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MSU graduate student Andrew Darling performed on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera with Kathleen Battle, Wynton Marsalis, and Cicely Tyson on November 13, 2016, in the “Underground Railway: A Spiritual Journey.” This program brought Ms. Battle back to the Met after a 22-year hiatus.

Not only was countertenor Darling a member of the professionally auditioned 32-voice backup choir, but he also sang a brilliant solo in the spiritual Hold On, garnering such applause with his exceptional vocalism that Ms. Battle asked him to sing it again. This he did with new, even more stratospheric embellishments, and he brought down the house.

Professor Jeffrey Gall, Darling’s teacher and mentor in the Artist’s Diploma program, was in attendance to witness this wonderful event and can attest to the success of this gifted young singer. Gall was the first countertenor to sing on the Metropolitan stage as Ptolomeo in the Met’s 1988 production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, with Ms. Battle as Cleopatra.