As Andrea Bocelli belts out his first tune to the Tampa Bay audience at the Amalie Arena this Thursday evening, medical student Michael Manasterski will be on stage alongside the classical solo musician. Manasterski, an amateur vocal artist, was one of several singers selected through the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay to support Bocelli in a back-up chorus. Manasterski is a fourth-year medical student in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine with plans to pursue his residency in psychiatry.
Manasterski moved to Tampa in 2007 to attend the University of South Florida, and sang in the USF Honors College chorus under former Dean, Dr. Stuart Silverman. He expressed the importance of the chance to be a part of this musically talented program to balance out his intense studies.
“I was grateful for the opportunity to pursue my interest in music while undergoing rigorous preparation for medical school,” Manasterski said. He successfully completed his undergraduate coursework and graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in biology, and later matriculated at USF.
During medical school, Manasterski found that despite the dramatically increased demands on his time, he felt the need to maintain strong connections to arts and culture to stay inspired. An important creative outlet was participating in the USF Health Chorus and Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Frazier Stevenson, former associate dean of undergraduate medical education.
In August 2015, Manasterski joined the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, an auditioned, highly select 150-voice volunteer chorus under the direction of Dr. James K. Bass. “I have performed in variety of concerts with them at the Tampa Theatre, the Straz Center, the Mahaffey, and Ruth Eckerd Hall,” Manasterski said.
He received the news about the Bocelli performance last month. “In January I received a forwarded email from the Straz indicating that they were seeking singers for a chorus to sing with Andrea Bocelli. I jumped at the chance and was fortunate enough to be selected.”
For Manasterski, performance is engrained in the core of his learning philosophy. “A foundation in the humanities is essential for aspiring physicians, because it helps us put our lives in the context of the vast tapestry of the human experience, and cultivates a nuanced worldview capable of engaging the ambiguities encountered in clinical practice.”
The Andre Bocelli concert will be at The Amalie Arena on Thursday, Feb. 11.
The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, including Manasterski, will be performing Brahms’ “A German Requiem” in March.
