GRAMMY-nominated tenor Brian Giebler is no stranger to bringing powerful stories to life through music. Praised for his “lovely tone and deep expressivity” (The New York Times), Giebler has captivated audiences worldwide.
This summer, he returns to Oregon Bach Festival to reprise a deeply personal and profound role: Matthew Shepard in Considering Matthew Shepard. OBF artistic partner Craig Hella Johnson’s signature work, the oratorio honors the young man whose murder became a turning point in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.
In this Q&A, Giebler shares what it means to embody Shepard’s story, the emotional weight of the performance, and what he hopes audiences take away from this powerful work.
Q: What was your initial reaction when you were first approached to portray Matthew Shepard and what made you want to take on the role?
I was honored to be asked to take on such an important gay figure in history, but also nervous about how best to dig into such a project.
I wanted to take on the role because portraying a gay man on stage is important to me. I am proud to be a married, gay man with a beautiful son. Portraying Matt allows me to connect deeper with people who have come before me and made it possible for me to live my life open and proud.
Matt’s parents have done incredible work since he passed away. Matt’s family has fought hard for equality, acceptance, and understanding for the LGBTQ+ community. They’ve become international figures in the fight for equality and have made incredible progress, a journey they probably never expected their lives to take. That is why I was honored to take on the role of Matt.
Q: How do you prepare mentally and emotionally to portray a real person whose life and death carry such significant cultural and personal impact?
Having been trained in opera, I’m accustomed to playing a character. The information you have for your character is oftentimes limited to what’s in the score. Whereas, with a real person, you have their entire life—you have their history and the people who knew them as resources.
Given the international presence of this tragedy, there’s a lot of material out there about Matt. To prepare for the role, I spent a lot of time watching documentaries, news segments, interviews with his parents, and reading literature about Matt.
But I will say, you can do all that research, and then you must find your own way through it—all while trying to stay true to the memory of Matt that has been built by the people who loved him.
Q: What has been the most difficult moment or scene for you to portray, both emotionally and physically?
About 15 minutes into the show, we portray the moment Matt is brutally beaten and tied to a fence, and for me, that is the hardest moment of the entire show. It is incredibly difficult to allow myself to be vulnerable and portray the pain I can only imagine Matt went through on that evening, all while leaving much of it to the audience’s imagination.
The first time I met Matt’s parents, I knew they would be in the hall for the performance that night. Even though they worked with Craig Hella Johnson to help conceive the project and know the piece inside out, portraying that scene with them in the theater was incredibly difficult.
But you can’t tell Matt’s story without the tragedy that happened. For there to be light at the end of the tunnel, you must walk through the darkness.
Q: Matthew Shepard’s story is deeply emotional for many people. How do you navigate the pressure of doing justice to his legacy in your performance?
I don’t think I will ever do it justice. I’ll start by saying that. What I do hope is to bring authenticity to my performances. I hope to not only embody the beautiful, seemingly carefree, exuberant young man that he was, but also the pain I can only imagine he experienced.
There’s certainly a lot of pressure when it comes to that. But I hope to bring the message of the story to life in the way that Craig has envisioned it, rather than doing a biopic of Matt Shepard. That’s the wonderful thing about this story; it allows me to step in and out of his character in a way to bring both Brian and Matt to the stage.
Q: What do you hope the audience takes away from the performance at OBF this summer?
It’s, by far, not an easy subject matter, but it’s important to tell his story so that we learn from the hatred of other human beings and try to be better towards everyone. A little understanding and kindness towards others is something I pray and hope for. Not only is it a musical masterpiece with incredible singing, color of sound, and variety of styles, it’s also a piece that will leave you changed. I truly believe that if you know and learn about Matthew’s story, you have to walk out a different person, and hopefully we can spread more kindness and caring through his story in song.
Tickets for OBF’s June 28 performance of Considering Matthew Shepard are available below:
The performance is at 7:30 p.m. in Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. Join Craig Hella Johnson for a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m. in Silva. On Monday, June 23, join OBF at the Wildish Community Theater for a free screening of The Laramie Project, the 2002 film that explores the community reaction to Shepard’s murder.
LGBTQ+ Youth Resources
- Matthew Shepard Foundation matthewshepard.org
- The Trevor Project (crisis intervention for LGBTQ youth) thetrevorproject.org
- Matthew’s Place (Matthew Shepard Foundation site for LGBTQ youth) matthewsplace.com
- PFLAG (LGBTQ support group) community.pflag.org