1. By Karen L. Gill
I
t was like a traffic accident. You
don't have much reaction
time. Things seem to be going
in slow motion, yet you can't think
fast enough to change what's hap-
pening around you.
That's how Christopher Newport
University student Anthony
Colosimo described singing on
stage with world-famous Italian
tenor Andrea Bocelli. But, Anthony
is quick to point out, it was like a
good traffic accident, if such things
exist.
"Like hydroplaning, but you
don't hit anything afterward," he
explained. And you're left with a
high.
"It was a pinnacle for me," said
Anthony, a barbershop singer. "I've
never sung with a symphony and
never performed in a hall that big
before by myself, and certainly no
one's ever paid that much for a
ticket to see me sing!"
The CNU senior sang the popu-
lar Italian song, "La Serenata,"
accompanied by the Virginia
Symphony, for the sold-out audi-
ence of 1,700 on Oct. 20 at the
Ferguson Center for the Arts' new
Concert Hall.
Bocelli, a friend of the National
Italian American Foundation, had
presented Anthony with the foun-
dation's 2005 scholarship on Oct.
19, and then invited the 22-year-old
tenor to perform alongside him
the following evening.
"I don't remember actually
singing on stage. I was so nervous,
and once I got on stage, I kind of
went on autopilot. I couldn't think
much," he said. "If I would have
faltered, I would have fallen off a
cliff."
Anthony didn't falter, and the
easy-going Bocelli congratulated
him as he walked off stage.
"He was so nice, and about the
most genuine person I've ever
met," Anthony said of the singer
who was blinded in his youth. "He
seemed so interested in what I had
to say, which seemed so strange to
me- he's so famous."
The experience left Anthony, a
member of the Alexandria chapter
of the Barbershop Harmony
Society, and Iguanas in Flight, a
former collegiate quartet that is
now competing at an international
level, with a renewed passion for
performing.
Anthony plans to return to CNU
next year to pursue a master's
degree in music education and
eventually plans to teach music in
the public schools. ~
Alumni Magazine CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY 11