Opera Singer Scott Uddenberg '90 Cover Story of Chicago's CityTalk

January 8, 2002

January 8, 2002, Greencastle, Ind. - "It's not for the weak of heart," says Scott D. Uddenberg, a 1990 graduate of DePauw University, of his chosen career. "It's like being a minister or a doctor. You've got to feel called to do it."

That quote comes from CityTalk, a bi-weekly Chicago publication that is sent to patrons of public stations WTTW-TV and WFMT-FM, which features Uddenberg on the cover of its January 4-17, 2002 issue. The photo, which shows the DePauw graduate singing, is accompanied by the text, "Raising his voice: The operatic quest of Scott Uddenberg." Inside, a lengthy story tells of the 33-year-old's preparations for his first professional solo role as an opera singer, in Milwaukee's Florentine Opera Company production of Tosca, and of the steps that brought him to that stage, including his four years in Greencastle.

Born with a beautiful singing voice, Scott Uddenberg grew up with his sights set on a career as a music teacher. "Uddenberg enrolled at DePauw University," writes CityTalk's Kevin Davis. "He earned a degree in choral music education and for fun sang in university productions such as La Boheme and West Side Story." Uddenberg did teach briefly, but decided to go to graduate school at Chicago's DePaul University, where he studied vocal performance. A new dream took shape: a career in opera.

Uddenberg has "landed spots with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus, the Chicago Opera Theater and in various understudy roles." As he slowly builds his career, there are other considerations in his life. Uddenberg is married to his childhood sweetheart and they have three children, and life as an up-and-coming opera singer means a lot of time on the road. 83-year old Norm Gulbrandsen, a voice teacher for nearly a half-century, says, "Scott has a career voice. But the problem is that he got married and has children. It's difficult going. If he does want to go on, he's got to go to New York and sing with some of the better teachers."

But Uddenberg is unfazed. "One of my teachers once told me that people go into music because they won't do anything else," he tells CityTalk. "I have to do music. It's what's going to fulfill me personally." Later in the article, he adds, "if you get the opportunity to sing in the right place at the right time, you could get a break. I'm sure there are a lot of great voices who never get onstage because they don't get the breaks. If I keep working and getting better, then I don't know, maybe..."

CityTalk is not available to read online, but the publication does have information on the Web, available by clicking here.

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