Aspiring actors and sensational up-and-coming singers often have to work second and third jobs just to pay the bills. Jason Berger is no stranger to juggling a couple of jobs while pursuing a full-time career as an incredible singer.
But hardly any of Jason’s co-workers had a clue that the jovial Starbucks barista and Grotto Pizza employee had some amazing pipes. He’s always loved singing and possesses the most beautiful voice and actually sings opera!
During one of Jason’s recent shifts at the Wilmington, Delaware, Starbucks, a customer from Italy whom he’d met once before, Gianluca Spinola, begged him to belt out a little something special for him. The 28-year-old gladly obliged.
“Jason [had previously] noticed my husband’s accent and mentioned that he studied opera in Italy (he’s conversant in Italian). My husband was shocked at how good his Italian is and he loves opera, so he asked him to sing! We were blown away at his talent.”
The barista broke out into a heart-swelling and jaw-dropping opera song, an aria. As he joyfully serenaded the cafe customers, the customer’s wife Kaylan Wetzel recorded him.
She shared the exceptional snippet of song on her Facebook page and the post rapidly went viral. It’s been viewed thousands upon thousands of times.
Kaylan herself is an actress who studied voice and musical theater. She admitted to TODAY that she was in awe of Jason’s natural ability and wanted to share it with the world.
“I know a good voice when I hear it and his is stellar! I did not expect it at all.”
Jason doesn’t brag upon himself but he has trained extensively in the music field and has a graduate vocal performance diploma from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in 2018.
“My dream is to be a soloist at major opera houses across the globe, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and as musical theater is a passion of mine as well, I would love to be in a Broadway show.”
In addition to working two jobs, Berger serves as a tenor section leader in the choir at Westminster Presbyterian Church and works as a freelance singer.
Last November, he debuted as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and also sang in two productions with OperaDelaware last spring. He will join OperaDelaware for their spring festival this year as a member of their young artists’ program.
While he’s quite modest about his exceptional talent, the viral video of his impromptu performance has allowed him to push the importance of the arts.
It also has encouraged the operatic tenor to share that everyone is different and there’s nothing wrong with that.
“I hope the joy that people get from watching my video is a reminder that the arts are a necessity, not a luxury. The arts are what make us human, they heal people and they bridge divides and they bring light into a world that is so often filled with divisiveness and hate. This issue is personal for me. I am a bisexual man and I grew up with learning disabilities and I never fit in; the arts gave me a place where I could thrive and a place where I belonged.”
Take a minute to listen to Jason’s spectacular voice in the video below. This man definitely is going to go places!
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