Singing the Story

The choice between singing and everything else crystallized for Brad Garvin when he was in high school in the Chicago area. He was in the band, the choir, and on the basketball team. "I got kicked off the basketball team for making the all-state choir," he says, laughing. "I knew music would always be a substantial part of my life. But I still love sports!"

Garvin is a member of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera of New York, and has performed with Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo.

His interest in singing got serious in high school, not only with the choir, but also with a role in the musical Amahl and the Night Visitors. He earned a music performance degree from Olivet Nazarene University, and master's degree in voice performance at Indiana University, where his interest in classical music took hold. His confidence as a singer grew substantially at Olivet. "One of the best things for me was to be at a small college with a good teacher andappropriate performance opportunities for my level," he says. "That gave me confidence and an awareness for being in front of people."

But it didn't start at Olivet. "I don't remember starting to sing," he says. "It was always present in our home. Some of my first memories are my brothers and sisters singing around the piano and singing at church." His mother, Martha Garvin, is a prominent pianist and arranger, with her own musical radio and television programs. His father, George Garvin, is a businessperson who is also musical.

Brad has two brothers and two sisters."The wonderful thing about the parents I have is not only that they are loving and positive people, but also that they did not portray stereotypical masculine or feminine roles," he says. "They were both leaders in their fields. We all love music and we all love sports. It was part of loving life and being together as a family and enjoying all those things."

And it is not a big leap, Garvin says, to go from singing in church to performing opera. "It's a very natural step, because I heard about the fight between good and evil every week in church, and that is the story that plays out in opera," he says.

Garvin has played the roles of Mephistopheles, or Satan, in the opera Faust, John the Baptist in the opera Salome, the story of the girl who danced before Herod and then asked for the head of John the Baptist, Scarpia in Tosca, and Don Giovanni in Figaro.

As for living his Christian life in the opera world of New York, Houston, Chicago, Kansas City, and wherever else his singing takes him, he finds his faith challenged, but not overwhelmed. He is aware that many in the evangelical Christian community harbor suspicions about those who make their living in the arts.

"I'm free to identify myself as a Christian," he says. "I think that people in the arts are often in very close touch with their spiritual side because they're so close to creation, sharing in God's creation with what they do every day. They're in touch with the beauty of creation, but many don't have a relationship with the Creator."

He is even reminded, at times, of his church roots in the characters he portrays."When I did Mephistopheles I told my parents, 'This is the guy we studied!'"

Brad says of Mephistopheles: "He doesn't present himself as the face of evil, but says 'What did you expect? I'm a perfect gentleman!' He tempts everyone at their point of desire. When the Cross is pulled out he can't do anything. And while performing this I'm thinking, 'And Christians are giving up on opera?' This is the gospel! In the face of evil all you do is call the name of Jesus and Satan is vanquished! That's the story!'"

He had a similar sense when playing the role of John the Baptist. "You listen to that music and it's majestic," he says. "John comes out in a loincloth and ashes, and when he speaks of the condemnation that will come to the house of Herod, the music is violent and angry. But when he sings of Jesus it's this amazing soaring musical melody. I had to be careful to not get blessed on the stage!"

Garvin stays close to his musical roots, even when he's on the road performing opera. He does concerts of hymns in churches and schools, not because he grew up singing them, but because he thinks they're still true and beautiful.

"The old hymns are the greatest combination of accurate, life-transforming theology, set to the greatest poetry ever written, combined with some of the greatest musical tunes ever composed," he says. "My classical training tells me that I cannot lose these songs."

One of his favorites? "Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heav'n to earth come down!'" You have great theological points immediately evident.''Fix in us Thy humble dwelling . . ." Jesus is infused in our lives.''All thy faithful mercies crown."

"It is Christ-focused, not me-focused."

Garvin says we are selling our children and ourselves short by not singing these songs more often.''Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!" Here is the assurance of your salvation, that Jesus is in your life, and that you have a reward in heaven.''Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood!" Look at the spare number of words, yet the rich language and texture. "Martin Luther said that when you sing, you pray twice."

Dean Nelson directs the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. His most recent book is The Power of Serving Others, written with Gary Morsch of Heart to Heart International.

Holiness Today, July/August 2007

Please note: This article was originally published in 2007. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.