James Valenti.(Sound bites)(Interview)(Biography)

James Valenti's Italian-Irish family has supported him from the start, cheering him to victory in the Metropolitan Opera auditions in 2002 and traveling to Rome last summer for his Italian debut. But he also depends on another family to mold his voice and guide his career: a close-knit team of teachers and advisers.

When he won the Met auditions, Valenti was a resident artist at the Minnesota Opera. The Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program expressed interest in having him join their program, but he was already set to attend the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. "When I come back to the Met," he says, "I want to come through the front door." To realize that goal, he has crafted a careful plan.

"I'm very organized and very methodical, a typical Virgo," explains the twenty-six-year-old New Jerseyan. "I take time to calculate all the different angles. The biggest thing for me was building a support system. My coach at AVA [Christofer Macatsoris], my voice teacher [Bill Shuman] and my agent [Matthew Laifer] are like family."

While he was forming his team, Valenti was also mastering key roles. In less than a year, he sang four parts--Edgardo, Alfredo, Faust and Rodolfo--that will ...