Teaching Fellow Turns to Opera

Logan P. McCarty ’96 leads a double life. For the last four years, his day job as the head teaching fellow for Chemistry 5: “Introduction for Principles of Chemistry” has made him famous among pre-meds, who laud him for his fun teaching style and know him only as the TF who concludes the final lectures with a song. But in between balancing chemical equations and teaching first-years the solubility equilibrium, McCarty’s found time to pursue his other passion—opera.

For the last five years, McCarty has performed with the professional Cape Cod Opera Company and—as an added bonus—has become the inspiration for an all-singing animated children’s television show.

McCarty says that performing has made him a better teacher—and vice versa.

“Teaching a class is like giving a performance,” he says, “The ways that your movement communicates on stage is relevant to lectures. Conversely, I’m more comfortable performing on stage when I’ve given lectures in front of 200 people.”

Music on the Brain

McCarty’s passion for music extends to his days as an undergraduate, when the chemistry concentrator—who taught sections for the Harvard Extension School’s versions of Chem. 5 and Chemistry 7: “Principles of Chemistry”—sang as a member of the Glee Club. Even after graduating and entering a master’s program in the chemistry department, McCarty sang with the group and stayed close to the Harvard community as a resident tutor in Eliot House.

In 1998, while performing with the Harvard Gilbert and Sullivan Players in the musical Iolanthe, McCarty was approached by Elizabeth Canterbury, a student at the Longy School of Music—located just a few paces from the Yard on Garden Street. Canterbury suggested that McCarty audition for the head opera tutor position at Longy—advice McCarty took to heart.

After finishing his master’s degree in 1998, he enrolled at the Longy School of Music graduate program in Opera Performance, where he studied for two years while continuing to teach sections at Harvard.

“It was a random thing to do, very spontaneous. My family thought it was a little weird, but my [younger] brother had made a similar transition...so that made it easier,” says McCarty.

Justin A. McCarty, Class of 1996, left Harvard College after three months to attend the New England Conservatory to study double-bass, but has since graduated and now works alongside the elder McCarty as a TF in the chemistry department.

After finishing his degree in music, McCarty focused on performing with the professional Cape Cod Opera Company, most recently in their production of Madame Butterfly.

“Logan Likes His Lyrics”

While singing at a local church performance two years ago, McCarty caught the attention of local television personality Dominic “Fred” Grandinetti, a volunteer who has hosted an award-winning children’s television show, “Drawing with Fred,” on the local Watertown Channel since 1992.

“[The show] teaches kids how to draw cartoon characters, and draws on the tradition of classic animated figures such as Popeye and Casper,” Grandinetti says.

When Grandinetti heard McCarty sing, he immediately envisioned the possibility of merging opera and cartoons and invited McCarty to guest-host soon after.

“Since Logan is young and in his twenties, I thought that kids might be more likely to accept him as a credible figure they can relate to,” Grandinetti says.

McCarty initially appeared on the show last year, where he shared the spotlight with another guest, Grandinetti’s dentist.

After the dentist was interviewed on his favorite teeth-brushing techniques, McCarty sang some short arias as an image of Popeye moving his mouth flashed on the screen.

“It was a bit of a tenuous connection between Popeye and the arias, and it did seem a little silly, but it was also kind of cute,” says McCarty, “I’ve never been much of a visual artist, but I like old cartoons, and they’re part of our popular heritage.”

Grandinetti was so enthusiastic about McCarty’s participation that he wrote a coloring booklet—“Logan Likes His Lyrics”—to promote McCarty’s guest appearance on his show.

After McCarty’s successful first stint on “Drawing with Fred,” Grandinetti decided to make McCarty the star of a short cartoon—by turning the booklet into a three-minute animated skit, drawn by volunteer Neil Tenczar, for his show.

The cartoon would tell the story—originally outlined in the coloring book—of McCarty rescuing a kitten from a tree, building a nest for a bird, and stopping a rain storm that threatened to ruin a baseball game—all by way of his “magical voice.”

McCarty admits that he was a little reluctant at follow Grandinetti’s vision at first.

“On the one hand, it seemed a little silly, but then, a lot of things for kids often seem silly,” says McCarty, “I figured that it would at least be a worthwhile cultural experience. I will go along with anything.”

In December 2001, the fully animated “Logan Likes His Lyrics” aired on “Drawing with Fred.”

Since then, McCarty and Grandinetti have hosted story-telling sessions at the Watertown Public Library, where McCarty has treated his little fans to impromptu songs.

Both McCarty and Grandinetti say they are particularly excited about the opportunity to present opera to children in a more accessible format.

“Kids usually go ‘yuck’ when they hear about opera,” Grandinetti says, but he hopes that by blending cartoons and opera, “We’re showing them that opera can be both fun and creative.”

Harmonious Pursuits

McCarty sees chemistry and music as two parts of his larger ambition to teach, likely at the high school level.

His involvement in “Drawing with Fred,” he explains, stems from his belief in the importance of exposing children to classical music.

“I found it exciting to think about the opportunity to present opera in a different context, where it might not be so intimidating,” McCarty says.

To this end, McCarty has also been involved in the Cape Cod Opera’s community outreach program, where members of the company travel to high schools to perform excerpts from famous operas.

“I have this memory of performing

Rigiletto in a high school cafeteria at 9 a.m. and thinking ‘how am I going to make this relevant to these kids?’” McCarty recalls. “But when you explain the plot in terms of a teenage crush, an overprotective father, hot guys and slimeballs, then high school students can start to relate.”

Harvard students are not surprised by McCarty’s innovative and dynamic approach to teaching opera.

“Logan was very creative in his teaching of chemistry,” says Kelly A. Morrissey ’04, who was one of McCarty’s students when he served as a non-resident Chemistry tutor in Eliot House last year. “He performed in lecture at the end of Chem. 5 last year, so I knew that in addition to being a chemistry genius and excellent teacher, he was also a very talented musician,” says Morrissey.

With McCarty’s life seemingly pursuing two divergent paths, it remains to be seen whether he will forsake the corridors of the Science Center for the more expansive world of opera full-time.

“I wouldn’t want to give up either of them, so I think I will keep teaching as my primary profession—but perhaps in high schools rather than college level—and pursue singing on the side,” McCarty explains.

In the meantime, McCarty foresees the sort of nightmare schedule he endured in the lead-up the Cape Cod Opera production. “I had rehearsals all day in the weeks preceding the performance,” he recalls, “which meant that I was teaching review sessions for chemistry, jumping in the car to fight peak hour traffic, and then an hour later standing on stage performing opera. It was crazy.”