Imagine your family is of humble means and you aspire to become an #Opera singer, a career that requires costly ongoing training. You wonder how you’ll manage conservatory or university tuition, private lessons and all the rest. You win first prize in a vocal competition. A jury member takes you under her wing and assumes your intensive training, even gets you specialized instruction from a legendary tenor—all without charging a penny.

Sound like a dream? Well, it very much came true for Italian tenor Andrea Carè, who debuts Saturday, April 7, at Michigan Opera Theatre in Puccini’s ‘Tosca.’ In an exclusive interview, the 36-year-old tenor told Blasting News the wonderful story of being discovered, explained his debut role’s difficulties and spoke of an even bigger debut later this month.