By Katie McGregor, Aberdeen High School Intern
After hearing Michael Fagerstedt sing Mozart’s “Madamina il catalogo è questo” at the 2015 Young Artists’ Showcase, I was speechless. His performance was so stunning that as soon as Michael sang the first note, my dad, who was sitting next to me, jolted in his seat as if he had been slapped in the face. He immediately started tearing up. Michael was just that good. When I asked my dad what had happened he said, “The sound of Michael’s voice shocked me and overloaded my senses with that undefinable thing that is the difference between great and a little bit more than great. I was completely overwhelmed.”
I’ve known Michael my whole life, but it wasn’t until junior high that we became friends. I have always known that he was a fantastic singer and a wonderful musician, but his performance at the Young Artists’ Showcase was on a whole new level. Recently I got the pleasure of sitting down and talking with Michael about his musical journey.
Michael has been singing his entire life. Throughout his childhood his mom, who is a very talented singer/songwriter herself, had a major influence on him. But it wasn’t until he was a freshman at Aberdeen High School that he started taking singing more seriously. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t even planned on joining the high school choir, and he wouldn’t have if his parents hadn’t urged him to. He ended up joining the beginners Symphonic Choir and then was asked to join the elite Goldenaires group as a bass singer. At the time, this was all new to Michael. He’d never done anything like choir or Goldenaires and felt like he had no idea what he was doing.
That year, as a freshman, Michael landed the lead role of Charlie Brown in Aberdeen High School’s production of “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.” Michael said that this part played a huge role in the singer and actor he is today. Before Charlie Brown, he had played minor roles in productions at 7th Street Kids and the Bishop Center for the Performing Arts, but being the lead was a totally new experience. Not only was this his first chance at a major role, but he was only a freshman at the time. Landing the lead as a freshman is practically unheard of.
Then, as a sophomore, Michael was cast as Pinnochio in 7th Street Theatre’s production of “Shrek.” I remember Michael immediately capturing the audience the moment he came on stage. When I asked him about the role, Michael said that Pinnochio was a ridiculous character and one of his favorite to portray. The year after his role as Pinnochio, in the summer of 2014, Michael tried out for 7th Street Theater’s “Honk!.” He said that he had listened to some of the show’s music ahead of time and realized that he had the same voice range as the lead, Ugly. So he decided that he would go for the part. To nobody’s surprise, he was, yet again, cast for the lead role in the show, playing the part of the ugly duckling. This was an even bigger role than Charlie Brown. And, of course, he did a fantastic job.
Throughout the years, Michael has appeared in “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,” “Shrek,” “Aida,” “Honk!,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Les Miserables,” “Annie” and more. Whether you knew it at the time or not, you’ve probably seen Michael on stage. Michael said that the music is a huge part of why he does musicals. The acting and dancing is fun, but it all comes down to the music. Without music it would just be a play.
When I first set out to write a story about Michael, I thought I was going to write about a talented classmate. By the time I got the go-ahead to write about Michael, the article was no longer about a guy with a great voice, but rather an article about the best high school baritone in Washington State.
Last July, Michael decided he would look for a piece that he could sing for competition. He started practicing his solo piece “Madamina il catalogo è questo” from Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni.” It’s a complicated piece written for a baritone voice. And on top of everything else, it’s in Italian. He sang his way through the district and regional competitions and made his way to state.
Michael told me that his goal was to at least get first alternate at the Chinook Regional competition, but to his surprise, he made it to state instead. At this point, Michael said that he was content with just making it to state and wasn’t expecting anything else. But after singing his piece, he found out that he was one of the top three baritone singers of the morning group. Later in the day, after all the results were posted, Michael found out that he was not just top three of the morning group of singers but he had made the list as one of the top three baritone singers in the whole state!
The story went something like this: That night, at the awards ceremony, the third place winner was announced. It wasn’t Michael. Then the second place winner was announced. Again, it wasn’t Michael. According to Michael, it took a moment before what he had just heard sunk in. There were high pitched screams as Michael was announced as the number one baritone singer in the state. The whole state. Michael said that even now it hasn’t totally sunk in. He said the whole thing is rather surreal.
Not only did Michael win first place at the Washington State Solo Ensemble competition, but he was also chosen as one of the three bass vocalists in the state to perform in a 24-member jazz choir at All Northwest. He was also selected to perform at the Washington State Music Teacher’s Association’s 100th anniversary state conference this June in Bremerton. On top of all of this he was also selected by the Grays Harbor Music Teacher’s Association/The Grays Harbor Symphony to perform on Sunday, June 7 at the Bishop Center. If you haven’t yet heard him perform, I would highly suggest buying tickets to the event. Words can’t describe Michael’s talent.
As for the rest of his future plans, Michael hopes to attend University of Southern California and would like to become a well rounded musician. I asked him if he had any advice for people with aspiring dreams. Michael said, “Don’t give up. There’s no reason for you to give up. My favorite person on not giving up is Daniel Bryan. Everyone told him that he was never going to be a wrestler and now he’s on WWE. So don’t let people tell you to give up and don’t let people make you feel like what you’re doing is wrong or that your dreams are wrong. Your dreams are not wrong. Don’t ever lose your dreams. Think back to your childhood dreams of what you wanted to be and go for it. Hold on to the dreams you had before or the ones you have now. Don’t think about money or success, just think about making yourself happy with what you’re doing with your life.”
