Unlikely Opera Star Christopher Job Makes His Feature Debut in The LA Opera

There are stars in the classical world who started practicing around the time they could walk. Then there are those story-worthy stars who faced considerable odds, began unusually late or have incongruous backgrounds. OC native Christopher Job represents the latter. I believe opera chose him.

It Started with Sports, Heavy Metal and Carpool Karaoke

Christopher Job’s path to opera stardom was indirect, to say the least. He was an accomplished athlete at Mater Dei High School (his family has deep roots in Orange County) and was recruited by several colleges to play volleyball. When not on campus or on the court, Job sang in heavy metal garage bands. He loved to sing, especially in the car, but was reluctant to join the high school choir. After some prompting from a fellow carpooler, he joined the choir in his senior year. And he was slow to admit to his friends that he joined willingly. Unexpectedly, the choir experience made him realize he could sing well, possessed a rare range (bass) and enjoyed opera. He impressed his choir teacher who then encouraged Job to take private voice lessons.

College Epiphany

Despite his senior year revelations and some very successful private voice lessons, Job hadn’t enough faith in himself as a professional singer. He entered CSU Fullerton as a biology major and joined the college choir for the purpose of having fun and making friends. Again, opera came calling. By the completion of his freshman year, he took a job selling tickets with Opera Pacific and joined the company as a chorus member. Watching the professional soloists up close inspired him.  He did not want to become the regretful older audience member watching an opera and thinking ‘I could’ve done that.’  He was ready for the full, head-first commitment to music, so he changed his major to vocal performance and did not look back.

After graduating from CSU Fullerton, he pursued a master’s degree in vocal performance at Northwestern University. During the summers, he attended opera programs in the US and Europe.

Post-College Pharmaceutical Startup

You might think that Christopher Job was fully committed to his art form at this point but remember that he is the unlikely star.  After Northwestern, an Orange County classmate offered Job a partnership in a pharma startup based in Colorado. Job accepted the Colorado offer under the condition that music would remain his priority. It turns out, Colorado was the best thing to happen to his music career. There were several small classical music companies within a two-hour drive where Job found paid work, which inspired him to quit his pharma job. These gigs led to regional opera competitions, regional workshops, lots of auditioning and all the networking that comes with the process.

The Present

Fast forwarding to the present, Job moved to New York, performed in innumerable operas around the world and has been a staple with The Metropolitan Opera in support roles. You may have seen him in The Met Live in HD cinema series over the last year. He also has performed with The LA Philharmonic in Mozart’s Impresario under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen and Otello at the Hollywood Bowl with conductor Gutavo Dudamel. Next month will be his first featured role. As our luck would have it, that role is with The LA Opera’s La Traviata at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Christopher took the time to answer some questions via email while he was in between LA Dodger games (I told you he is an unlikely opera star).

How does it feel to have your debut in a featured role? 

CJ: It feels great. The role I’m playing isn’t the biggest in the repertoire, but it’s a pivotal and important part of the drama of this opera. And getting to perform anything with such an important company as L.A. Opera is an absolute thrill. 

Given your unusual background and your good looks, might you pull in a younger or different demographic into the opera audience and to opera workshops? We could call it the Misty Copeland affect.

CJ: First of all, thank you for the compliment. I would absolutely agree with the latter part of that question. We can definitely shift demographics and interest, and I think we are already finding new ways; through social media and other image and branding elements, I feel we can better reach a younger audience, and also express to them “There are people like you out there singing/playing classical music. This stuff belongs to you too.” 

Given your late start in opera, did you have an intense catch-up phase? That is, did you put in your 10,000+ hours of deliberate practice in a compressed time frame? 

CJ: The voice is an instrument that can fatigue, unlike say a guitar, so putting in so many intensive hours of practice could actually be very harmful. However, with musicianship (reading music and musical analysis) and knowledge of composers and styles; those things required the many extra hours of dedication. I had extensive learning (music theory, score study, listening to and exploring composers) with my biggest mentor, Lee Coduti (who now runs The Southern California Brass Consortium). We met singing in the chorus at the now defunct Opera Pacific, where he was the union rep. He happened to live very close to the college my then girlfriend attended, so it was very convenient for extra study and mentorship. Another thing was that while other college students were asking for (fill in the blank) from their parents for their birthday or the holidays, I was asking for opera scores and CD’s. I was very fortunate to have parents that saw my pursuit and supported it.

Did your experience in sports help you in that catch-up phase?

CJ: My experience in sports has helped me a lot throughout my life. Being a team player, listening to coaches, seeing the bigger picture outside of yourself, having the heart to want to succeed and do your very best at all times; these concepts never leave you, and they translate very well into the world of music and opera. 

Lately we hear that talent is overrated compared to hard work, but your teachers and mentors saw or heard your potential. What specifically caught their attention?

