1. Conor Donovan: a young career over view
I didn’t really start taking any real interest in music until I was probably twelve. In
middle school during music class, I got up just on a whim and sang a verse of “Seasons of Love”
from the Musical Rent. After class my the music teacher pulled me aside and praised me for my
apparent natural talent, and encouraged me to pursue it by getting involved in the academic
music program. And that, as they say, is where it all began.
Growing up, I took every opportunity I had to exercise my vocal skills, joining advanced
choirs and auditioning for district select and all state choirs. In my own personal time, I sought to
emulate the rock vocal greats from the 60s, 70s, and 80s that I had idolized, artists like John Bon
Jovi, Johnny Solinger, and Mick Jagger. I found the more I learned and practiced and improved,
the more comfortable I got on stage at the center of attention until it was all that I craved. by the
time I got to high school, all I wanted to be in life was a rockstar.
I would soon enough discover that the dream of being a rocker in the ‘classical sense’ so
to speak, was a thing of the past by the time I turned fifteen, and so I found my focus shifting
toward the theater. I began participating in the musical theater program in my high school, which
fortunate enough for me, was well funded and tenured by the community. As such I participated
in shows such as Pippin, Guys and Dolls, and Les Miserables. Most of what I did in the extra
curricular program was ensemble and stunt work, and it wasn’t until I began looking for shows
outside school grounds that I really came into my own as a performer. I managed to land the lead
role in a private production of Stephen Shwarts’ Godspell, my first leading role. I did a bit more
work in theater up through college, acting and singing in such productions such as Ordinary
Days, Children of Eden, Title of Show, and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
In College, I found myself surrounded by musicians who acted with more comrrodery
than competition than I had been accustomed to; my classmates were always collaborative before
confrontational. I took this as a lesson that I should learn from my peers just as much as I learn
from my professors. So as I continuned my formal studies with tenured professors, I also
expanded my pallet of musicality. the more classes I took, the more I realized I had taking a
liking to behind the scenes work: the ins and outs of the law surrounding the industry and the
business of live music peaked my interest in a way that I had not felt since My first
performances, and so I began pursuing the knowledge I will one day need to run a venue of my
own, where it is my hope that young, aspiring musicians like myself will one day come to
perform for each other and learn from each other, just Like I did.
Though I may have started on a new path toward management, my first love will aways
be performance. And though I might not be a rock star like my old idols, by far the most
gratifying experience in music I can cite so far is the founding of Morris Code, a rock band that
has seen a fair amount of success in the capital region. I have finally been able to live out my

2. childhood dream of being a rock star, although as I set my sights on the future of my career as a
performer, I find myself drawn to more relaxed, acoustic style music. The past two years for me
have been an exploration into the sounds of ancestral celtic standards and classic Americano
music, and I am more than excited to pursue more of that In my own original writing and
performance.
So from humble beginnings to the yet unrealized future, music has permitted essentially
every aspect of my twenty three years of life. I continue to be eager and openminded, always
searching for the next opportunity or learning experience, ready to continue down the rough seas
of the music industry.