Quiz anyone with a musical background on singers or musicians who hail from Milwaukee, and they will no doubt rattle off the easy ones.
Steve Miller. Woody Herman, Al Jarreau. The BoDeans, who are technically from Waukesha, but in a pinch, we'll give you credit for Sammy Llanas and Kurt Neumann.
But here's a name you can dispense that will stump the panel … Dale Duesing.
Never heard of him? That's highly possible, but opera fans worldwide know this Milwaukee native. Duesing probably can walk unrecognized down the street in his hometown today, but someone sipping coffee at a café in Paris is very likely to pause in mid-gulp when they lay eyes on a Grammy-winning singer who has performed at some of the greatest opera houses worldwide.
"Europeans are not quite as boisterous as Americans, so they will be a little bit quieter," Duesing said. "But, people (in Europe) will come up and say they've heard me recently. Usually, they just ask for an autograph."
Duesing, 61, has an impressive opera resume. He has performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera (in roles including Billy Budd, Papageno, Figaro, Pelleas and Malatesta), the San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Parios Opera, Hamburg Opera, Munich State Opera, Berlin Opera and others. He has appeared at music festivals of the world, including Salzburg, Edinburgh, Glyndebourne, Santa Fe and Blossom.
He has performed as soloist with the leading orchestras of the world, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Paris, the Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, and the Suisse Romande Orchestra. The long list of distinguished conductors with whom he has collaborated includes Bšhm, Bernstein, Levine, Giulini, Haitink, de Waart, von Karajan and Ozawa.
He won a Grammy for his recording of Samuel Barber's "The Lovers" with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was named Singer of the Year by Opernwelt magazine in 1994.
And still, more people would recognize Justin Timberlake….
Duesing admits that the opera circles are a somewhat of a closed society, and that the people who attend his performances are a bit more, how should I put this…cultured, than those at a sporting event or rock concert. The audience may be more sophisticated, but like everyone else, it can get star struck. While Duesing is certainly a star in Europe, the Midwest is where the star stays grounded.
"You can always come home, and I do, and you don't forget who you are," Duesing said. "There's one big problem with being a performer, often you can believe too easily that you have something that makes you better and it really isn't so. Talent is a wonderful thing, and I am very grateful for it, but it doesn't make you better than anyone. And that's one good thing about the Midwest, you get treated like everybody else … and I like that."
My knowledge of opera is scant, at best. I'm embarrassed to say it includes little more than Bugs Bunny performing "The Barber of Seville" on Elmer Fudd's scalp, and Adam Sandler's rendition of "Opera Man." I'm afraid I share traits of the common man in America. But the innocent, humble beginnings of a boy growing up in Milwaukee lends a common-man thread through this gifted musician's story.
"We were not a wealthy family, we lived in a very small house," recalled Duesing. "The friends I made growing up, I still remember their names and remember the closeness that we had. It was a very happy time for me. Milwaukee at that time for me, when I look back, was heaven. It was comfortable, it was easy, I didn't have any fears of anything … it was really a wonderful time."
Duesing didn't begin as a musical child prodigy. In fact, his most vivid memories don't involve music at all. Jogging his brain, he comes up with kids stuff like sledding down Hadley Hill and hitting his head on the fire hydrant when he broke through the safety fence. He once skipped out of grade school because the teacher wanted the class to draw turkeys, and young Dale … could not. But music filled the air back home, where his brother, Larry, and sister, Carol, both played the piano. Dale, the youngest of the three Duesing children, began piano lessons when he was four.
"But as far as singing, I don't have any memories of that at all early on," said Duesing. "Later, when I was in seventh grade they had the all-city concert choir with all the sixth, seventh and eighth graders at the Arena. I still have the old 78 (rpm) recording."
This was indeed, his humble beginnings. But the former Granville High School student never thought music was his future career. Thankfully, the people around him gave Duesing a nudge.
"I played the piano for the choir, and the head of the music department said I also have to sing," said Duesing. "At one point, he said 'I really think you can sing, and I'm going to enroll you in the statewide singing contest.' And I won it. And I remember the judge in Madison at the finals said to me 'I'm expecting great things from you.' He wrote 'this is the best voice I've heard all day.' So I started thinking, this is what I need to do."
