Choose One Chair

Topics: Commitment, Calling

"When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of
song," tenor Luciano Pavarotti relates. "He urged me to work very hard to
develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of
Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On
graduating, I asked my father, 'Shall I be a teacher or a singer?'
"'Luciano,' my father replied, 'if you try to sit on two chairs, you will
fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.' "I chose one. It
took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first
professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan
Opera. And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book--whatever
we choose--we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key.
Choose one chair."

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