| Holden Madagame | |
| Birth Date: | 1990 |
| Alma Mater: | University of Michigan |
| Occupation: | Opera singer (tenor) |
| Years Active: | 2017– |
Holden Madagame (born 1990) is an American (Odawa) opera tenor and trans activist.[1] [2] [3]
Madagame attended the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he studied under the bass-baritone Stephen West. Initially trained as a mezzo soprano, he eventually became a tenor after transitioning.
In 2017, Madagame participated in the Glyndebourne Academy.[4] He has worked for companies including Passaggio Oper, Fulham Opera, Gerhart Hauptmann Theater in Görlitz, and the Brandenburgisches Konzertorchester.[5]
In 2019, he collaborated and starred in Good Country in Austin, Texas, an opera about the life of stagecoach driver Charley Parkhurst.[6]
Madagame provided voice-over work for the 2016 film The Florence Foster Jenkins Story.[7]
Madagame is a trans activist.[8] His YouTube channel features videos about various transgender topics.
When participating in the 2021 "Circle of Resilience" concert for Intermountain Opera Bozeman in Bozeman, Montana, Madagame produced a video educating the audience about Two-spirit people.[9]
Madagame was born in 1990. He is an Odawa Native American.
Madagame is a queer, transmasculine non-binary person.[10] He started hormone replacement therapy in 2015,[11] which had the side effect of altering his voice.[12]
Prior to transitioning Madagame was a mezzo soprano.[13] When considering whether or not to transition, Madagame was initially told that he "wouldn't be able to sing anymore professionally" due to the effects of testosterone on the voice.[13] He eventually contacted a singing teacher at the University of Michigan who suggested that as a result of the changes he might become a tenor, remarking "how exciting is that?"[13] His voice eventually settled into the tenor range, with Madagame remarking that his voice "is a completely different instrument", and that while he was a good student and had a lot of the same abilities, he was still "starting from the ground up".
As of 2021, he resides in Berlin, Germany.[11]