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| Summer 2000 issue | . | A Very Startling Leap | |
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 In 1993 Raymond Very, Notre Dame class of 1983, made the startling leap from
manager of sales training for Fischer Scientific International, Inc., to apprentice tenor
with the Houston Opera Studio. Since then, the man who had no formal voice training has
established himself as an up-and-coming tenor in the world of professional opera. He has
performed in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Oslo and Munich. Next year he will
debut with New York’s Metropolitan Opera Company. Not bad for a guy who had never
even seen an opera until 1991 when he tried out for the Pittsburgh Opera chorus at
the urging of friends who had heard him sing. At Notre Dame, the closest the marketing
major came to opera was as Don Quixote in The Man of LaMancha his senior year. The
roles Very enjoys most these days are in new operas. With the old standards creativity is
more circumscribed, he says, although there is always room for interpretation. "But
if the piece has never been performed you can create the character totally." This
July Very has his first opportunity to appear with his wife, Laura Knoop Very, who also is
a professional opera singer. They each have roles in Tales of Hoffmann at Catholic
University’s Summer Opera Theater.— John Monczunski |
Raymond Very and Ana Maria
Martinez in Savitri at the Houston Grand Opera, 1995
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