Life & Work with Tyler Nelson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Nelson. 

Hi Tyler, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a full-time freelance singer and actor, and teach classical voice at the Blair School Of Music at Vanderbilt University. I didn’t even know you could major in music. As a kid, I had no idea you could get a degree and earn a living as a musician. Music had always been a huge part of my life, but it seemed to be just that, an essential part of my life, not necessarily a career or profession. 

When I was a freshman in high school, the was this really cute cheerleader that lived down the street from me. I was in her neighborhood one day and she stopped me and asked if I was going to audition for choir when I started high school. I said “absolutely,” then realized I had no idea how to sing, period, let alone in choir. I immediately enrolled in voice lessons. 

Just a few years later, I was graduating high school after singing in multiple choirs all 4 years and preparing to enter my undergraduate degree in vocal performance. It just seemed like the thing to do. I had a passion for writing, acting, and a few other things, but music just made the most sense. One of my teachers told me that opera was the place for me and that I’d do well there. It seemed just as good as any other style, so I jumped in. 

Now, 4 continents, 3 kids, thousands of audiences, and a tenure-track associate professor of voice position at Vanderbilt University later, this is life as I know it! 

I still have quite a few things left on my “to-do” list, but I’m taking things one year at a time and setting my sights high. This last year, I knocked a few things off my list when I finally started my two YouTube channels “Dad isn’t that funny,” and “Survival for Singers.” One provides technical tips for singers, and there other some comic relief in the form of 100% “dad humor.” It’s really fun to embarrass your kids when you get a chance. 

In addition, I find one of the things that invigorates me more than anything is getting a chance to sing for audiences as a performer while simultaneously teaching amazing students at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt. 

We’ll see where this crazy road takes me, but I’m sure of one thing. It will be exciting! 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ve had a lot of heath obstacles to overcome along the way. Self-image issues, self-doubt, trying to support a family with almost no income and even less in the bank, and quite a few surprises along the way that slowed or stopped my progress for a time. 

Thankfully my parents and siblings are incredibly supportive as is my wife, who is also a classically trained singer and runs her own performing arts academy called Dynamic Ballroom and Performing arts. 

Some of the vocal troubles I’ve had were unique to me. Doctors haven’t been able to help me come up with reliable and dependable ways of dealing with the issues, but it has helped me to get to know my voice even better and to pass that knowledge on to my students. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a singer. I sing a little bit of everything, Jazz, Musical Theater, Crossover, Opera… 

My specialized training was in Opera though. I’ve learned competency in Spanish, English, German, French, and Italian. I have sung operas in all of those languages, and have traveled to many countries throughout the world singing in productions. 

One of my favorite experiences was when I had the opportunity to sing the Chinese premiere of Barber of Seville by Rossini, in The National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing China with the world-famous conductor, Lorin Maazel. 

I LOVE acting as well and am always eager to accept roles with dialogue or dynamic characters. I often practice accents and it’s not uncommon for conversations at our home to occur in multiple accents as my kids have picked up on the accent obsession as well. 

I am a full-time teacher and full-time performer, which is incredibly rare in my line of work. 

I absolutely love VoiceOver work as well. It merges the best of the singing and acting worlds for me. Although I’ve not done a lot of it I would love to do more and take every opportunity I can get to do voice over work and be in the studio.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Covid has decimated the music industry. It’s hard to say how and when we’ll come back and what things will look like. Many companies have had to fold because of a lack of funding. What I do know is that just like a massive forest fire, there is still life left underneath the destruction, and artists of all kinds will come back. 

There’s a real shift to more online content instead of all live performances in the theaters. The Metropolitan Opera made a move to broadcast productions in HD a few years ago and that has caught on. Many companies are showing tremendous innovation and thinking outside of the norm that has existed for so long. 

I predict we’ll see a lot more of these digital and streamed productions as the music world reinvents itself. 

Contact Info:

• Email: tyler.s.nelson@vanderbilt.edu
• Website: survivalforsingers.com, tylernelsontenor.com, https://blair.vanderbilt.edu/bio/tyler-nelson
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/survivalforsingers/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tylernelsontenor/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvZts3npVBEGmWxD_d7sAHw also: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-xFRhjUZxbKn_9xrcYe1A

Image Credits
Gary David Gold
Meridith de Alvia Khan
Leonore Matet
Scott Kimmins
Leslie Maazel