Respiro Reflections bass baritone Jason Zacher 2018
Meet 2018 Respiro alum Jason Zacher. Jason completed his Master’s degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Houston this past spring.
This year Jason is a Resident Artist with Opera in the Heights in Houston, Texas. Upcoming season at Opera in the Heights, include Angelotti in Tosca, King Balthazar in Amahl & The Night Visitors, Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, a debuting the roles of Male Admirer in Karim Al-Zand’s The Leader and Low Male Voice Roles in Anthony Brandt’s Kassandra.
Jason’s latest operatic highlights include Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Alidoro in La Cenerentola with NEO San Diego; Oliver Jordan in Dinner at Eight, the title role of Don Pasquale, and William Jennings Bryan in The Ballad of Baby Doe Moores Opera Center. Jason was also awarded Third Place in the Tier II division of the James Toland Vocal Arts Inc. Competition in 2019.
What brought Jason to Respiro? His voice teacher at UH, Timothy Jones suggested that the comprehensive body work would serve him well especially now as he is poised to embark on his career path. Jason gathered a lot of good information in the small group sessions of AT and Body Mapping. Looking back, Jason feels he did some of his most free singing while at Respiro. In fact, his “ah-ha” moment was with AT instructor Eleanor Taylor when she helped find “that voice” that he had produced at a voice lesson but couldn’t seem to find again. Now he has the tools and awareness to sing with that voice all the time!
Even though Jason stands tall at 6’7”, his voice type is typically cast as old men and villains. Jason is happy to have worked with body mapping to find the “old” man in his 25-year-old body without compromising his vocal technique.
In addition to the small groups and master classes, Jason also benefited from the daily yoga classes with Barbara Fusco-Spera. As an avid gym goer, Jason noticed building muscle tone and lifting was causing tightness which restricted his breath while singing. Yoga helped him find a way to release the tension and move through the poses leading with the breath. After this exposure, Jason has made these yoga poses an integral part of his warm ups.
Jason also had nothing but compliments for Respiro’s coaching staff. Master coach Roger Malouf helped with German diction and legato phrasing on his aria of choice, “O du, mein holder Abendstern.” In addition to the exploration of character and translation, Jason feels totally confident now when he offers this piece at auditions.
All in all, Jason feels his time at Respiro clarified a lot of concepts about how the whole body affects the voice. The tools he received at Respiro helped him take the next step forward. We wish Jason Zacher much success in his musical journey! Let us know what’s coming up in 2020!!