Benjamin Lee
Baritone
Charleston, S.C.
Please tell our readers about your career highlights, so far.
Improvement in my technique has allowed me to finally sing the role of Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro without being paranoid. Beyond Almaviva, I have enjoyed singing Rossini’s Figaro, most specifically his amazing “Largo al factotum.” When I first began the lyric baritone repertoire I always considered this the “big daddy” aria and swore I would never be able to sing it. Now I can sing it at a moment’s notice. When it’s all said and done, becoming a better singer through hard work is the ultimate highlight I think any singer can have.
What are your goals for the next five years? The next ten years?
Over the next five years I will work toward a national career in the lyric baritone repertoire. My ten-year goal is to bring opera to the modern masses through new works. How wonderful it would be for an opera company to say, “Who on earth will we get to sing that new baritone role? Why Benjamin Lee, of course!” I adore new music and having my name be synonymous with such works is certainly my ultimate career goal.
Who is your favorite singer and why?
La Stupenda, Joan Sutherland. What she does with her voice exceeds every vocal limitation I thought existed. If there was ever a soprano that should live forever it is she, just so she would be able to say to these young sopranos, “No, no, no, dear. This is how you sing Lucia.”
What is your dream role and why?
Wagner’s Tristan. There is the issue of the whole tenor thing, but a guy can dream, right? This is the most compelling love story. All this talk about Romeo and Juliette (yawn); Tristan and Isolde breaks my heart into a million pieces. After singing Tristan I do not see how you have anything left in your entire universe to give emotionally or vocally.
What is your favorite article you’ve read in Classical Singer and why?
“Bel Canto Mastery: An Interview with Brenda Harris” [January 2005]. Her realistic approach to a singing career really refreshed my senses in a time when I was on an emotional seesaw. I wonder if singers know that such interviews really do touch people and change their musical outlook. If given the chance, I would certainly want to thank her personally.
Do you have any final words you’d like to share during your moment in Center Stage?
If you do not enjoy singing, stop singing now. The minute singing becomes a chore, it does not matter if I am in the middle of an aria on the grandest stage on Earth, I will stop and apologize to the audience, conductor, and orchestra saying, “The time has come when I must put these dusty old vocal cords on the shelf.” For the record, this won’t happen, as singing is the greatest joy in my life. When my time comes, I hope it’s in the middle of an opera and the only thing people will be able to say is that I finally knew when to make my exit.
