Michael Ballam | |
---|---|
Born | |
Education | Utah State University (B.M.) Indiana University (M.M., D.M.) |
Occupation | Opera singer (tenor) |
Spouse | Laurie Israelsen (m. 1972) |
Children | 6, including Vanessa Ballam |
Website | michaelballam |
Michael Lynn Ballam (born August 21, 1951) [3] [4] is an American opera singer, educator, and arts administrator.
He is the founding general director of Utah Festival Opera [5] [6] and a professor of music at Utah State University. He has served on the faculty of the Music Academy of the West, where he also studied, [3] [7] and as a guest lecturer at Stanford, Yale, Catholic University, [8] and Manhattan School of Music.
Michael Ballam was born in Logan, Utah to Grant Lamb Ballam, a pharmacist, and his wife, Marianne Fullmer. [9] [10] He was raised in River Heights, a town adjacent to Logan. [2] [11] Ballam credits his great-grandfather, an immigrant from Denmark, as an inspiration for his pursuit of music and Latter-day Saint Christianity. [12] [13]
In 1956, he made his stage debut at Logan's Capitol Theatre, now the Ellen Eccles Theatre. [14] He attended Sky View High School in the neighboring town of Smithfield, [15] where he was cast as Wang Ta in Flower Drum Song and Billy Bigelow in Carousel , among others. [16] After graduation, he attended the nearby Utah State University to pursue a degree in music education. [17] [18] He continued to sing in musical theater productions and expanded his repertoire to include opera, oratorio, and concert recital works.
At the age of 24, Ballam became the youngest recipient of a Doctor of Music with Distinction in the history of Indiana University. [19] [20] At Indiana, his ten roles performed included Andres in Wozzeck , the title role in The Tales of Hoffmann , and Rodolfo in La bohème . In 1976, he was the first student to perform the title role in Parsifal . [21]
Ballam has performed with many national houses, including the San Francisco, [22] Metropolitan, [23] Houston Grand, [23] Washington National, [23] [24] San Diego, [25] and Michigan [26] Operas. In 1978, he premiered the role of Beelzebub in Penderecki's opera Paradise Lost at Chicago Lyric Opera. [27] Ballam also premiered the role of Coyote in Mollicone's 1998 opera Coyote Tales. [5]
Ballam's recital venues have included Kennedy Center, [28] Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Notre-Dame, and the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Ballam has also performed as a soloist at the White House and the Vatican.
As an actor, Ballam has starred in Clubhouse Detectives , [29] [30] as the Apostle Paul in the BYU Studios biopic The Chosen Vessel, as well as Lucifer in the 1990 temple film used in the endowment ordinance. [31]
In 1987, Ballam was performing La Traviata in Caracas when he suddenly lost his ability to sing. He returned to his home in New York City and visited his ENT. After testing, Ballam was informed that the cause of his illness was a mystery and that he should prepare for a poor prognosis. Physicians in Denver and Houston provided similar perspectives. He returned to his family in Logan, Utah. It was later discovered that Ballam had suffered from a sinus infection that had progressed into his cranial cavity as a bone infection and subsequently into his lungs. Doctors operated on his skull and prescribed a regimen of antibiotics. Ballam recovered quickly. [34] [35]
When Ballam returned to Logan in 1987, he joined the music faculty of Utah State University. [36] He was soon notified that the Capitol Theatre, where Ballam first performed as a child, was to be torn down to make room for a parking lot. Ballam ran a successful, multi-million dollar campaign to save, restore, and expand the building, which had fallen into disrepair. Upon completion, the theater had its name changed to the Ellen Eccles Theatre, honoring the community service and character of Ellen Stoddard Eccles (1867-1957) and her family. [37] [38] In subsequent years, Ballam has also led the restoration and renovation projects of several other historic cultural landmarks in Logan, Utah, including the Utah Theatre and the Dansante Building. [1] [38] [39]
In 1992, Ballam founded Utah Festival Opera, [40] [41] which presented its first season in the summer of 1993. [34] [42] Since its inception, Ballam has stood as general director of the company, as well as one of its recurring performers. Most Utah Festival Opera productions are performed on the stages of the Ellen Eccles and Utah Theatres. The repertory company has continued to grow, now staging six shows and several concerts each summer. [43]
For the 30th anniversary season in 2022, Ballam reprised his role as Cervantes/Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha. [44]
"[Michael Ballam's] more than an entertainer.
He's got a heart of gold. He does it quietly.
He doesn't make a show of it.
He believes in music and goodness."
—Thomas S. Monson, former president of the LDS Church [45]
Ballam has authored over forty publications and recordings in international distribution, and produced/performed a weekly radio program on Utah Public Radio. [32] [46] He is frequently asked to hold lectures worldwide on the creative arts, more specifically music, and their interaction with the functions of the mind, their use in enhancing education, and as sources of therapy and motivation.
Ballam currently serves on the Board of Directors of several professional arts organizations.
