Gualtiero Negrini - Early Years

Early Years

Negrini began his studies at a very early age as a pianist and conductor under teachers such as Berlin Philharmonic conductor Fritz Zweig, soon conducting his first performance at the age of 13, a two-piano performance of Madama Butterfly with a small local Los Angeles opera company. In his subsequent teen years, he continued conducting local productions of Don Pasquale, Faust, and Lucia di Lammermoor. Negrini made his singing debut at age 15, as Dr. Malatesta in a production of Don Pasquale mounted by a small company known as L'Opera Comique, a group begun by his father, the bass Luciano Negrini, and his mother, the mezzo-soprano Clare Mary Young. In 1978, he graduated from Daniel Murphy High School. At the age of 17, he made his tenor debut as Paolino in USC Opera's production of Il matrimonio segreto. While at USC Opera Workshop, he also did work as a repertoire coach, rehearsing the likes of later Metropolitan Opera singers Suzanna Guzman mezzo-soprano and Thomas Hampson baritone .