Duesing kept on singing, often in front of the television -- a great source to mimic classic crooners back of the 1950s and '60s.
"I was a baritone not a tenor, but I remember Franco Corelli singing on television, Mario Lanza, all these old Italian (opera) singers," Duesing says. "And I tried to sound like them, much to the chagrin of my parents I'm sure, because it was loud and not very good at the time."
Duesing quickly found out that the next step in the process was to transform himself from a singer, to a classic singer. There is a difference, and education was in order. A high school counselor recommended Lawrence University in Appleton, known even today for its fine liberal arts and music departments.
"I enrolled in piano and history, because my father didn't want me to be a gypsy, he wanted me to be able to get a job," said Duesing, who graduated from Lawrence in 1967. "My freshman year there, I was playing piano for the choir, and one of the voice teachers noticed me. So I switched to a voice major my second year. I was put in these contests, and I kept winning them. And then I knew I had to really pursue this and really work it out."
Duesing didn't just sing music, he studied it. He was trained to sing from the stomach, not the throat, but the labor of learning wasn't work at all. Duesing found the academics and understanding of music came relatively easily to him, and it was fun. Suddenly, his calling was defined.
"I came out of this little family where no one left Milwaukee, and when I graduated from Lawrence I was heading out to Europe as a 21-year-old," he said. "When I finished my one year of study at the University of Munich, someone heard me sing and asked if I would like to become a singer."
Duesing's journey to success was underway. But as good as his pipes were belting out an opera, he never thought this was his lifelong career awaiting him.
"I kept thinking if this doesn't work, I can always become a history teacher, because I never had that feeling it had to be opera, or else," said Duesing. "Most singers have that drive … I never had that. But I did have that drive of perfectionism, which I'm sure came from my parents. That kept me going and kept me trying. Even though I didn't necessarily think I had to become an opera singer, it just worked out that way."
Duesing's sophisticated life in the black tie world of opera was about to be born, but this product of Milwaukee never dismissed where he was born.
"In the beginning, I was very much a Midwesterner," Duesing said. "You just sort of worked hard at what you did, and how it worked out you learned to live with that. And with me, it worked out very well."
"There's more pressure when the British Royal Family is there because there is so much more pomp," said Duesing. "They take their royalty very seriously, whereas the royal families from the continent of Europe are a little bit more approachable."
Duesing recalls the story of meeting Queen Noor of Jordan backstage following a performance in Brussels. A friendly Midwest conversation ensued because this Queen was born and raised in Minnesota. Even though Duesing was briefed to never ask questions of royalty, Queen Noor assured him, in her Minnesota accent, it was OK.
Duesing maintains a home in Amsterdam, but the reality is, an opera singer sets up shop for the run of performances, then moves on. His true home is a museum-like dwelling in Appleton … just blocks away from the Lawrence University campus. Duesing continues to teach there whenever he can as a way to give back.
"I've been doing it 10 years now, off and on, as an artist in residence," said Duesing. "I'm only there about three weeks of the year. But that's a little bit of my thanks to Lawrence for what it did for me, because I am certain I would never have become an opera singer, I would never have this career and this wonderful life, if it hadn't been for Lawrence."
Duesing's return trips home not only allow him to share his global knowledge with performers and musicians of the future, it keeps the singer grounded. For those coveted moments he is home in Milwaukee, he doesn't have to be on stage. A flashback to simpler times is a refreshing escape for Duesing, choosing to spend time with his brother and sister, nieces and nephews and all of their offspring. And Duesing can be somewhat hip and trendy as well, showing an appreciation of music even the kids might like.
"I was just listening to Annie Lenox, and I love her old 'Diva' CD," said Duesing. "I like some of Sting's music a lot. People are always a little surprised that I like jazz and pop singers too. Mel Torme is wonderful. And Tony Bennett … there's a recording of him with Bill Evans playing piano, and if I could only take 10 CDs on a desert island, that would be one."