Ballam is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [12] [47] He has written and lectured on the relationship between music and the doctrines of the Church. [48] [49] [50] The Church created the position of "musical missionary-at-large" specifically for him. [51]
In 1999, Ballam sang "Panis Angelicus" by Cesar Franck at the funeral of his friend and supporter, [52] influential LDS author and historian Leonard J. Arrington. [53] Ballam also sang for the 90th birthday celebration of LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley. [54]
Ballam's grandfather, Oral Ballam, was a veteran in World War II. When he returned to the United States, he was educated at Utah State University, and received an Ed. D. from UCLA. After graduation, he was granted a Ford Foundation Fellowship, which allowed him further study at Stanford and Columbia Universities. He was a public school administrator in Cache Valley before becoming a professor at USU in 1963. In 1969, he was appointed Dean of the College of Education, retiring in 1992. [55] [56] [57]
Ballam is also descended from J. W. Summerhays, the patriarch of a musical dynasty in the Utah region and a singer himself. Summerhays emigrated from Europe as an LDS convert in 1866. [9] [58]
Michael's daughter, Vanessa, is a performer, [59] [60] stage director, [61] [62] and former Miss Utah. [63] She is also a theatre professor at Idaho State University [64] and education director for Utah Festival Opera. [65] Michael's son, Benjamin, whose mobility is affected by spina bifida, [66] [67] has appeared in some Utah Festival productions. [68] [69] Michael Ballam has four other children with his wife, Laurie. He currently resides in Logan, Utah.
Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 census recorded the population was 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Cache County and Franklin County, Idaho. The Logan metropolitan area contained 147,908 people as of the 2020 census. Logan is the location of the main campus of Utah State University.
Utah State University is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal land-grant institution, Utah State serves as one of Utah's two flagship universities. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity". The Logan campus is the state's largest public residential campus, with more than 84% of students living away from home.
Leonard James Arrington was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his many influential contributions to the field. Since 1842, he was the first non-general authority Church Historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from 1972 to 1982, and was director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History from 1982 until 1986.
The Salt Lake City, Utah, area includes many diverse media outlets, not only found within the official city boundaries, but also in the greater Wasatch Front urban area.
Lowell Tom Perry was an American businessman and religious leader who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1974 until his death.
The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving communities throughout Utah. The orchestra accompanies the Utah Opera in four productions per year at Salt Lake's Capitol Theatre. In addition, the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera have a summer residency at the Deer Valley Music Festival, located in Park City, Utah. The orchestra receives funding from the Utah State Legislature for educational concerts. The Symphony has a division in Utah Valley that is based out of the Noorda Center for the Performing Arts at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre (UFOMT) is an opera company based in Logan, Utah. The company performs six fully staged works with orchestra in repertory every July and August at the Ellen Eccles Theatre and the Utah Theatre. The works performed range from operas to operettas to musicals. Singers, performers, technicians and orchestra come from all over the United States, including artists from Broadway and the Metropolitan Opera.
The Ellen Eccles Theatre is an entertainment venue located in Logan, Utah. The theatre, which seats approximately 1100, is used for concerts, community theatre, ballet performances, and film showings. It has also become a stop for many national touring acts each year. It also hosts performances by the Utah Festival Opera Company during summers and year-round performances by the Cache Valley Civic Ballet, Music Theatre West, Valley Dance Ensemble, Cache Theatre Company, and Utah State University performing groups.
Brigham Young College was a college and high school in Logan, Utah. It was founded by Brigham Young on 6 August 1877, 23 days before his death. He deeded several acres of land to a board of trustees for the development of a college. This was just two years after he founded Brigham Young Academy in Provo in 1875, which became Brigham Young University in 1903.
Craig D. Jessop is an American academic, musician and singer best known for his tenure as the music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Choir) from 1999 to 2008.
Morton J. "Chuck" Mills was an American college football coach. He served as the head coach at Pomona College (1957–1961), Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1962–1963), the United States Merchant Marine Academy (1964), Utah State University (1967–1972), Wake Forest University (1973–1977), Southern Oregon University (1980–1988), and the United States Coast Guard Academy (1997).
Logan High School is a four-year public high school in the western United States, located in Logan, Utah. Established 107 years ago in 1917 as part of the Logan City School District, its campus is in the southwest part of the city. Logan High is currently in the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) Class 4A Region XI and its mascot is a Grizzly.
The Franklin S. Harris Fine Arts Center (HFAC) was previously the main location for Brigham Young University's (BYU) College of Fine Arts and Communications (CFAC). In early 2023, the building was demolished to make way for a new arts building on the same site.
Stanford Orson "Stan" Cazier was an American educator, university administrator and scholar. He was president of California State University, Chico from 1971–1979 and Utah State University from 1979–1992.
The Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse was a multi-purpose arena in the western United States, located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Opened 85 years ago in 1939 on the University of Utah campus, it was the home venue of Utes basketball for thirty years, and was formally dedicated on the night of Tuesday, January 9, 1940.
The Daryl Chase Fine Arts Center is a multi-venue visual and performing arts complex on the campus of Utah State University. It is named for Daryl Chase, the tenth president of USU, who served from 1954 to 1968.
Brigham Cecil Gates was an American music conductor and composer.
Eric Roy Samuelsen was an American playwright and emeritus professor of theatre at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is considered one of the most important Mormon playwrights. He won the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) drama award in 1994, 1997, and 1999, and was AML president from 2007 to 2009. In 2012 he received the Smith–Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters.
The historic Capitol Theatre was built at 50 West 200 South in Downtown Salt Lake City during 1913. Originally operated as a vaudeville house named Orpheum Theater, this was soon renamed Capitol Theater during 1927. And is currently also known as the JQ Lawson Capitol Theater. And this building style is Italian Renaissance and Mannerist architecture.
Melissa Leilani Larson is an American writer and playwright based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mormon literature critic Michael Austin described her as "one of the true rising stars of Mormon literature." Producer Jeremy Long described her as the "best playwright in Utah." Her plays commonly feature women in leading roles, and some center around the faith of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
...the very first tickets sold when [Utah Opera Festival] opened in 1993 were purchased by Leonard Arrington.