Check Out Mark Cotton’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Cotton.

Hi Mark, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
As a young boy growing up in my native Florida, I have always loved and had the desire to sing. It was just a natural occurrence — you open your mouth and sing. I sang in the junior choir in the synagogue, the fifth and sixth-grade chorus in elementary school, and in the junior high school chorus.

My junior high school chorus teacher talked about sight singing. Intervals? Major and minor scales? I just wanted to sing. And then, during my ninth-grade year, I was nominated and awarded the Outstanding Vocal Student Award for Orange County Schools. I needed to prepare a solo piece. I had no idea what to select, but Kathy gave me a piece called The Lost Chord by Sir Arthur Sullivan. I sang it for a group and received a check for $50. It felt like all the money in the world.

Then came a defining moment in my life — the summer before tenth grade, I took a voice class with my high school chorus teacher, Robert Bedle. What happened in that class was monumental. Towards the end of the semester, we brought in recordings of singers that we liked. A classmate had the original soundtrack to South Pacific. I heard Ezio Pinza sing “Some Enchanted Evening.” That was it for me. At the age of 15 years old, I knew I wanted to be an opera singer.

I immediately called my grandfather. Pleading, practically begging, for him to pick me up and take me to the Orlando Public Library so I could check out recordings of Pinza. He did, and I listened to all those recordings repeatedly for weeks. I was absolutely smitten with opera.

As my high school graduation approached, I knew that I wanted to study music. Mr. Bedle suggested Juilliard and Johns Hopkins Peabody Conservatory – big names which he thought would do me right. Unfortunately, due to family pressure, that was not to be. Instead, I opted for the University of Central Florida (UCF), not a name traditionally associated with opera or voice. I was fortunate to study with Elizabeth Wrancher, a disciple of Margaret Harshaw at Indiana University Bloomington. What she gave me was good, and it got results.

During my junior year of college at UCF, I was fortunate enough to start working professionally. I received solid, on-the-job stage experience. What I was singing was all wrong for me. I wasn’t a basso buffo, but Don Pasquale, Bartolo, Leporello, and Mellitone, to mention a few, kept me busy. Then another unexpected path — I auditioned for the Bel Canto Foundation in Chicago. I was one of 12 Americans selected to go to Busseto, Italy, and study with the great tenor Carlo Bergonzi.

When I got there, I learned right away that I wasn’t a buffo. Bergonzi told me that I was a lyric baritone and assigned me a new rep. Truth be told he was right. After spending some time with him, I moved to New Jersey. A family friend asked if I knew the great tenor Franco Corelli. I didn’t know him personally, but I certainly knew who he was! I took the train into New York and sang a quick audition for him and his wife Loretta. The following week, there I was studying with the great Corelli.

Time passed. My family broke down. And I found myself in the middle of a difficult divorce. My career and any further aspirations hit a brick wall. I quickly transitioned from singing Germont and Figaro to driving carpools, coaching baseball and soccer, and checking homework. It was time well spent and I don’t regret the decisions that I made. Many years passed when my voice lay dormant and did nothing. I didn’t sing a note. I didn’t even listen to opera… Fast forward to 2013.

Some friends suggested that, since my kids were almost grown, perhaps I should think about singing again.

Singing again? It’s been 15 years. I would need lessons. I would have to relearn languages. I didn’t know if I wanted to do that. I was comfortable where I was. I had become a personal trainer and strength coach. I was working with regular, everyday clientele and elite athletes. I loved it. Why would I walk away from that into uncharted territory and try to resurrect my career?

Because I love it.

I found a voice teacher and a vocal coach, and I sang at an audition four months later. I was hired. But one thing that I didn’t think about was what rep I would be singing. I thought I was the same singer that stopped for 15 years.

I think opera singers, during their careers, have a natural evolution that takes place in the repertoire that they sing. An agent comes to them. Perhaps a conductor. Roles are suggested as the voice matures. I didn’t have the benefit of that. That 15-year layoff and the change in my voice happened whether I was singing or not.

Some of you might be skeptical about an opera singer who took a 15-year hiatus to be a father and raise two sons.

You may think I’m a little rusty or that I no longer have an edge. I had a lot to think about during those 15 years. How do I communicate with my audience or my colleagues on stage? How can I be a great colleague? What does it mean to develop a character? What does it mean to sing? I don’t mean how to make a beautiful sound – anyone can do that. My life experiences outside of opera in those 15+ years have shaped me as an artist.

Nothing went to waste. The devotion to family and abruptly changing careers twice (mortgage banking/real estate finance and institutional management; owning and running my personal training business) really evened out my left and right brains. Olympic lifting, competing in a bodybuilding show, and earning a black belt in Taekwondo are all things of which I’m very proud. I also enjoy working out, hiking, movies, cooking, fine dining, and watching Star Trek (the original, please. I’m a Sci-Fi snob).

My decision to return to singing is the right one. Not without hard work, dedication, and the sacrifice of time away from loved ones, my passion for singing helps me persevere.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? I’m not sure…But if you pressed me for an answer I would have to say yes.

Not that it hasn’t come with its challenges. I would say that overall people in general as well as the decision-makers and my colleagues have been extremely kind and supportive.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
How lucky am I? I get to wake up every day and make music…whether it’s at-home practice, an audition, rehearsal, or a performance. As to your question about specialization, opera is what I love most dearly. Italian opera. Verdi!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.MarkLCotton.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baritonemarkcotton/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaritoneMarkCotton

Image Credits
Delaware Valley Opera (Rigoletto), Opera West (Tonio in I Pagliacci), and (Sharpless in Madama Butterfly)