Why I PMC - Andrew Garland

Guest Blog by Andrew Garland

My first ride was in 1992. For ten years I would ride with my father. He stopped riding because the fundraising was too difficult, but continued to train with me. I picked up all of his sponsors, plus I have an ever growing network of supporters from the opera world. I had to miss a few years because I was singing in summer opera festivals. Fortunately, some years the festivals didn't go over the first weekend of August and I could do both. In 2006 I volunteered to sing the National Anthem at the Wellesley start. I don't think Meredith Starr knew who I was, but there was an opening and the idea of having a rider sing must have been appealing. My father and I switched to the Wellesley to Wellesley two day ride the first year it opened; since we live on the South Shore it was much easier for us to manage logistically and still provided a challenge both athletically and with fundraising. In 2013 I decided to go back to the longer Sturbridge to Provincetown route. I hadn't done that since 1996. Being at the Sturbridge Host start brought back memories of when I was a teenager riding for the first time. Singing for the crowd at the start line is a rush.

In 2014 my father was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He began treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The ride became much more personal for me. We all have friends and loved ones who have suffered from cancer. I have too many colleagues who have had to endure this disease. We lost some operatic legends to cancer including Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who sang often in Boston. But there are those who have survived. My long time piano accompanist is a cancer survivor. Marilyn Horne, the greatest living opera singer and my personal mentor survived pancreatic cancer. DFCI is making advances that will give my father a better, longer life.

PMC Notes:

(Andrew, wrote this guest blog from Seattle where he was performing with Seattle Opera, one of the country's top opera companies. He also let us know his Seattle PMC training was windy, rainy and hilly.)

If Andrew's face, winged helmet or story seem more familiar than most to you, you may have either seen and heard Andrew sing the National Anthem at PMC Day at Fenway or at the Sturbridge PMC start (look and listen for him at both locations again this year) OR you know your opera. Andrew has performed in many venues including prestigious Carnegie Hall and Licoln Center. He has had great reviews in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Opera News and man other publications. He has been the winner of a number of international competitions and can frequently be heard in Boston, including Boston Baroque and Boston Lyric Opera. You can see and hear Andrew in Boston this fall (October 2, 4, 7, 9 & 11) in La Boheme with Boston Lyric Opera at Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre.