COLUMBUS, Ohio — Music has given people a voice to tell stories, preserve traditions and express feelings about everyday life, especially for Black Americans.
Folk music. Jazz. Motown. Rhythm and Blues. Rock and Roll. Hip-hop and rap. The art’s innovation and evolution throughout the years led to a wide array of music genres and continues to influence Black Americans to this day.
The sound of music has always brought Columbus native Justin Swain home, especially opera music.
With the music he performs, you may not be able to understand the words. But the melody goes far beyond the words he’s singing.
“I’m classically trained. I’ve been singing operatically for the past 10 years,” he said.
Swain has performed in symphony operas for years. He received his master’s degree from The Ohio State University in vocal pedagogy.
Swain’s talent as an opera singer can be rare in the Black community and he never dreamed of sitting in the seat he’s in today.
“I grew up on Motown, listening to Michael Jackson. That was what was always playing in the house because when we think about the Black experience typically, we are not exposed to classical music,” said Swain.
By no means, however, was his journey crystal clear.
“We often say that art imitates life. Really, the arts are inspired by the hardships of life,” Swain said.
Swain grew up in the Hilltop neighborhood of Columbus, an area that’s known to be a bit rugged and has its share of crime.
He grew up in the 2200 block of Sullivant Avenue for seven years. The house his family lived in is now gone and on the ground where it used to be, Swain remembers a hard upbringing.
“I haven’t been here in almost 30 years,” he said while standing where his home used to be.
Swain said he grew up in poverty. His father was a drug dealer.
He didn’t know how his future would play out, but it was several of his teachers who saw a bright future in him who made sure he would succeed.
“I wanted him to be in music because that’s what made him happy,” Phil Wallace said.
Wallace taught Swain music at Columbus West High School. He taught Swain his love for music through show choir.
It was his impact and classroom that helped pushed the young artist to pursue a music career.
“No matter what he was going through or no matter what kind of day he had, the music always saved him,” Wallace said.
As Swain’s journey was shaping up, life happened. When it was time to go to college, there were some issues that prevented him from getting in. He took it hard and walked away from music for some time.
A few years later, Swain enrolled at Columbus State Community College to major in management technology.
But he couldn’t escape the sweet sound of music.
Swain took a music class for credit and one of his professors heard him play.
“From that point on, all my courses switched over to music theory and history composition,” he said.
That’s what led Swain to Ohio University, teaching students of his own the ways of music like Colette Alfonso.
“Just hearing his story just lights a fire under you because it really does show that anybody can do this,” Alfonso said.
Swain said the song life gives can be rough, but if you lean into it, you can achieve greatness. For Swain, that was a beautiful part of his journey and now he can motivate others.
“What you are born into doesn’t define who you are. It does not define the path of your life. If there is a will and we can absolutely quote the great Muhammad Ali, ‘impossible is nothing’,” he said.
Swain is performing in the Forgotten Vocal Works concert at Ohio University’s Glidden Hall on Feb. 25. The concert will feature compositional work by Samuel Coleridge Taylor, a Black man who was a composer and conductor in the 1900s.