Opera Singer Teresa Buchholz: From Farm to Fame, Iowa to New York

When a local girl made her transition to New York, with her possessions, eight years ago - she had only $40 left in her pocket and got by on credit cards for the first few months.

Teresa Buchholz, originally of Elkader, Ia., came home and performed an operatic recital for the local community at the Historic Elkader Opera House on February 17 and 18.

She had piano accompanist, Cathy Venable, New York, on board for the recital. Venable has been working Broadway recently and has been rehearsing with Brook Shields. Buchholz parents, Betty and Roger Buchholz, 508 High St. N.E. in Elkader, were also present for their daughter's performance.

Buchholz, is the perfect example of a small town girl who makes good in the big city; her achievements are a great inspiration to young people who dream of doing the same.

Buchholz started out at Central High School in Elkader in theater productions; she also took band and speech team.

"I was in the jazz band and in the Dixie land band," Buchholz said. "I was a bit of a music geek because whenever everybody else went to study hall to goof off, I had a pass to the music building, so I would go over there and practice, I played the oboe and studied piano," she explained.

The band that Buchholz was in was Tom Chandler's Dixie Land Band and she added that they were a kind of novelty act that played festivals and picnics.

The first show that she was in was when she was thirteen-years-old, it was Annie Get Your Gun,
"The Indians are coming," was the line that Buchholz remembers to be her only line in the production.
Buchholz graduated from the University of Northern Iowa, then went on to study at Indiana University (IU), noted for being one of the largest and most prestigious schools of music in the nation, and then she finally went to Yale University.