WOHS alumnus earns Grammy

The moment Gabriel Preisser found out he won a Grammy, he was on stage doing what he loves: singing opera.

“I really wanted to go to the show, of course, but it just so happened that I was booked that same night singing with the Utah Opera in Salt Lake City doing an opera that I love — a modern piece called, ‘Silent Night,’” Preisser said. “I had my phone with me, and I knew people would text me or I could Google search to find out if we’d won because they do the classical awards in the afternoon and we had a matinee.

“I was actually in the wings (offstage) and I had my phone on me,” he added. “People just started texting me … when it was announced and my phone started blowing up. It was kind of cool that I was in the middle of a show when I found out about the Grammy. It was kind of a crazy day.”

A Winter Garden resident and the executive director of Opera Orlando, Preisser earned his first Grammy win for Best Opera Recording in the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. He shares the award with other performers who were involved in an opera rendition of “Fantastic Mr. Fox” by composer Tobias Picker. Preisser played the role of a villain in the opera, which was originally recorded in 2014 but wasn’t released until 2019.

“The Opera is called ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox,’ based on the Roald Dahl children’s book, ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox,’” Preisser said. “In the opera, I play the role of Farmer Bean, who is the bad guy. It’s kind of funny to win a Grammy for playing a cartoonish, villainous character, but anytime you get nominated (for) — and, gosh, any time you win — a Grammy is an amazing thing. It’s really kind of surreal and I’m just honored to be part of it.”

Growing up, Preisser was  a fan of singing and stage performing. He always was involved in singing and performing in the community through school and his church. During his high school career, the 2002 West Orange High graduate honed his skills in musical theater under the tutelage of former drama teacher Ken Rush. He also sharpened his singing voice under the instruction of choir teacher and fellow Grammy Award-winner Dr. Jeffery Redding, who still is at West Orange today.

“It was my teachers there at West Orange — Jeffery Redding and, at the time, Ken Rush — who really encouraged the possibility of studying music and theater at the next level,” Preisser said. “It was not on my radar, so a lot of credit goes to good educators, good music educators. … They really opened my eyes up to what the possibilities were.

“They instilled the right values in the students,” Preisser added of Redding and Rush. “We had standards. We had expectations. It was very professional — both the drama and choral departments.”

After graduating from West Orange, Preisser attended Florida State University, where he was introduced to the world of opera and majored in vocal performance. He then got a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Houston. From there, his music career took off and has taken him all over the country and the globe.

“I’ve been singing professionally for 11 years now,” Preisser said. “The nice thing about getting trained classically or trained in opera … I’ve been able to cross over to (other singing roles). … I’ve done my fair share of musical theater as well, which I love. I also do a lot of concert work. I just did a Christmas Pops concert with the Jacksonville Symphony singing all sorts of stuff like ‘White Christmas’ and ‘O Holy Night.’ I get to do it all, which is fun.”