Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael J. Hawk.
Hi Michael J., we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a native of Fredonia, NY–a small, close-knit college town about an hour South of Buffalo, NY. I started singing in a local Children’s Chorus (the Chautauqua Children’s Chorale) from the age of 10 to 15. In that time, we toured to Alaska and Hawaii and we were featured as the children’s ensembles in productions of operas at my local college and later Alma Mater (SUNY Fredonia) and at the Chautauqua Institution. It was in these shows that I was introduced to the powerful story-telling of operatic performance. I went on to get my Bachelor’s in Music: Vocal Performance in my backyard, SUNY Fredonia, and I continued my studies at Rice University where I graduated with my Master’s in Music: Opera Performance in 2018. After Rice, I became a member of the Los Angeles Opera’s Young Artist Program, where I am currently working on my third year. At LA Opera, I’ve had the opportunity to sing principal and supporting roles on the historic Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage with some of the leading opera singers of today.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This will come as no surprise, but the current pandemic has completely altered the operatic world, forcing widespread cancellations and some closures of performances and companies. In January of last year, I received an amazing offer to sing the title role in Rossini’s IL BABRBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (some may know it as the opera parodied by Bugs Bunny in “What’s Opera, Doc?) with South Korea’s premiere opera house in Daegu. This would have been my role debut as Figaro (an iconic role for a young baritone) and my international debut (an intensely important step for a young operatic singer). In early February, the production was canceled, and I was devastated. After a difficult year preceding this news and the impending quarantine, I was facing down the barrel of an extended period of isolation. Time with nothing-to-do but face certain demons. In the past, I had periods of little activity or engagement which forced me to confront my inner-most fears. At the end of my senior year in undergrad, I had only one class in my schedule: it was during this time that I grappled with my sexuality.
Over the next few years, I began the process of coming out of the closet as a gay man. A process that still continues to this day. As one of my dear friends and LGBTQ+ role models told me, “We never stop coming out.” It was after the cancellation of my internation debut that I made the decision to confront a life-long battle I’ve had with an eating disorder. Over the years, my weight had fluctuated between 205 lbs to 305 lbs as I grappled with aggressive spells of binging and starving. After getting word of the Korea Figaro cancellation, I went to Target (not a plug, just the closest store to my studio apartment in Pasadena, lol), and I bought a journal. On the first page, I wrote a promise to myself to eat healthier, treat my mind and body with respect and to get at least 10K steps for the next forty days. The next forty days became 300+ days (today is Day 307-12/6/20).
I decided that the same energy, passion and commitment that I bring to my career (auditioning, traveling, moving to new cities, learning languages, taking lessons, paying for coachings, applications, pianists, learning roles, etc.) was what I needed to bring to my health. The major difference in my approach, and my other attempts at weight loss, was centering on a path to mental wellness. In the past, I would focus on two things eating less (sometimes to the point of starvation) and exercising more. Through this journey, I am focusing on a consistent sleep schedule, journaling my daily feelings surrounding food/quarantine/loss/isolation, journaling meals, meditation, transcribing sources of inspiration, morning and evening stretching/yoga, adequate water consumption, daily cleanse of lemon juice/cayenne/cinnamon, morning affirmations of body positivity, daily step goal averaging around 30K steps, and an exercise regimen designed to maintain muscle and support overall wellness and flexibility. This may sound like a lot, but it all started very simply with that first promise to myself and my body: the first day, I just took 8K steps. I began to add to my process and daily routine as I read and was inspired by others.
Since February 3rd, 2020, I’ve lost 90 lbs, (current weight 185 lbs) but more important that I feel as the overwhelming urges to binge, then deprive myself are fully under my control. I say all this knowing that the months ahead are just as dark, lonely and unknown: the pandemic will still be here, I will still live alone in a small apartment, I still won’t be going home for the holidays, I still live 3,500 miles from my home/family, I will still be wondering when I can resume my work as a live performer. However, I feel that each day that I complete my daily routine, I am taking another step towards a healthier, more confident me. I have found a way to see the value in the mundane: I see each task as it pertains to my mental wellbeing and expression of self-love. I’ve been telling my friends and family that I have come to see this quarantine as our own personal cocoons: eventually, we will all fly and gather together, and each and every one of us will be so much better for it.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am an opera singer with the Los Angeles and Santa Fe Opera(s). As an operatic singer-actor, our main focus is the mastery of languages and beautifully-seamless vocal-production. I believe that I bring a theatrical physicality and commitment, not always seen on the operatic stage. Although I began my musical life in a children’s choir (where uniformity is the highest virtue), I have intensively studied straight plays, musical theater and taken part numerous training programs in movement and connection to the lyric. My performances are always in service to the story and drama.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
My tenacity. My work ethic. My love for the art form.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://michaeljhawkbaritone.com/
- Instagram: @michaeljhawk
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/michael.j.hawk.baritone/?ref=bookmarks
Image Credits
HanQing Zhou (Personal Photo) Corey Weaver (1st of additional) Matthew Dine (2nd and 3rd of additional)
