By Nicole Falco
That afternoon, Carnegie Hall is presenting a birthday tribute to Mozart that will feature Riley and a number of other young performers. Riley and two of his castmates will perform songs from "The Magic Flute."
"The thing I always wanted to do was sing at Carnegie Hall, even before I auditioned for the [Metropolitan Opera]," said Riley, a ninth-grader at Memorial Junior High. "Now I'm living my dream."
Three years ago, Riley auditioned over the phone for the Metropolitan Opera's Children's Choir, and was accepted on the spot. He has been taking classes at Lincoln Center ever since. Two years ago, he made his debut on the Metropolitan Opera stage in Puccini's "Tosca," as part of the Children's Choir. And on Jan. 21, Riley got the chance to solo on the world-renowned stage. Cast as one of three spirits, he appeared in four scenes in the two-act opera, singing four songs in German.
"It's not that common to have a solo for kids," Riley explained. "They'll ask you if you're a good musician, if you can read the notes, if you can hit the notes, then they'll take you. You have to study hard at it."
So far, Riley has sung in German, Italian, French, Russian and Hebrew. "It's tough," he said. "[The choir director] gives you the right pronunciation and you just have to learn it by rote. If you get something wrong, she's in your face. She idolizes Judge Judy. She's tough, but she's nice."
When he's not singing at the Met, Riley lends his talents to his school's chorus and orchestra, just as he did when he attended Wheeler Avenue Elementary School. Riley got his start in fourth grade when he auditioned for Wheeler's Concert Choir with the encouragement of his parents, Cheryl and Tom.
Besides his parents' support, Riley enjoys the encouragement of the rest of his family too, including sisters Christie, 17, and Kimberly, 11. In fact, numerous family members saw him perform in "The Magic Flute." There were only five performances - Jan. 21, 24, 27 and 30 and Feb. 3 - and his mother saw them all.
"Every time he appears on that stage, I can't explain what I'm feeling," Cheryl said. "It's such an incredible moment that I can't believe it's my kid up there."
Though Riley will eventually be aged out of the Met's Children's Choir as his voice matures, the honor roll student plans to tackle Broadway next. "This is a high point," Riley said of his recent accomplishments. "I don't know where I can go from here unless I go to Broadway - that's my next thing."
