Nearly 30 years ago, Kevin Short stepped on a wrestling mat for the first time. Today Short relies on his wrestling background as he takes another kind of stage — as a world-heralded opera singer.
“It’s actually the same kind of discipline,” said the Maryland native who has tallied more than 125 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. “It is so applicable to what I do. When I go to a job, I have to be prepared. I follow a certain regimen that includes the right food, the proper amount of sleep.”
The 44-year-old bass-baritone has also become known for doing wrestling calisthenics such as pushups and sit-ups in the wings before he goes on stage.
“Some people expect that now,” he said. “They say, ‘Oh, you’re the guy who does the jumping jacks.’ It warms up my voice. And I feel the same kind of rush, the adrenalin rush, I felt before going out on the mat.”
As a student at Lackey High School in a suburb of Washington, D.C., Short excelled in athletics and the arts. The three-time District wrestling champion was active in theatre and was named an All-District Honors performer in both vocal and instrumental music (clarinet in orchestra; saxophone and bass in jazz band). He enjoyed football and baseball but his interest in wrestling stemmed solely from his small stature: As a high school freshman, Short weighed just 98 pounds.
“My size always limited me in some way,” he said. “In wrestling, I could finally compete against somebody my own size.”
Short’s first coach, Larry Johnson, now an assistant Penn State football coach, was pretty much a novice at wrestling, too.
“Had I started earlier and received top-rate instruction earlier, I think things would have been a lot different,” Short said. “Whenever I wrestled, most of my opponents were always more knowledgeable. I got away with things because I was a good athlete.”
With a full wrestling scholarship in hand at Morgan State University, Short began pursuing a physical education degree in teaching and coaching, but he soon became dissatisfied.
“Anyone who’s wrestling, it’s really full time, and I really missed music,” he said
One day as he walked by the music department, he encountered the department’s director. They began talking, and the man asked Short to sing for him.
“You could be a singer,” the director said, “and I would give you a full ride if you switch majors.”
Short completed a bachelor of science degree in music education and was named the school’s Outstanding Music Student. He duplicated that award at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia while receiving a master’s degree, then completed his professional studies at the Juilliard School of Music.
Since then, Short’s career has continued to draw honors and plaudits throughout the world. A definite highlight, he said, was his 1991 debut season at the Metropolitan Opera. “That’s like making it to the big leagues,” he said.
Another career highlight was his selection following a worldwide search as a soloist for Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” during the opening ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
And last November, Short enjoyed a homecoming in the nation’s capital as Porgy in the Washington National Opera’s presentation of “Porgy and Bess” at the Kennedy Center. It’s a role he’s scheduled to repeat in April 2007 at Los Angeles’ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, home of the Academy Awards.
In 2000, the Board of Governors of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame honored Short with the Outstanding American Award.
Short is the father of 23-year-old Kevin, who is completing his studies at Clemsen University with an eye toward a career in sports management. As an all-state basketball player in Nevada, the younger Short also received honorable mention on the national level.
“I thought he would be a great wrestler, but he just loved basketball,” his dad said.
But Short is excited about the budding wrestling careers in Maryland of his three nephews, ages 13, 12 and 5 (one of whom has posted a 27-1 record).
“I recently saw them wrestle for the first time, and it’s so gratifying that they won’t have to deal with what my brother and I did,” Short said. “We are both bound and determined that they will not ever be in a match and wonder what their opponent is doing!”
Although Short currently lives in Switzerland, he keeps up with the wrestling world via the Internet. However, after spending more and more time performing in the United States, he’s thinking more and more about moving back to his homeland.
He also anticipates some day filling his life with a combination of teaching music, singing more in the popular vein — and coaching wrestling.
“I’ve always had this athletic leaning,” he said, “and I love dealing with young people. I had a ball seeing those boys wrestle.”
As an athlete and an artist, Short recognizes that he is a product of his parents. “On my father’s side were all athletes, not a musical bone in their bodies,” he said. “On my mother’s, they are artists and musicians, no athletes. My uncles have gorgeous voices; they annihilate me.”
Yet it’s wrestling that has set him apart, he said, because none of those musically-talented relatives are doing what they do best.
“I think it’s the discipline and stick-to-itiveness from wrestling that has helped me make a living,” he said. “Talent is only a small part of the equation.”
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