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He's not exactly the standard article
Where Kevin Anderson is concerned, you can put your definition of a stock opera tenor out to pasture. Along with his well-schooled voice and boy-next-door smile, Anderson holds an MBA and once was a 4- minute miler.
Anderson sings the young-nobleman-disguised-as-bailiff role of Tassilo in Emmerich Kalman's Countess Maritza at The Santa Fe Opera this summer. He sang the part here in 1995 and was an SFO apprentice in 1982.
"I want to get back home but it's been a great season," Anderson said, relaxing on the opera grounds as his new Shih-Tzu puppy Lily romped on the grass. "It's great to be back doing this role."
So how did he come to music and stay with it?
"What really happened is I had been in music when I was a kid. I sang in a boys' choir. In Moline, Ill. My first voice teacher was Frederick Swanson, the director of the choir.
"I did Broadway stuff in junior high and high school and college. When it got time to go to college, I was running track and field. I was a miler, sub-4 minutes. I ran (the mile in) 4 minutes, 3 seconds in the state finals in high school.
"Then the University of Wyoming offered me a music scholarship, the Home of the University of Wyoming Cowpokes. And I figured that would leave me much more time to do other things. I pursued my MBA as well at the same time as I did my MM (master of music)."
An advanced degree in business is excellent for a musician to have. Anderson agreed it stands him in good stead when he must consider contracts, investments, taxes and deductions. But did giving up a possible sports career mean heartbreak?
"No," he said thoughtfully. "I wanted to pursue another challenge. Music was probably the hardest challenge.
"I was a percussionist in (high) school, so I never really read music. But I've always had a very fast ear. I just went...