VICTOR KNIGHT DINITTO

Ever since I was a child, I knew I wanted to be a performer. In Kindergarten, during naptime, I would sing instead of sleep. I would always put on little shows for my family at any opportunity. Whenever I got in the car, no matter how long the drive was, I would always ask “do you want to hear me sing?”

I also began researching colleges that offered performance degrees. Sixth grade Victor was very ready to plan out his entire life in music. I created an excel spreadsheet for every college I could find that had a decent program. I included tuition, distance from home (in both miles and hours by car), course requirements, teachers I was interested in studying with, and so on. There was no way I would leave a single stone unturned in finding the best program for me.

From then on, I was a performer. I auditioned for every school musical, I participated in summer Fine Arts camps, and dedicated my life to being a better singer. My first lead role came in eighth grade, when I was cast as Captain Hook in Peter Pan.That was an absolutely euphoric experience for me – on stage, singing, dancing, acting, both as a solo character and as part of the large ensemble. The cast and crew of any show becomes a family in a way, and it is the most beautiful thing to be able to get on stage with family and transport the audience – and ourselves– to another place for a couple of hours.

Upon beginning High School, I switched voice teachers. My new teacher thought that I might take interest in classical music, so she showed me a VHS tape of Le nozze di Figaro.I remember sitting in the classroom watching Non più andrai and becoming completely enamored. It was then my goal to sing the role of Figaro one day (little did I know that I would actually be a tenor). I did, however, struggle with the choice of studying musical theatre or opera in college. I loved both so much – and still do. In the end, I realized that while I love musical theatre, opera is my passion.

Even though opera is my passion, my love for musical theatre and other genres is still very strong. At my High School Senior Recital, I wanted to show off a few different genres. Of course, I had to sing something classical, so I sang Tosti’s Goodbye. As a nod to both my love of classical and pop music, a friend and I sang The Prayer. And lastly, for my father, I sang Lynyrd Skynyrd’s rock song Simple Man.
I entered Purchase College as a baritone, knowing that I was too young and inexperienced to present myself as a tenor. I anticipated making my transition from baritone to tenor in my undergraduate career, but that was not the case. However, I grew so much as an actor, a professional, and as a person during my time at Purchase. I was truly honored and blessed to have been cast in lead roles in the mainstage productions every semester Sophomore through Senior year. My Junior year, I even had a dream come true by singing the title role in Le nozze di Figaro.

Not only did I have amazing performing experiences at Purchase, I also had opportunities behind the scenes. During my Junior year, the college’s Musical Theatre Club asked me to musically direct their student-written show called Kegger. I had never been a music director before, but I was excited and eager to take on the task. I had so much fun helping the cast of about 20 students learn their music and create truly expressive, musical performers. I never realized how much fun it could be to watch a show come together from a director’s role as opposed to a performer’s.

During my senior year, I was once again presented the opportunity to step into the role of music director for a colleague’s Senior Project. He was a directing major, presenting a musical called The Dolls of New Albionas his Senior Project. This musical presented a new challenge for most of the cast as it was entirely through-composed; no dialogue, only singing. I spent months working with the cast individually to help them learn and memorize all of their music, but also to make sure they were singing in a healthy way so as to be able to sing throughout the entire ninety-minute show.

As each individual cast member grew into their roles and rose to the challenge, we would start piecing the show together musically. I remember our very first sitzprobe, everyone was so nervous – not only to sing the entire show, but to do it all from memory. I knew that they were all prepared, and when we made it to the end, they did too. The room erupted with cheers and it was such an amazing feeling to see the pride in their faces. I felt so accomplished as a music director just by seeing how accomplished they all felt.

In my senior year of college, I believed that I would go straight on to graduate school. However, I did not want to go to graduate school as a baritone, I knew I was a tenor. I decided to present myself as a tenor, even though I had no experience or training as such. I knew that I wanted to attend Indiana University – in my mind, both then and now, there is no better graduate program than the one at Jacobs School of Music. I was granted an audition and I absolutely crashed and burned. I was so unprepared to be presenting myself as a tenor and to sing the repertoire that I brought. At first, I was devastated about my rejection, but I soon turned that around. It was an amazing learning experience. Everyone will have bad auditions, but what is important is to make sure you are as prepared as you can be. I was not prepared for that audition, so I picked myself up and decided to do whatever I possibly could to be ready for the next one.

I decided I would take two years away from school in order to transition from baritone to tenor and fully prepare myself for auditions. I began studying with a new teacher who opened my eyes to the world of being a tenor. She helped me strip excess weight from my voice, navigate my passaggio successfully, and truly be able to access my head register. I spent that time focusing on my voice, and working full-time to save money for my graduate studies. In 2018, I returned to Indiana University for my second audition feeling truly confident and prepared. This time, I did not crash and burn in my audition. To this day, I feel that that is the best audition I have ever given. I was so prepared and I wanted it so badly. I was ecstatic when I received my acceptance.

Since the pandemic, I have returned to my hometown in New York and have begun establishing my private studio at Strike It Up Artistic Center in Ontario, NY. In addition to private lessons, I teach TADA (Theater, Acting, Dance, and Art), a class designed to introduce 5-7 year-olds to theatre.