Unlike a weekend Karaoke wannabe, or a workout warrior butchering the tune in his iPod, Duesing doesn't abuse his voice by singing haphazard tunes here and there. What was once a hobby at home is now his polished profession.
"When I sing, I sing," explained Duesing. "I sit down at the piano and practice or sing during a performance, but that's it."
So what's left to accomplish? In a career that has spanned over five decades, produced multiple accolades and awards including a Grammy, there isn't much left for Duesing to do. When pressed to single something out, Duesing's only void is singing "St. Francis of Assisi," a wonderful opera, but one that is lavish and long and too costly to perform anymore.
"I've just about sung everything I've wanted," said Duesing. "I just came back from France and sang Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen.' That was always a dream of mine. I told all my friends it was a real high point for me to do a piece that I looked forward to doing all my life."
Thoughts of retiring are just that … thoughts. Duesing has too much left in the tank, but admits he is slowly beginning to conserve, and sing less. That doesn't mean he is doing less. Duesing has ventured off to stage operas for a year, and he's also mentoring master-classes with young singers.
The music Dale Duesing sings is historical and complex. It is his passion, his love, his vocation, and his joy. And yet this Milwaukee made man finds fulfillment in even the simplest of sounds.
"I love it when people sing something like "Happy Birthday," said Duesing. "I love hearing other voices of people singing. I really love that!"
Steve Miller. Woody Herman, Al Jarreau. The BoDeans, who are technically from Waukesha, but in a pinch, we'll give you credit for Sammy Llanas and Kurt Neumann.
But here's a name you can dispense that will stump the panel … Dale Duesing.
Never heard of him? That's highly possible, but opera fans worldwide know this Milwaukee native. Duesing probably can walk unrecognized down the street in his hometown today, but someone sipping coffee at a café in Paris is very likely to pause in mid-gulp when they lay eyes on a Grammy-winning singer who has performed at some of the greatest opera houses worldwide.
"Europeans are not quite as boisterous as Americans, so they will be a little bit quieter," Duesing said. "But, people (in Europe) will come up and say they've heard me recently. Usually, they just ask for an autograph."
Duesing, 61, has an impressive opera resume. He has performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera (in roles including Billy Budd, Papageno, Figaro, Pelleas and Malatesta), the San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Parios Opera, Hamburg Opera, Munich State Opera, Berlin Opera and others. He has appeared at music festivals of the world, including Salzburg, Edinburgh, Glyndebourne, Santa Fe and Blossom.
He has performed as soloist with the leading orchestras of the world, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Paris, the Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, and the Suisse Romande Orchestra. The long list of distinguished conductors with whom he has collaborated includes Bšhm, Bernstein, Levine, Giulini, Haitink, de Waart, von Karajan and Ozawa.
He won a Grammy for his recording of Samuel Barber's "The Lovers" with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was named Singer of the Year by Opernwelt magazine in 1994.
And still, more people would recognize Justin Timberlake….
Duesing admits that the opera circles are a somewhat of a closed society, and that the people who attend his performances are a bit more, how should I put this…cultured, than those at a sporting event or rock concert. The audience may be more sophisticated, but like everyone else, it can get star struck. While Duesing is certainly a star in Europe, the Midwest is where the star stays grounded.
"You can always come home, and I do, and you don't forget who you are," Duesing said. "There's one big problem with being a performer, often you can believe too easily that you have something that makes you better and it really isn't so. Talent is a wonderful thing, and I am very grateful for it, but it doesn't make you better than anyone. And that's one good thing about the Midwest, you get treated like everybody else … and I like that."
My knowledge of opera is scant, at best. I'm embarrassed to say it includes little more than Bugs Bunny performing "The Barber of Seville" on Elmer Fudd's scalp, and Adam Sandler's rendition of "Opera Man." I'm afraid I share traits of the common man in America. But the innocent, humble beginnings of a boy growing up in Milwaukee lends a common-man thread through this gifted musician's story.
