![\"Baritone](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Burns151116b315.jpg\")
<\/a>A doctoral candidate in music who has performed with the Connecticut Lyric Opera and the Opera Theater of Connecticut, Burns was selected by the contemporary ballet choreographer for the unique joining of dance and classical music that has been described as \u201ca true work of art\u201d by the Boston Globe<\/em> and \u201ca work of high craftsmanship\u201d by The New York Times.<\/em><\/p>\n The innovative Jessica Lang Dance has become one of the most talked about new companies in the dance world. \u201cThe Wanderer\u201d is a romantic contemporary tale of jealousy and obsessive desire, performed by nine dancers with sweeping choreography and imaginative set design. \u201cDie sch\u00f6ne M\u00fcllerin\u201d is based on poems written around 1820 by Wilhelm M\u00fcller<\/span> and is one of the composer\u2019s most important song cycles written in 1823 in the tradition of setting Romantic German poems to classical music.<\/p>\n Burns says combining the two artistic fields is \u201ca really unique way to take something that\u2019s almost 200 years old now and make it fresh and new. What\u2019s unique about this particular pairing is taking two mediums that you wouldn\u2019t necessarily think to put together. It\u2019s a way to connect different audiences that maybe have never heard Schubert\u2019s music or seen contemporary dance. I\u2019ve approached it as if it were an opera, because it has so many of the same elements.\u201d<\/p>\n Burns grew up in a home surrounded by music, singing, playing trumpet, and performing in musicals. As an undergraduate at St. Anselm College, he majored in criminal justice, played football, and once performed the National Anthem while in pads and uniform before a game. After completing his degree, Burns worked in the development office of his alma mater while taking voice lessons and started performing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe opera bug bit me,\u201d he says. \u201cI knew I wanted to go back to music and would have regretted it had I not done it.\u201d<\/p>\n He decided to pursue a master\u2019s degree in music and looked at several programs, deciding on UConn because of the opportunities to perform within the School of Fine Arts. In addition to his work with the Connecticut Lyric Opera and the Opera Theater of Connecticut, he has performed with the UConn Opera Theater and was a member of the ensemble for Opera Boston\u2019s \u201cBeatrice et Benedict.\u201d<\/p>\n He was the winner of the graduate level of the 2012 UConn Concerto Competition and has sung in a masterclass with baritone Nathan Gunn and tenor Matthew Polenzani of the Metropolitan Opera. In 2011 he was awarded the J. Louis von der Mehden Music Scholarship and represented UConn in a collaboration with the Dublin Institute of Technology, Conservatory of Music and Drama in Ireland.<\/p>\n Burns was selected by Lang for the performance last spring and has been preparing since then working with his piano accompanist Brian Moll, who is musical director for opera and vocal studies at The Boston Conservatory and chair of the Collaborative Piano Department at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Mass.<\/p>\n They have seen early performances of \u201cThe Wanderer\u201d by the Lang Company and met with the choreographer during their rehearsals of the music before the dancers arrived in Storrs earlier this week for full rehearsals at Jorgensen.<\/p>\n Burns says he has listened to several recordings of the Schubert song cycle but is working to develop his own performance.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re learning a piece it\u2019s very easy to pick up other people\u2019s habits, both good and bad,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s run the gamut from singers 50 years ago to more contemporary singers. When I was first learning it, it was just me at the piano. I think the trap young singers can fall into is learning the piece of music by listening to a recording. With singing, there\u2019s so much about vocal coloring and how we express the music and the text. It\u2019s best to know the work without relying on the recording of someone else for the interpretation. I\u2019ve listened to recordings, but I haven\u2019t locked into one in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n Another challenge for the performance is the duration of the work, singing almost constantly for about an hour. Burns says he learned the songs in short groupings, working with the melodies and German lyrics, keeping in mind there also would need to be coordination with the dancers\u2019 movements with his positioning on stage.<\/p>\n \u201cI can count on one hand since the spring the days I\u2019ve taken off not doing something on it, because it\u2019s such a massive work,\u201d Burns says. \u201cOne piece flows into the next. I\u2019ve been singing it out in chunks without taking breaks or sipping water. I\u2019m trying to mimic what it will be like at Jorgensen. Their choreography is timed. I can\u2019t screw up a verse. I can\u2019t miss an entrance. I\u2019m conditioning like an athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n While preparation for \u201cThe Wanderer\u201d has dominated his time, Burns has still kept up working on his doctoral dissertation, giving voice lessons, and looking toward performing next semester with the UConn Opera. He expects there to be a long-term benefit from his preparation.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m growing in my own artistry because of this project,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>