CJ: I honestly don’t know the answer to that. At the beginning I could only sing low notes well, and the choir directors snatched me up. I really wasn’t specifically “good” or “talented” per se, but I think that they saw the rarity of my voice type (being that I was a low bass at the time) and knew that by “supply and demand” I could have the potential for a career.  Lower voices are rarer, and they tend to age like fine wine. I certainly needed many years to develop. With continued patience and hard work, I should be able to continue in this career for decades to come.

In your view, how is the financial health of and audience interest in opera? Could Orange County resurrect a performance company?

CJ: The financial crisis circa 2008 was a huge wake up call for the entire industry of classical music. It opened many people’s eyes to the evolving needs of the industry, to the mismanagement of finances in certain instances, and the need to find a more sustainable approach to producing opera. That said, audience interest is very strong; and looking at my previous answers, the younger audiences (and longtime supporters) are very discerning about what they want and how they want to see it. We have to continue to find new ways to speak to the audience through the art.

Seeing the collapse of Opera Pacific was very hard for me. It was the company that gave me my first foray into professional opera; but its demise was not from lack of interest. I think it’s time that we see some more creative approaches to producing opera in Orange County. We have Pacific Chorale doing wonderful things, as they have for decades, and Pacific Symphony produces opera in concert or semi-staged productions, with thrilling results. I do think there is room for more, but I don’t have an answer as to the scale of such a venture. Maybe it’s time for a resurrection of sorts!

Might opera cabarets such as The Pacific Opera Project become more popular?

CJ: Absolutely. They are already garnering national notoriety in the industry press for their innovative artistic choices and business model. And seeing opera up close and personal in interesting venues is, I feel, an incredibly powerful tool for building opera audiences. It becomes a visceral experience for sure. 

If the Colorado pharma opportunity had not presented itself, might you have stayed in Chicago and pursued opera?

I don’t know what I would have done. I liked Chicago a lot, and at the time had a certain feeling that I should not return home to California. I knew I needed to continue to make new connections and keep whatever momentum I might have had going. Being in NYC is very important for singers because all of the auditions go through New York. Chicago would have meant an easy/quick/cheaper flight to NYC, so it could have worked out well.

Have your opera peers given you a nickname, e.g, Metalhead?

CJ: Maybe some NSFW nicknames…just kidding. No, not Metalhead or the like. But I do have a motto that ties the two genres together: Opera is the Heavy Metal of Classical Music. It really is. Insert “rock fingers” here. Hahaha. 

Might we see Metallica or an equivalent call you on stage to join them for a number?

CJ: You know, I’ve had dreams about that sort of thing, but I doubt it would happen. There is a lot of operatic style singing throughout metal music though, so you never know if there could be a spot for some backup vocals.

How has The Met Live in HD series has helped your career and what have learned from the experience?

CJ: The HD broadcasts have been an invaluable experience for me in many ways. First of all, it’s live and broadcast worldwide, so it’s easy to think about that aspect too much: “OMG. What if I mess this up? My career is over!”  But you witness opera stars singing incredibly difficult roles in these situations; and they don’t seem worried or stressed about it. And with years of experience under your belt, you just remember to do your job. As I’ve gotten used to doing these things, I realized once again that my experience as an athlete can help me shift my stress and priorities to a more useful place: be a team player. If I focus on the fact that we have a giant group of people responsible for different aspects of the broadcast, we’re here for the art and to deliver this art to the world, we’re all going to do our best and look out for one another…it becomes less about me and my voice and what people will think of me, and much much more about simply being in the right place and handling your props correctly, so your fellow actors can succeed; so that we can succeed together.

The broadcasts have brought a certain level of notoriety to the various productions I’ve been a part of, and seeing something tangible or concrete like a DVD of that performance, getting a Grammy nomination, seeing yourself on PBS, or seeing that you now appear on IMDb; these things can blow your mind. We’ll see just how much these opportunities will help my career going forward, but I can say this: being asked to be a part of so many of the broadcasts; that’s a sign of trust. The fact that the Met trusts me enough to include me in such important things is a huge point of pride for me. My mom always said “you have to show that you are trustworthy in small things, so people will know they can trust you with big things.” I’m very fortunate to be where I am today.

Have Hollywood agents been calling you?

CJ: They haven’t yet. But I’ll keep working on that.

What is next for Christopher Job?

CJ: Well, it’s a pretty exciting summer for me actually. After this I head to Italy to teach some masterclasses and enjoy some brief vacation time, and in the middle of all that I will fly back to the States to sing in Puccini’s Tosca in Vail, Colorado with Yannick Nézet-Séguin (music director of The Metropolitan Opera) and his Philadelphia Orchestra, before heading back to Europe to record Handel’s Messiah at Abbey Road Studios with the Royal Philharmonic. Then I’ll need a little R&R before beginning my full season contract at The Metropolitan Opera in September

LA Traviata is at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on June 1, 9, 13, 16, 19 and 22.