"We were not a wealthy family, we lived in a very small house," recalled Duesing. "The friends I made growing up, I still remember their names and remember the closeness that we had. It was a very happy time for me. Milwaukee at that time for me, when I look back, was heaven. It was comfortable, it was easy, I didn't have any fears of anything … it was really a wonderful time."
Duesing didn't begin as a musical child prodigy. In fact, his most vivid memories don't involve music at all. Jogging his brain, he comes up with kids stuff like sledding down Hadley Hill and hitting his head on the fire hydrant when he broke through the safety fence. He once skipped out of grade school because the teacher wanted the class to draw turkeys, and young Dale … could not. But music filled the air back home, where his brother, Larry, and sister, Carol, both played the piano. Dale, the youngest of the three Duesing children, began piano lessons when he was four.
"But as far as singing, I don't have any memories of that at all early on," said Duesing. "Later, when I was in seventh grade they had the all-city concert choir with all the sixth, seventh and eighth graders at the Arena. I still have the old 78 (rpm) recording."
This was indeed, his humble beginnings. But the former Granville High School student never thought music was his future career. Thankfully, the people around him gave Duesing a nudge.
"I played the piano for the choir, and the head of the music department said I also have to sing," said Duesing. "At one point, he said 'I really think you can sing, and I'm going to enroll you in the statewide singing contest.' And I won it. And I remember the judge in Madison at the finals said to me 'I'm expecting great things from you.' He wrote 'this is the best voice I've heard all day.' So I started thinking, this is what I need to do."
Duesing kept on singing, often in front of the television -- a great source to mimic classic crooners back of the 1950s and '60s.
"I was a baritone not a tenor, but I remember Franco Corelli singing on television, Mario Lanza, all these old Italian (opera) singers," Duesing says. "And I tried to sound like them, much to the chagrin of my parents I'm sure, because it was loud and not very good at the time."
Duesing quickly found out that the next step in the process was to transform himself from a singer, to a classic singer. There is a difference, and education was in order. A high school counselor recommended Lawrence University in Appleton, known even today for its fine liberal arts and music departments.
"I enrolled in piano and history, because my father didn't want me to be a gypsy, he wanted me to be able to get a job," said Duesing, who graduated from Lawrence in 1967. "My freshman year there, I was playing piano for the choir, and one of the voice teachers noticed me. So I switched to a voice major my second year. I was put in these contests, and I kept winning them. And then I knew I had to really pursue this and really work it out."
Duesing didn't just sing music, he studied it. He was trained to sing from the stomach, not the throat, but the labor of learning wasn't work at all. Duesing found the academics and understanding of music came relatively easily to him, and it was fun. Suddenly, his calling was defined.
"I came out of this little family where no one left Milwaukee, and when I graduated from Lawrence I was heading out to Europe as a 21-year-old," he said. "When I finished my one year of study at the University of Munich, someone heard me sing and asked if I would like to become a singer."
Duesing's journey to success was underway. But as good as his pipes were belting out an opera, he never thought this was his lifelong career awaiting him.
"I kept thinking if this doesn't work, I can always become a history teacher, because I never had that feeling it had to be opera, or else," said Duesing. "Most singers have that drive … I never had that. But I did have that drive of perfectionism, which I'm sure came from my parents. That kept me going and kept me trying. Even though I didn't necessarily think I had to become an opera singer, it just worked out that way."
Duesing's sophisticated life in the black tie world of opera was about to be born, but this product of Milwaukee never dismissed where he was born.
"In the beginning, I was very much a Midwesterner," Duesing said. "You just sort of worked hard at what you did, and how it worked out you learned to live with that. And with me, it worked out very well."
"There's more pressure when the British Royal Family is there because there is so much more pomp," said Duesing. "They take their royalty very seriously, whereas the royal families from the continent of Europe are a little bit more approachable."
Duesing recalls the story of meeting Queen Noor of Jordan backstage following a performance in Brussels. A friendly Midwest conversation ensued because this Queen was born and raised in Minnesota. Even though Duesing was briefed to never ask questions of royalty, Queen Noor assured him, in her Minnesota accent, it was OK.
