Meet Joel Balzun | Opera Singer & Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joel Balzun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joel, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
My mother was a piano teacher when I was growing up, so I’ve been surrounded by music my entire life. There was a point when I wanted to be a school teacher (not always in music) and an interior decorator/designer. But after looking at those career paths, I realized I didn’t want to do those things, nor did I feel called to do them. However, the calling I feel on my life – to express, speak and spread truth – aligns so neatly with being a professional singer. I sing words that, in the moment, I must mean with great conviction. If I communicate that meaning, an audience member, whether they realize it or not, will feel a reaction of agreement or disagreement – seldom indifference. That is a powerful tool that we desperately need to utilize today.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My path to being a singer was a windy one. I trained as a pianist from the age of 5 through 20, when midway through my undergraduate music composition degree an injury prevented me from playing the piano for 6 months to a year. I happened to be singing in the college choir and my section leaders encouraged me to take voice lessons. I took the time off I had from playing piano to try singing and I discovered I had a unique voice. Once I was able to play piano again, I resumed piano lessons but kept taking voice lessons and studying composition. When I applied to graduate school for composition, I also applied to two schools for vocal performance at the advice of one of my teachers. Long story short, I got accepted to a dream school but for vocal performance and not composition. I completed my master’s in vocal performance with the intention of not singing much professionally but returning to composition.

In summer 2016, I was a Vocal Arts Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Centre, a paraprofessional training program run in partnership with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was truly a magical and life-changing summer that made me realize I did care for, love and want to pursue singing.

As magical as this story sounds, what nobody talks about is the amount of rejection and politics in the opera industry. While I went to a prestigious school, because I didn’t know the right people, it has taken and continue to takes a long time to really break into the “inner circle” of the opera industry. I once sang for someone from the Metropolitan Opera in a competition and his first words to me were “how have I never heard you before!?” Well, the answer is that I’ve been kept outside the proverbial gates of the industry because I didn’t know the right person. This is all without mentioning the times I have been shamed for my body or other factors which have no bearing on my identity or ability as an artist and singer. Sometimes the comments wash away like water off a duck’s back, and other times the comments sting, linger and play with your psyche. The most important thing I’ve learned in overcoming these challenges is to have a village of people who believe in you, your talent and your artistry. Let them get to know you deeply as a person and artist so that they can help you filter the noise with ease, grace and confidence.

One of the recent ventures I’m most proud of is the founding of my organization, Black Dog Commission. Black Dog Commission is a platform for the creation of new music for voice and piano which inspires meaningful conversation about mental illness. BDC’s vision is to inspire courage and initiate genuine discourse about mental illness and its implications in day-to-day living as a way to eradicate its associated social stigma. Inspired by my own journey with depression (symptoms since age 9, diagnosed at 21), BDC had its debut concert in April 2022, premiering a new work by Tom Cipullo. I don’t know what the future holds for BDC but I know it’s going to change the world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A week in Orange County wouldn’t be complete without a day or two at California Adventure and DisneyLand, in my opinion. I would also have to take them to my favorite bar, Hopscotch, in Fullerton (great drinks, awesome bartenders, yummy food, what’s not to like?). While I’ve lived in the Los Angeles area for over 7 years, I still feel like there is so much I haven’t tried out here so I would have to find something new and fun to do with them. There’s always great musicians, comics, visual artists, shows and plays coming through town – hopefully we could find something that would suit our fancy.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people that have helped me get to where I am today. From my first piano teacher, my darling mother, to my current team of voice teachers and coaches: Reid Bruton, Jane Eaglen, Lucas Meachem and Anthony Manoli to name but a few, and my agent Kathy Olsen. All of these people have believed in me, whether I’ve known them for a short time or my entire life.

Website: http://www.joelbalzun.com/

Instagram: @jdeebizzle

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEDt47MWg6BoXEV4oas-uig/featured

Image Credits
FIrst picture (with grayed hair): Cory Weaver 4th and 5th pics (mustache+giant pendulum; three guys surrounding small grill) : Martha Benedict