MANILA, Philippines - The Seattle-based Filipino tenor who will sing Rodolfo in the production of ?La Boheme? at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Oct. 3 is no stranger to the Puccini opera.

Leodigario ?Gary? del Rosario was Parpignol in the earlier CCP production directed by Rolando Tinio.

In the rehearsals of that opera years back while preparing for the minor part, he would open his score and study Rodolfo?s role. In his private lessons at his teacher?s studio, he would sing the role with gusto. At the end of the production, he had learned Rodolfo?s role, and hoped that someday he would do it.

?You can say that the lead part in ?Boheme? was the role I studied when I was still in the Philippines, which was 17 years ago,? he said.

?Wow, I really I feel old now. As my voice is getting heavier, I am moving toward lyric-spinto repertoire now. Most recently, I have sung the roles of Alfredo in ?La Traviata,? Pinkerton in ?Madama Butterfly? and Don José in ?Carmen? with companies in and around Seattle... I am so happy to be back in Manila for the role I earlier dreamed of singing?as Rodolfo.?

Before his stint with Seattle Opera, where he was one of the Top 10 who passed the auditions (out of over 600 who had tried), he enjoyed a scholarship from the Cleveland Institute of Music where his first Tamino (?Magic Flute?) got a high mark from Donald Rosenberg, music critic of Cleveland?s The Plain Dealer.

Rosenberg wrote: ?Vocal appeal was in abundance in this opera. Leodigario B. del Rosario, a tenor from the Philippines, was an ardent Tamino with a ringing, focused voice and elegant sense of phrasing.?

The following year, he was engaged soloist of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra in one of its season concerts.

Gary became the Cleveland school?s star student, especially when he won the top prize in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) in the Great Lakes area which included Canada, in 1999.

He became resident young artist member of the Lyric Opera Company of Cleveland, and main stage artist of the Cleveland Opera Company, which gave him the Belle O. Morse Award in 2002, given to the outstanding young artist expected to become the opera star of the future.

It was at this time that the education department of the Seattle Opera Company was in Cleveland scouting for talents. It was looking for a replacement of a tenor of its Young Artist Program for the role of Rodolfo in its 2003-2004 season.

The company sought Gary out and heard him sing. It wanted Gary at once, but he was contracted with the Cleveland Opera Company, and could not leave it till after a year. The Seattle Opera Company told him to audition the following year in New York, which he did.

He auditioned, too, for the Florida Grand Opera, and he was much elated that he passed both auditions. He chose the Seattle Opera Company, which was listed as one of the US Top 5 opera companies. He is slated to sing Gastone in ?La Traviata? in its 2009 production and Ruiz in ?Il Trovatore? in 2010.

Gary did not have in mind singing as a career as he was eyeing the law profession at the time.

He was discovered by his first teacher, Tony Hila, who was conducting the Pasig choir where he was a member.

?I was a Political Science student in the late 1980s, and I sang in a choir for fun. When my music director encouraged me to study voice seriously, I developed great satisfaction from singing opera.?

A native of Pasig City, Gary had modest family background: ?My family loves music, and we all sing at church together. But they had not been exposed to opera until I introduced it to them. Honestly, it was a bit of a shock for them when I dropped out of pre-law. It did not take long before they saw how much a performance career meant to me. They are very proud and supportive.?

Lasting impression

The first opera he saw was ?Rigoletto? directed by Zeneida Amador, and his impression of it has lasted.

?I was about 21 years old at the time. All of the singers were excellent, especially the baritone who sang ?Rigoletto.? I was amazed how he handled the role dramatically without compromising the vocal beauty.?

After only a few years of voice lessons with Hila, Gary found himself singing on the legitimate concert stage. His initial roles were no less than Lt. Pinkerton in ?Madama Butterfly? in 1994 and, a couple of years after, Alfredo in ?La Traviata? mounted at the CCP and the Metropolitan theaters.

He was singing Pinkerton in the matinee cast when tenor Allan Glassman of the New York City Opera heard him. He was so impressed he shared a gala role with him opposite the now celebrated soprano Paula Deligati as Cio-Cio San.

Glassman encouraged Gary to audition in New York, and gifted him with a necktie that he said Gary should wear when he would go to New York for an audition someday.

Bodo Igezs, a veteran director of New York?s Metropolitan Theater, who directed ?Madama Butterfly,? exclaimed after hearing him: ?The whole world must hear you!?

Gary del Rosario sings Rodolfo in ?La Boheme,? produced by the Philippine Opera Company. Helen Quach conducts. It runs at the CCP Oct. 3-5. Tickets are available at TicketWorld outlets or call 8928786.