Duesing maintains a home in Amsterdam, but the reality is, an opera singer sets up shop for the run of performances, then moves on. His true home is a museum-like dwelling in Appleton … just blocks away from the Lawrence University campus. Duesing continues to teach there whenever he can as a way to give back.
"I've been doing it 10 years now, off and on, as an artist in residence," said Duesing. "I'm only there about three weeks of the year. But that's a little bit of my thanks to Lawrence for what it did for me, because I am certain I would never have become an opera singer, I would never have this career and this wonderful life, if it hadn't been for Lawrence."
Duesing's return trips home not only allow him to share his global knowledge with performers and musicians of the future, it keeps the singer grounded. For those coveted moments he is home in Milwaukee, he doesn't have to be on stage. A flashback to simpler times is a refreshing escape for Duesing, choosing to spend time with his brother and sister, nieces and nephews and all of their offspring. And Duesing can be somewhat hip and trendy as well, showing an appreciation of music even the kids might like.
"I was just listening to Annie Lenox, and I love her old 'Diva' CD," said Duesing. "I like some of Sting's music a lot. People are always a little surprised that I like jazz and pop singers too. Mel Torme is wonderful. And Tony Bennett … there's a recording of him with Bill Evans playing piano, and if I could only take 10 CDs on a desert island, that would be one."
Unlike a weekend Karaoke wannabe, or a workout warrior butchering the tune in his iPod, Duesing doesn't abuse his voice by singing haphazard tunes here and there. What was once a hobby at home is now his polished profession.
"When I sing, I sing," explained Duesing. "I sit down at the piano and practice or sing during a performance, but that's it."
So what's left to accomplish? In a career that has spanned over five decades, produced multiple accolades and awards including a Grammy, there isn't much left for Duesing to do. When pressed to single something out, Duesing's only void is singing "St. Francis of Assisi," a wonderful opera, but one that is lavish and long and too costly to perform anymore.
"I've just about sung everything I've wanted," said Duesing. "I just came back from France and sang Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen.' That was always a dream of mine. I told all my friends it was a real high point for me to do a piece that I looked forward to doing all my life."
Thoughts of retiring are just that … thoughts. Duesing has too much left in the tank, but admits he is slowly beginning to conserve, and sing less. That doesn't mean he is doing less. Duesing has ventured off to stage operas for a year, and he's also mentoring master-classes with young singers.
The music Dale Duesing sings is historical and complex. It is his passion, his love, his vocation, and his joy. And yet this Milwaukee made man finds fulfillment in even the simplest of sounds.
"I love it when people sing something like "Happy Birthday," said Duesing. "I love hearing other voices of people singing. I really love that!"
Born and raised in Milwaukee, what better outlet for Bob to unleash his rambling bits of trivial information than right here with OnMilwaukee.com?
Bob currently does play-by-play at Time Warner Cable Sports 32, calling Wisconsin Timber Rattlers games in Appleton as well as the area high school football and basketball scene. During an earlier association with FS Wisconsin, his list of teams and duties have included the Packers, Bucks, Brewers and the WIAA State Championships.
During his life before cable, Bob spent seven seasons as a reporter and producer of "Preps Plus: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel High School Sports Show."
And the joke is, Bob has a golf shirt from all four Milwaukee television stations. Sad, but true: Bob has had sports and news anchor/reporter/producer stints at WTMJ, WISN, WDJT and WITI.
His first duty out of college (UW-Oshkosh) was radio and TV work in Eau Claire. Bob spent nearly a decade at WEAU-TV as a sports director and reporter.
You may have heard Bob's pipes around town as well. He has done play-by-play for the Milwaukee Mustangs, Milwaukee Iron, and UW-Milwaukee men's and women's basketball. Bob was the public address announcer for five seasons for both the Marquette men and women's basketball squads. This season, you can catch the starting lineups of the UW-Milwaukee Panther men's games with Bob behind the mic.
A Brookfield Central graduate, Bob's love and passion for sports began at an early age, when paper football leagues, and Wiffle Ball All Star Games were all the rage in the neighborhood.
