A Tiger in the Opera

by GalionLive • September 7, 2010 • Life in Galion, News & Views • 1 Comment

Scott and fellow singer before a recent Utah Opera production of "Carmen."

Galion High School graduates are scattered across the country and the world – raising families, enjoying interesting careers, pursuing a wide variety of interesting avocations, and many keeping in touch with their hometown. One 1981 Galion grad fits all of those descriptions.

Galionite Scott Palmer’s boyhood, much of which was spent here in Galion, was full of music. Like his four siblings, he was a member of the Galion Tiger Marching Band – and he also performed with the Symphonic Band, Stage Band, Pep Band as well as Symphonic Choir and the Boy’s Glee Club during his high school years. He also was a member of the first-ever Showtunes ensemble, formed at GHS in the early 1980s.

As a trombone player, he enjoyed a front row spot with the then all-brass Tiger Band. He recalls that this front row position meant that when the Galion Middle School Band led traffic over the brand-new East Church Street overpass immediately after the ribbon cutting, he was literally one of the very first persons to cross the new span. According to Scott, “Hey, it’s a claim to fame and I’m taking it!”

Throughout several years in the military and more years obtaining his education degree at The Ohio State University, Scott continued to sing with church choirs when possible. Shortly after relocating to Ogden, Utah with his young family in the mid-1990s, he learned of an intriguing opportunity to audition to sing with the Utah Opera Chorus. The audition itself consisted of three prepared pieces of music – two in a foreign language, and one representing a folk piece. He took the challenge, and was one of only two to make the Chorus that year out of a total of some 340 applicants.

Scott’s first professional contract came quickly, and in January 1998 he was on the stage of the Utah Opera’s production of Romeo & Juliet – meaning that he quickly had to learn his part in French. “WOW – what a learning curve” he recently shared. Later that year, he was interviewed on Salt Lake City television in a profile of a man who was a school teacher during the day, and an opera singer by night. Since his initial appearance, he has performed in no less than 38 additional opera productions, including well-known pieces such as La Traviata, Carmen, and La Boheme, as well as lesser-known fare such as Jenufa by Leos Janacek, sung in Czech.

As a regular member of the Chorus and often on stage, Scott has also been involved in other productions. In 2004, he appeared with singer Andy Williams on Williams’ annual Christmas special. He participated as a guest artist during the festivals surrounding the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, has sung with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and has even participated in recording a silent film soundtrack under the direction of Keith Lockhart, Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra.

While his mother now lives in South Padre Island, Texas, three of Scott’s siblings still live in Galion, and his brother Brian lives in Pickerington, Ohio. He gets back to the area on a regular basis, and was in town for two weeks earlier this summer.

Later this year, Scott will be again performing with the Utah Opera this October as they perform Puccini’s “La Boheme.” The performance will be available to listen to online; we will post a link to the stream when it becomes avaialble.