From Chesapeake Beach to Sydney, Australia
The music bug bit Mickey Cashman early and apparently incurably.
“Some time around third grade, I knew that I wanted to always have music in my life,” the 18-year-old says.
He pursued his passion through elementary, middle and high school by joining choral groups, performing musical theater and studying at the Jarrett Studio of Vocal Arts in St. Leonard. All that hard work has won him an extraordinary international experience like no other.
Cashman, now a freshman at the New England Conservatory in Boston, is one of 80 finalists to be performing at the landmark Sydney Opera House next summer with the Young Adult Honors Choir. The spherically sculptural curved building on the harbour opened an era in architecture and defined the character of the ambitiously modern Down Under city.
Cashman was selected from a pool of more than 12,000 applicants in this elite program developed to challenge young vocalists from across the world. They spend six days rehearsing, working with a world-renowned master conductor, performing at the Opera House and touring the sights of Sydney.
“I entered the competition and forgot all about it,” Cashman says. “I didn’t know I had been selected until my mother called and urged me to check my email.”
He is the son of Regan and MIchael CaMichaelII.
To get to Australia, though, his family needs a little help. So Cashman will pull out his “mixed-bag of favorite songs” for a special concert at Mt. Harmony UMC when he comes home for the holidays next week.
In lieu of charging admission, the family asks for donations of whatever is affordable.
“Expect a fun time at my concert. It will have opera, a bit of Broadway, plus some original content,” the singer promises.” I will wear something snazzy.”
Saturday, December 29, 2-4pm, Mt. Harmony UMC, Owings, donations suggested, RSVP by Dec. 27: 443-714-4639; light refreshments served.