Carl Swanson

In 1970 Mr. Swanson participated in his first opera: a performance of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana under the direction of Mr. Louis Pichierri and sponsored by the RI Music Educators' Association. The principals were from the New York City Opera and the chorus and orchestra were comprised of students from 20 RI schools. He has loved opera ever since.

In 1977, while earning his bachelor's degree in music at URI, Mr. Swanson won a full scholarship to the URI Summer Arts Festival run in conjunction with Providence Opera Theatre. It was during that summer that Mr. Swanson sang his first opera role, Parpignol, in Puccini's La Boheme.

Since graduating from URI, Mr. Swanson has appeared with various choruses as an oratorio soloist. These performances have included the New Bedford Chorale Society, The Sippican Chorale, the Masterworks Chorale, the Somerset Choral Society, the Falmouth Interfaith Chorus, the Cape Cod Chorale, the Cape Ann Chorale, and the Providence Intown Churches' Association. He has also performed various roles including Amahl and the Night Visitors (King Kaspar) with the New Bedford First Unitarian Players, opera scenes (Rodolfo in La Boheme, Lionel in Martha, and Don Jose in Carmen) with URI, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Bel Canto Opera, and has worked with Opera Rhode Island as a soloist and conductor. He was the first conductor and one of the founding members of the Providence Gay Men's Chorus.

Mr. Swanson holds a master's degree in education from Suffolk University and in addition to his work at Northeastern University he teaches third grade in Duxbury, Massachusetts. He has been extremely active in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), having held the offices of secretary, vice president, and president. He has been active in the planning and implementation of several NATS conventions and is the webmaster for the New England NATS website. He is currently the New England Regional Governor of NATS.