Sing for Your Life

Sing for Your Life: A Story or Race, Music and Family (by Daniel Bergner) is a deeply inspiring story of triumph against long odds. Ryan Speedo Green (an African American youth who has a later-to-be discovered gift of singing) suffered unspeakable domestic violence/abuse at the hands of his mother, Valerie --- a young lady who was clearly unprepared for the awesome privilege of motherhood. After hitting rock bottom (retaliating against his mother and ending up in Juvenile Detention, solitary confinement), Ryan (with the guidance of several professionally-trained, empathetic, committed professionals) gradually began his upward journey building his bass-baritone operatic singing career. This included rigorous career training and practical studies in the art of opera performance at various levels, and culminated in his own performances at the Met.On his long arduous and miraculous journey to the Met, Ryan Speedo Green conquered numerous major challenges, including (1) mastering the technical aspects of opera performance (arguably, the most exacting of the art forms), including singing, acting, languages, style, body movement, recitals, and general stage skills; (2) further advancing the practice of colorblind casting in opera by demonstrating great vocal and dramatic skills; (3) learning to feel comfortable and that he belonged; (4) disallowing his turbulent personal history to impede his progress as an aspiring (and ultimately a professional) opera singer as he successfully sought to escape the cycle of violence.The first third of this extremely well-written book is also cleverly structured into alternate time-segments consisting of (1) Ryan Speedo Green’s turbulent personal history (as a child) as his life spirals downward towards rock-bottom; and (2) time-segments of his miraculous upward journey building his operatic career. Accordingly, the reader alternately gets a sense of Ryan Speedo Green’s feelings of despair and optimism.This story was, indeed, a learning experience for me, and it affected me on several levels: (1) It further increased my already-significant respect for great (professionally trained, empathetic, committed) teachers who are able to, e.g., recognize the misbehavior of a gifted youngster as a cry for help; and intercede to change the course of that youngster’s life. (2) It raised the question, in my mind, as to the preparation that a young woman requires for the awesome privilege of motherhood. (3) It illustrates how potentially damaging it is for a person in a dominant position (e.g., a parent) to (mis)use religion/scripture as a weapon to harass, intimidate, ridicule, or scapegoat a person in a subservient position (e.g., a child); or for justifying domestic abuse in any form. (4) Additionally, I got a sense of the rigorous training to which an aspiring opera singer is subjected.Sing for Your Life is, indeed, an awe-inspiring story. Bergner’s presentation is especially effective. The book is educational and has increased my awareness regarding various important social issues. I would recommend this book to all readers regardless of race, musical preference or family situation.

This story is fantastic. This young man had so many struggles to achieve his goals and accomplished them with the help of many people and his fantastic voice. However, the writing was a little disconnected for me. I wanted to know how he overcame his horrible childhood and violent adolescence. Was music the healing element? Drugs? Needed to know more. Also, as a singer, I'm quite jealous of all the attention that his teachers, mentors, and the school gave him. His voice must have been quite unusual, but only once (that I recall) was his 2 1/2 octave range mentioned. I also needed a little more context of passage of time. He struggled with pronouncing languages, especially Italian, which is the real basis of opera, and yet then he was in Vienna singing to rave reviews. Inspiring story, nonetheless. I did enjoy reading about his life and triumphs. Bravo!

I first heard about this book soon after it came out, from an interview with Green on a MET HD live broadcast. I immediately purchased the book. As a former singer and teacher of the art of singing, I could identify totally with the title SING FOR YOUR LIFE; so much of our personal identity and pleasure comes from singing and music. The book far exceeded my expectations and I have only praise for Daniel Berger and the way he told the story. It is not only Green’s personal story, which is fascinating in itself, but his explanations about the many aspects of study involved in training to become a classical singer. Berger managed to portray subjects, which are very complex and exhausting to read about in books about vocal technique, in words, phrases, sentences easily understandable yet accurate. I felt as if I were in the studios at the Met hearing these outstanding and unrelenting teachers inspire and instruct. I bookmarked innumerable pages to share with my own students. I met old friends like Hemdi Kefir and Bob Cowart, and send them warm regards. Finally, my unbound admiration for Ryan Speedo Green and the courageous journey he has taken in his life, and how clearly he relates the ups and downs of this profession, the hurdles of which are formidable and often unscalable, even for singers who have led less stressful lives. I can only wish him continued success on this journey and look forward to seeing and hearing him many times in the future. Thank you, Ryan and Daniel, for this inspiring read.

This is the story of a totally amazing life of a young black boy living through the horrors of dysfunctional neighborhoods of violence and drug dealers with a major side trip at the age of 12 (at the request of his own mother) to Virginia's juvenile facility of last resort.How can anybody survive that sort of upbringing and survive in a civilized society? Ryan did just that and not only survived but became a famous principal performer in the Statsoper Wien in Austria and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.This is a totally unbelievable story, but it is non-fiction. It really happened. This is a book that I had to set aside on several occasions because I became too emotional to continue. This story is a complete verification of the old saw that 'truth is stranger than fiction.' I became aware of this story recently when I saw this young boy (now in his thirties) singing a major role at the Metropolitan Opera (I saw the live broadcast in HD). Ryan is a fantastic singer.I highly recommend this book whether you hate or if you love opera. The story is that of Ryan Speedo Green and is truly amazing.

Interesting good to read life story

What an incredible story! Well written and engrossing. Highly recommended. As an opera lover i also found the technical details very interesting.