One on One with Brandon Martin

I first met Brandon in 2017 after a set "The Voices of Liberty." His vocal range is similar to mine. I have to admit I've jealous every time he opens his mouth. Therefore, I knew I had to include him in my blog series. 

What age/when/where did you start singing? 

According to my parents, I started singing around the house and hamming it up for them around 4 or so, but I didn’t start singing in earnest until about 8 or 9. I sang at church, in talent shows (I remember one of my first ones where I was scared to death, bawled, and had to be carried offstage by my mother…I’ve come a long way!) and in chorus at school. I also have fun memories of my brother and I making up songs at home. 

Above photo credit: Josh Fowler

Did you have voice lessons/study music in college? 

I did study voice in college, and I have earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music. 

You grew up in NY? Was that NYC or a smaller town? 

The Big Apple proper—Brooklyn and Queens, in particular. Then my family moved to Tampa when I was 11. (Culture shock!) But it was actually in Tampa when I started performing in the theatre and singing more. 

Did you see Broadway musicals growing up? 

You know, I didn’t see an actual musical on Broadway until I once visited NYC as an adult! But as far as enjoying musicals, I became interested in musicals soon after I moved to Tampa. I auditioned for a community theatre production…and I was bitten by the theatre bug! 

Who are some vocalists that influence your style?

Gahhhh!!! The “influences” question! It’s always a toughie. Stevie Wonder jumps out. My parents raised me on the R&B, soul, funk, and jazz of the 60s through 80s as well as reggae, soca, and calypso (my family is from the beautiful Caribbean island of Grenada). My Voices colleagues know I love to do a mean Michael McDonald impersonation (done badly, but with love). I did a community theatre production of Camelot when I was younger, and I remember listening to Robert Goulet’s booming baritone and wanting to relish singing like that, so maybe that’s an influence, too. 

When did you start with Disney?

I started first with a seasonal show called “Candlelight Processional” in 2014. (For the unacquainted, it’s very similar to a typical Christmas Lessons and Carols, where you have a narrator read the story of the Nativity, interpolated with Christmas carols. Now add a 50-piece orchestra…and roughly 200 voices…and voilà! Candlelight Processional!) I sang in the show as a “Voices of Liberty” vocalist. After that, I auditioned for the full-time, “Americana” Voices of Liberty ensemble, was chosen (yay!) and joined them in 2015. Since then, I’ve been lucky to get to be a part of some other shows at Walt Disney World, including The Dapper Dans, and lead choral workshops as a Teaching Artist with Disney Performing Arts. 

Above photo credit: Eve Spiekerman

Can you tell me about the Disney Preforming Arts?

Disney Performing Arts offers educational workshops as well as performing opportunities to performing arts ensembles visiting Disney. That marching band and color guard in the 3 o’ Clock Parade at Magic Kingdom? That's through DPA. I, however, am one of many clinicians who lead workshops for visiting musical ensembles. In each workshop, we work on vocal/choral technique, musicality, and a little “show choir” choreography, and we talk about careers in the performing arts. It’s one of my favorite things to do at Disney. I’ve worked with students from elementary to adult ages, from all over the world.

You are still Full-time Baritone with The Voices of Liberty and you occasionally fill in as a vocal captain for the group. How do the two roles vary? 

Good question. So, for my first four years with the group, I sang “in the line”, or sang as part of the ensemble. In 2019, I learned the role of Vocal Captain, a sort of musical leader/Master of Ceremonies for the ensemble, a sort of go-between the performers and the audience. You are spinning lots of plates as Vocal Captain, including deciding on the set list for each show, deciding on who sings what, leading the group musically, changing the set in the middle of the show if needed, interacting with and gauging the audience, giving speeches, filling in vocal lines if one is missing, etc. It can be mentally taxing, but it’s very rewarding, especially when you hear from guests about how great the show was. 

Correct me if I'm wrong you are president of "The Orlando Gay Chorus".  Can you tell me a bit about that?

You’re correct! I have served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Orlando Gay Chorus for the past two years. It definitely requires me to put on a different hat: I think more about finances, marketing and fundraising for OGC, whereas I am in a more artistic role at Voices. Obviously I am in a leadership role with OGC, whereas, at Voices, I am working as part a team…of amazingly talented musicians. While I enjoy entertaining guests at Disney, being a part of Orlando Gay Chorus allows me to serve my community by building bridges within and outside of the local LGBTQ+ community.

Above photo credit: JR St. Jean

Nobody wants to talk about 2020, so let's talk about 2019. I want to talk about 2 specific things that I got to experience that showcased your amazing talent. 

First, July 4th 2019 and you are about to sing the solo on "Battle Hymn" for a crowded rotunda for the special "Voices of Liberty echo set" what are you feeling? Does the added people in both the cast and the audience give a surge of energy?  It looked to me like your adrenaline had kicked in and you were in the moment. 

That was a very, very special moment. Firstly, and also for the unacquainted, we at Voices of Liberty jokingly call our Fourth of July celebrations our “Super Bowl.” It’s our biggest day of the year, obviously, being we are an ensemble that celebrates America by singing its music. We also have our most attended shows on that day, by far. Now, the solo for “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” is a solo I had done at least a hundred times before that day. But getting the honor of singing it…on that day…for that crowd…and with some of the most spectacularly talented vocalists in the world behind me…the stakes were much, much higher. And yeah, there was definitely more adrenaline in that performance. But any performer will tell you that 1) you have to take your nerves and use them as good energy in your performance, and 2) usually, the audience is on your side and wants you to do your best. So, as I always do, I tried to tell the audience a story through song, stay in the moment, and let it happen as best as I can.

Check out that performance here. Brandon- Battle Hymn

 Second, in Fall 2019, I got to see you as the lead aka Coalhouse Walker Jr. in "Ragtime" at the "Winter Garden Theatre" can you tell me about that role? 

Coalhouse Walker, Jr. is one of the main characters in the E.L. Doctorow novel-turned-musical Ragtime. He is a Black man living in the early 1900s. A talented pianist, he has developed this new style of playing called Ragtime. Coalhouse, in order to win back his love, Sarah, shows that he’s made an honest man of himself, including playing with the best band in Harlem and purchasing a very expensive Model T. And just as he and Sarah are beginning to build a life together and raise their child, his life is torn apart due to the injustice so commonly inflicted upon Black people—then and now. It is a dream role for me: he is a fully fleshed-out, not stereotypical Black character (not very common in musical theatre); he goes through an amazing and very challenging character arc—for any role in musical theatre; it is quite vocally demanding but also very musically rewarding; and his role is so rewarding from the standpoint of telling the story of a Black person in America—fighting against all the odds and all the injustices to become a success, or even just to be seen as equal, a human being. 

Above photo credit: Dan Jones

You are amazing every time I hear you! 

Last question, of all the crazy talent in Orlando I think you are the top tier, so what's next? 

Firstly, thanks!!! There is some ridiculous talent here in Orlando. Glad to be a part of it. Ummm…so remember you said how no one wants to talk about 2020…? ( I can say for sure I’ll be voting, I know that much…) If I’m dreaming big, I’d love to perform on Broadway. I also compose original music, so I want to pursue that more, writing “classical” music and musical theatre. And, as always, looking for more opportunities to grow as a musician and as a creative person.  

I am voting as well and if you are ever on Broadway, as a fan, I will definitely have to be there!

Catch Brandon in the Epcot rotunda as part of "The Voices of Liberty."

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