Nicholas Huff
Nicholas Huff
Class Year
’15
Current home
Washington D.C.
Major(s)
Vocal Performance
Current Position
Opera Singer and Cafritz Young Artist for The Washington National Opera
Having graduated with a degree in vocal performance from Carthage, Nicholas Huff ’15 is now a traveling operatic tenor, currently stationed as a Cafritz Young Artist with the Washington National Opera. In his role, Mr. Huff helps his ensemble concertize the Washington D.C. area and works with the American Opera Initiative to perform short operas in Washington D.C. and New York City. He also performs roles in the mainstage operas at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Huff has had fantastic opportunities to play characters in operas such as “La bohème,” “Macbeth,” and “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.”
Mr. Huff, together with other Carthage alumni, also played a key role in running the Kenosha Opera Festival. During this time, he offered fellowships to Carthage students, invited faculty and alumni musicians to perform in the pit orchestra, and hosted performances on campus. Reflecting on his connection to the College, he shared, “Being at Carthage feels like being home, so it’s always easy to say yes if I can get back there!”
What have you enjoyed most about your career?
“Getting to do what you love every day is one of the best things about a career in opera! Any time I get tired or frustrated or things don’t go how I want them to in life, I remember that my job is singing — and in opera, it’s a lot of big singing and big feelings. It’s a great way to keep perspective, let out your feelings, and come back to things with a fresh mindset. There’s no better catharsis in this world than letting out a giant high C — I guarantee it! This job has taken me all over the place! I love to buy a postcard wherever I am and send it to my little niece back home in Kenosha.”
How did Carthage prepare you?
“It was honestly the way that Carthage could focus specifically on me and what I needed that set me up for success. I was one of a handful of students who committed to classical singing, so there was always something just right for me to sing in an opera workshop, always a tailor-made opportunity for me and my opera colleagues to dig into every semester! You don’t get that everywhere.”
How has your liberal arts education benefited you?
“I think a basis in liberal arts will take you further as an artist than if you went through conservatories the whole way through. Critical thinking is not just how you come at Thucydides or Plato, but how you should come at every problem. Besides the fact that every opera we perform is also a text with a point of view, has lessons to teach, includes poetic and thematic elements, and needs to be analyzed like any great work, you also need to use your intellectual skills for everything else. From how to audition, setting aside your insecurities, and drilling down on vocal technique, these skills are about being intellectually curious and managing things independently. For instance, as a former student worker at Carthage, they could’ve just had me schlep chairs for the orchestra and choir, but instead, they put me in charge of marketing the operas. I eventually transferred those skills into work at a leading PR and marketing firm in the classical music niche as a side hustle between opera productions. I left that form recently to start work at WNO, but I still build brands and websites under www.Huff.graphics, and it’s been a hugely stabilizing part of my life, not to mention fun! That all got started at Carthage, and it was because they didn’t mind expanding us as people and letting us learn to be self-sufficient.”
Why did you choose Carthage?
“My older sister, Amanda, was a student at Carthage, and my family was local in Kenosha, so we got to know some of the Carthage community. Several people there took an interest in me and started investing before I was even old enough to attend officially. Professor Dimitri Shapovalov hooked me up with a carpool from the train station when I commuted in to take piano, voice lessons, and chorus and introduced me to Professor Eduardo Garcia-Novelli, the then director of the Carthage Choir, and Professor Gregory Berg, who became my voice teacher for five years before and during undergrad, and all of them became close friends! I knew the high level at Carthage, and it already felt like my community.”
What opportunities were made possible because of your Carthage experience?
“I went on to graduate school after Carthage, a conservatory in New York called the Eastman School of Music. All that stage time and role work at Carthage had gotten me a good foothold in the repertoire and a great start to my resume by the time I was auditioning for productions in grad school! I remember, at an audition a few years after Carthage when I was finished with my master’s degree, a producer looked at my resume and said, ‘Well just look at all this great stuff! You’ve been busy!’ and he was right. I had a fantastic head start on my way into the opera industry!”
What Carthage professors played a part in your success and how?
“Many faculty members have become good friends, and my family knows many of them personally now, so it’s a very close-knit group. First, I have to shout out to Prof. Berg! He was the one who pulled me into opera and started to show me all the things I love about it! When we were beginning, he walked us through some of the greats in opera and song rep classes. Also, Prof. Shapovalov first brought me into the Carthage community and had me doing graduate-level musicology work before I was even done with my BA! Prof. Garcia-Novelli saw potential in me and specifically made room for me to sing more opera. Professor Peter Dennee modeled an entrepreneurial attitude for me for the first time, finding opportunities to help us singers and the Music Department shine. There was also Professor Corinne Ness who not only gave me opportunities as a student but was later on my board of directors at the Kenosha Opera Festival, while that project was running, and connected us with ideas and opportunities to work with Carthage and its fabulous community! Professors Herschel Kruger and Martin McClendon over in the Theatre Department allowed me to study in the acting courses for majors, even though I was a music student, and helped me become a real actor. The faculty are always the best part of any institution; without them, any place wouldn’t amount to much!”
Tips for current Carthage students?
“Save money. Work hard. Be thoughtful. That’s really all you need to do.”