan, was named chair of the English department at Iowa State University.

In addition to being a freelance composer and conductor, Ching is also Chairman of the Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera, which supports emerging opera creators. He was Music Director of Nickel City Opera in Buffalo, New York, from 2012 to 2017, and he has been Music Director of Amarillo Opera in Amarillo, Texas, since September 2016.

In 2019 he was elected to the board of directors of the National Opera Association.

Selected works

  • Leo: Opera in One Cat (1985)
  • Cue 67 (1992)
  • King of the Clouds (1993)
  • Buoso’s Ghost (1996)
  • Out of the Rain (1998)
  • Faith (1999)
  • Corps of Discovery (2003)
  • Three Pigs Remix (2006)
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2011)
  • Slaying the Dragon (2012)
  • Speed Dating Tonight! (2013)
  • Alice Ryley (2015)
  • Anna Hunter, the Spirit of Savannah (2017)
  • Thriver (2019)
  • Eight Woods and a Van (2019)

Since mid 2010 Ching has lived in Ames, Iowa. His wife Barbara is professor of English at Iowa State University, and was chair of the English department from 2010 through 2018.

 

The videos below were recorded via Zoom, are organized by Success Factor, and run between 30 seconds and 6 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:  1:05 min.  

How often do you have the opportunity to conduct?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:   1:10 min.

Where did you grow up and what was your first awareness of art of any discipline?

 

VALUES FIRST-RATE EDUCATION:   1:19 min.

Where did you go to school, and what did you learn that still informs you today?

 

EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES:   1:56 min.

How did you evolve from New Orleans jazz to classical music and opera?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:   0:55 sec.

How did John Cage influence you?

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:    1:08 min.

Were you at Florida Grand Opera when Robert Ward’s “Minutes Till Midnight” premiered?

 

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED:   5:56 min.

What were some of your early professional opportunities?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:    0:41 sec.

When creating a sequel opera like “Buoso’s Ghost” (1996) — sequel to “Gianni Schicchi” by Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) — how do you navigate carrying forward “cliches”?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:   2:34 min.

Creating new operas would seem to be an intimidating undertaking, given that as composer you have to know the history and tradition of opera, plus create new music and lyrics that build on that history.

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:   0:54 sec.

Continuing with the comparison between opera and country music, do people who grew up in LA fake a country twang the way opera singers from the Bronx have to learn Italian?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:   0:46 sec.

My wife and I are converts to country music, partially because every word is articulated and we can understand the stories.

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:   2:02 min.

Do you sing and record the country songs you write?

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:   3:12 min.

What inspired you to create “Buoso’s Ghost,” the sequel to “Gianni Schicchi” by Giacomo Puccini?

 

UNDERSTANDS THE AUDIENCE’S PERSPECTIVE:   3:22 min

I am aware of college students who are intimidated by art museums because they think they have to “dress-up.” Has the presentation of streaming opera in movie theaters expanded opera’s audience?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:    2:13 min.

What are some of your favorite creations?

 

BREAKS THE RULES:   2:16 min.

What are some of the steps for opera in South Florida to bring it to the next level?

 

“My Lazy Ass” by Michael Ching:   4:14 min

“My Lazy Ass.” Song by Michael Ching + David Terrenoire. Recorded at Camelback Studio. Produced by Bellusci Creative. Starring Daniel Damiano. Featuring Steve Berner, Stacy Ayn Price, Tjassa Ferme, Natalie Aribal, Jack Grafstein, Ellie Grafstein, Erin Windle, Millie Name, Carmen Name, Anka Name, Randy Bucknoff, Michael Ching, Gustavo Ruiz,