by Len Lear

Justin Hopkins, A Mt. Airy resident and rising star in the operatic firmament, will be a featured soloist at Wawa Welcome America events on the July 4 weekend that are expected to bring more than 100,000 visitors and local residents to see Justin and another featured soloist, Allison Blackwell of Wyndmoor (profiled in last week’s Local Life) perform.

Hopkins began singing at the age of 8 with the Philadelphia Boys Choir and Men’s Chorale. With the group in 1993, he performed Britten's “War Requiem” with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Wolfgang Sawallisch. A graduate of St. Joseph's Prep and Loyola University in New Orleans, Hopkins has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium; as a soloist with the United Europe Chamber Orchestra in Milan, Italy; in London with the BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Keith Lockhart; with the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland under the direction of Charles Dutoit, et al, and he has been featured on National Public Radio. In 2009 the Mt. Airy resident was requested to sing as the featured soloist for His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his visit to San Francisco. (Google his name, and you will read about Justin's many other performances in the world's most illustrious concert halls.)

“I was so thrilled when I was asked to perform on the July 4 weekend with the Philly Pops,” said Justin last week, “because I grew up watching the Philly Pops. I guess you have to go away to come back home.”

Although Hopkins is known for his rich bass-baritone voice and has won or been a finalist in several opera competitions, his upcoming performances with the Philly Pops — Sunday, July 3, 8 p.m., at Independence Hall, and Monday, July 4, 8:30 p.m., in front of the Art Museum of Philadelphia — will break new musical ground for him.

“This will be daunting,” he said, “because I am dipping my toes into the waters of Broadway and pop music. That is way outside the box for me. I will also be doing jazz standards, patriotic songs, Frank Sinatra and Broadway songs like a duet from ‘Ragtime’ called ‘Wheels of a Dream’ with Allison (Blackwell). It is definitely stretching me vocally. I’m on the lower end of the bass scale, and most Broadway songs are higher than what I am comfortable with, but I think my range can do it. I’m excited to know what the audience thinks.”

Another reason Justin was excited was that he was selected on his worldwide reputation and therefore did not have to audition. “I don’t know if anybody likes to audition,” he said. “I hate it. They should be able to see you perform online and determine if you are what they need. The audition process is fake in a way. It does not give the whole picture of how a person will perform.”

Despite the fact that Justin has traveled the world as an acclaimed soloist, he still lives with his parents in Mt. Airy when he comes back to Philly. Justin's dad, Dr. Kenneth Hopkins, is a retired psychologist who worked for the Philadelphia School District. Both of his parents are retired from the School District. They met as 4th and 5th grade teachers at T.M. Pierce School in the early '70s. His dad became a psychologist in the early '80s and his mom, Sherry, an administrator in the late '80s.

“My mother played classical piano at a fairly high level into her late teens,” said Justin, an only child. “In the late '80s she joined her sorority choir, AKA Omega Ensemble. I would go with her to rehearsals and rush to finish my homework so that I could listen along and memorize the songs.”

Justin wanted to make sure we mention both of his sets of grandparents, of whom he is extremely proud. “My dad’s dad, Lucius Hopkins, was in the Army during World War II. He is 94 now. My dad’s mom, Edythe, is now 89.”

His mom’s father, Thomas Jefferson Fields, was born in South Carolina in 1914. He and his wife, Elizabeth, lived at Chew and Upsal Streets in Mt. Airy right after World War II until they both died in 1998. Thomas was a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy and took part in many battles in the Pacific theater of World War II while on a cruiser, The Portland. (Justin’s father was also an Air Force man, starting his four-year stint in 1966.)

Fields and his wife are both buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery on Cheltenham Avenue, which is a coincidence of sorts because Justin used to work there. “It is one of my favorite places in the world,” he said. “In my earlier years, I would work summers as a groundskeeper at Ivy Hill Cemetery to supplement my wages. I loved that job. Today I may technically still be a 'starving artist,' but I am grateful to be able to make a full-time living performing.”

Justin is in great demand these days and has no shortage of eclectic performances all over the country. In January of this year he was at the Apollo Theater in New York workshopping a new hip-opera called “We Shall Not Be Moved” that was commissioned by Opera Philadelphia. In February he made his Lincoln Center debut singing Ricky Ian Gordon's “A Coffin in Egypt” starring the fabulous Frederica von Stade. He was back at Carnegie Hall in April performing “Repast” with pianist Bruce Levingston. He also gave a solo recital in Berkeley, California.

On Aug. 10, Justin will make his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Saratoga Springs, NY, as a “tentative soloist” and after that will perform in Brussels, Belgium, for the fourth time.

“Brussels is like my second home,” he said. “When the terrorism act happened recently in Brussels, it was as if it had happened here. I was worried about my friends there. That made me anxious to get back there to see my friends.”

For more information, visit www.justinhopkinsopera.com.