The singer Silvio Plata has been blind since cancer took his sight when he was only 18 months old. He has no memory of what it is to see. Instead, music has, in many ways, been his bridge to the world.
“Music is essential to me,” said Plata, a senior in the vocal performance program at the Frost School of Music who graduates in May. “Music is how I perceive others. I can’t say when I started loving music; it’s always been present and vital.”
Powered by his love of music and buoyed by the support of his family, his teachers, peers, and the administration at the Frost School and University of Miami, Plata has overcome his blindness to become an accomplished, passionate classical vocalist. His senior recital earlier this month brought many to tears.
In studying opera, Plata learned to analyze text, character, and context, and to identify with the characters he would express in song.
“In an opera, you have to understand not only the composer but the feeling and background of the character within the plot,” said Plata. “Understanding that character takes a lot of empathy and emotional maturity. You have to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, who may have a completely different life or values than you.”
Now the empathy, analytical skills, and resourcefulness that Plata has developed at the Frost School are empowering him as he prepares to pursue a new achievement: a law degree at the University of Miami School of Law, where he starts this August.
“I’ve always had a tremendous passion for writing, speaking, and advocacy, specifically disability advocacy,” said Plata. “I felt a need to have a voice in the society we live in to make it more disability-friendly. I want to bring more awareness to society as a whole and to the workplace, to make it more accessible to us.”
Vocal faculty member Sandra Lopez Neill has become close to Plata in the weekly private voice lessons she has given him throughout his time at the Frost School, adapting to his needs and going far beyond standard teaching methods. She used touch to show him how to use his diaphragm and vocal apparatus and correct his posture and breathing. She helped him learn to study from scores instead of learning by ear so that he could analyze songs himself, rather than imitating another’s interpretation. She created a way to teach him acting and physical performance skills, since he could not do the standard stagecraft course.
Lopez Neill praises Plata’s musicianship and dedication. “He’s so intelligent, so talented,” she said. “He loves to communicate and share with audiences; he’s a very sensitive performer. He has an incredible level of musicianship because he is so into his auditory sense. He’s so fine-tuned in his hearing and musical understanding that he delivered really nuanced performances at a very high level for his age.”
She has learned from her student. “For me, it’s also been a journey of discovery,” she said. “He is extraordinarily self-disciplined and very tenacious and determined to succeed.”
“One of his outstanding qualities is his kind, authentic spirit. He really cares for other people.”
Plata’s Nicaraguan parents have always supported his love of singing. As a little boy, he’d learn hits by popular singers like Carlos Vives or Chayanne, and in the car, he would say, “Turn off the radio—I’ll be the radio for this car ride.”
But he also got crucial help from community organizations. He began learning Braille and other skills when he was four at the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, where he later learned to read Braille musical notation at the only course of its kind in the country. Later he sang for one of his inspirations, the beloved blind tenor Andrea Bocelli, when the famous singer visited the Miami Lighthouse to get help with a new Braille device. At 5, Plata received a scholarship to study piano and voice at the Doral Conservatory and also learned to play guitar and drums. He fell in love with classical singing as he entered high school, when performances at the Miami Music Festival and winning a college scholarship at the Schmidt High School Vocal Competition encouraged him to apply to the Frost School, where he received a full scholarship.
At the same time, he was deeply involved in public service. He was in the Law Honor Society at his high school. He was featured in campaigns for United Way Miami and The Children’s Trust, the community nonprofit that helps children and families in Miami-Dade, and sang the national anthem at Miami Marlins, Miami Heat, and Miami Dolphins games. He served on missionary trips and musical and other outreach with his church and says his faith is “a cornerstone” for him.
He was inspired—and challenged—by the Frost School. “It was the first time I was focusing on music all the time, surrounded by people who share the same passion,” he said. “I grew tremendously.”
The school and the University’s Office of Disability Services ensure Plata had the support and resources he needed, getting a Braille printer and special software and assigning him a teaching assistant to help with visual tasks in class or learning music when Braille scores were not available in time.
Plata has performed in the Frost Opera Theater’s scene programs, with the Frost Symphonic Choir, and as a tenor solo in Handel’s Messiah at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. A highlight for him was singing the featured role of the magician Nika Magadoff in Frost Opera Theater’s production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera “The Consul” last November, where the stage director for opera Jeffrey Buchman added a part for a magician’s assistant, who enabled Plata to move around onstage and even perform magic tricks.
“I had a lot of knowledge about acting, but I’d never incorporated it so much,” Plata said. “I was able to trust the vocal mechanism I’d acquired but focus on the freedom I felt onstage and feeling expressive through my body. It took a lot of work with Jeffrey Buchman, and he was very supportive.”
Lopez Neill believes Plata will find a way to incorporate his musical training, discipline, and passions in the next stage of his life. “Silvio is trained to analyze text,” she said. “The argument of an aria prepares him to deliver consummate and convincing legal arguments. He can advocate for people with disabilities; he can be a mentor. To me, he is ideally suited to use the law and his musical abilities uniquely.”
Though he was nervous about starting a whole new course of study, Plata was reassured when he scored in the 93rd percentile on the LSAT. He plans to keep singing and taking lessons with Lopez Neill while he gets his law degree. “I’m excited for this new chapter,” he said. “It’s also a bittersweet transition. I’m starting over in a new environment, with new people.”
He is determined to keep music in his life. “My time at Frost has shown me I want to sing for the rest of my life,” he said. “And I’ll be right next door to Frost. If they need a tenor, I’ll be right here.”
