July 15, 2016
Jack Cotterell (Class of 2004) is a singer, 
dancer, and actor based in Chicago. This summer he starred as Lieutenant Joseph Cable in the Cedar Rapids Opera production of South Pacific. He was recently interviewed by Iowa Public Radio during which he was articulate, entertaining, and personified what it means to have graduated from MPA. Click here to watch the interview, particularly 34:00 through 45:00 to hear Jack. We checked in with him and asked if his time at MPA prepared him for his career. Here’s what he said …
“Much of the foundation for a career in the arts (and most fields, for that matter) is built in childhood. As a ‘lifer’ I can attest that MPA’s music, world language, speech, and theatre curricula all have had a profound impact on my career as a performer.
As a chorister, I sing with the Grant Park Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and I learned tools and skills at MPA from Mari Espeland and John Habermann that I still use today (including solfege!). As a soloist, I’ve had the opportunity to sing a variety of styles in both concert and full productions, ranging from oratorio, to opera, to musical theatre, to even video game music! I’ll never forget the day John and I started working on “Ev’ry Valley” from Handel’s Messiah. When I looked at the music, I told John, “I can’t do that!” And he replied that not only would I be able to, but that I would do lots of it throughout my career (and to that end, I’ve performed as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah in five different productions!). Whenever I am daunted or intimidated by a new piece of music, I think back to this formative experience with John to reassure and remind myself that, with enough practice, one can accomplish a great deal.
My experiences in French at MPA have also been a boon for me as a performer. To date, I’ve sung in over a dozen languages, and starting French in kindergarten at MPA helped pave the way for easier language acquisition later on (as experts predict). In the operatic and choral world, one must be able to accurately sing in and speak many languages. Additionally, if one wants a career abroad, they must also achieve fluency in French, Italian, and German (if you were to book a gig in Germany or Austria, you would be expected to attend rehearsals in German!). From my own experiences in college and beyond, I can draw a direct correlation between French classes at MPA and being able to more quickly adapt to and learn new languages.
Finally, I would not be the performer I am today without the theatre and speech programs at MPA. The theatre program at MPA afforded me many opportunities to prepare and perform roles, and gave me a clear idea of what putting on a show would be like in the professional world. Additionally, the rigorous and demanding schedule of speech desensitized me to much of the stress and anxiety of performing, and also gave me a taste of the kind of dedication to my art that I would need to be competitive as a professional.
I owe so much to MPA—its programs, faculty, staff, and community are first-rate.”
