Alive and singing.

Going on HIV disability helped Reid Bruton start a new career--as an opera singer

Reid Bruton tested HIV-positive in 1994--and a year or so later went on disability from his job as a supervisor for a Los Angeles law firm's word processing center. "I really did see [the diagnosis] as a death sentence at that point," he says.

However, the time off gave him time to pursue his great love--singing. "In 1996 I joined the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles and became bass-section leader, then vocal coach for the whole choir. That involvement was a big turning point in my health. Being on disability allowed me time to train to become a singer. Disability, in a strange way, made an operatic career possible."

The following year he successfully auditioned for the chorus of the Los Angeles Opera, and his strength as a performer soon garnered him notice. "Reid is an excellent chorister, and he looks good on stage," says William Vendice, the chorus master and head of music staff for the opera.

Those qualities have brought Bruton his largest company role to date--in June he takes on the part of Second Mate in its production of Billy Budd. Vendice thinks that Bruton is tailor-made for the part. "This role requires not only good voice but good stage presence and strength, because he's supposed to be ordering a crew of sailors."

Both the show and the production come with a strong queer pedigree. Besides the behind-the-scenes presence of lesbian director Francesca Zambello, who has staged this innovative and daring work in several cities, the opera itself is the product of two of the 20th century's most important gay artists. Composer Benjamin Britten (who wrote the work for his lover, tenor Peter Pears) and librettist E.M. Forster (Maurice, Howards End) adapted the Herman Melville novella about an evil British naval officer named Claggart and his obsession with beautiful, angelic sailor Billy Budd (played in this production by hunky Rodney Gilfry).

"I'm very honored to be doing something with such an obvious gay subtext," says Bruton, adding that the all-male atmosphere is a switch from the usual hetero-romance-heavy works performed by opera companies. "It's great--the guy who's playing Claggart, Jeffrey Wells, is married and a devout Christian, and he plays the subtext between Claggart and Billy Budd perfectly. It's kind of a male bonding experience between homosexual and heterosexual men."

The road to the Los Angeles Opera stage has been a long one for Bruton, who was brought up outside Memphis, Tenn., where his family still farms cotton, soybeans, and wheat, and has several catfish ponds. "I'm very close to my family," he says. "I go back there and visit three or four times a year."

At a young age, however, Bruton thought he needed to leave home to pursue his study of music. "I knew I was musically talented early on and went to [Ohio's] Oberlin [College] Conservatory to study piano and voice." The transition to academe allowed Bruton to be more open about his life. "The second day I was at college," he quips, "I came out."

After studying voice part-time with a teacher at Juilliard in New York City, Bruton moved to Los Angeles with his then-boyfriend. So far for the Los Angeles Opera, he has sung roles in Salome, La Traviata, and Rigoletto, and has understudied other parts. Now 32, he says his voice "has finally hit maturity."

For now, Bruton and his partner of more than a year, Aric, plan to move in together near Los Angeles. Bruton will be in New York City in the fall to audition for the 2001 opera season. Despite their occasional separations, Bruton says that Aric is "very encouraging about my following my dream."

That dream appears to be increasingly within reach. "Reid has a very particular, special type of voice," Vendice says. "He's not only a bass, but he has a particularly beautiful sound to his voice, and I think with the right roles, the right connections, and hard work, he could definitely make a career as a singer."

Getting paid to sing means that Bruton has had to go off disability and be employed on a "work trial basis," which means that should he become ill, he can resume receiving benefits without reapplying for disability.

Ultimately, Bruton says, opera is the best medicine. The new HIV medications give him the strength to work, and the work gives him the strength to live. "When I go downtown a miraculous thing happens--the fatigue lifts. I'm happiest when I am making music."

Find more on Billy Budd and the Los Angeles Opera at www.advocate.com

Harris is a freelance journalist and editor of The Queer Press Guide.