Carducci had music in his bloodlines

When he was in the first grade, Chris Carducci learned the fundamentals of singing and piano.\nTwenty years later, the experienced musician had earned his master's degree in voice performance and had performed in dozens of operas. At 28 years old, he was selected to study as an apprentice artist for the Central City Opera in Colorado this summer, covering the role of Mozart's Don Giovanni. He was hoping to perform the same role in the 2006-2007 IU Opera Theater season. Last Wednesday, Carducci auditioned for acceptance into the performer diploma program at IU's Jacobs School of Music.\n"He wanted to be the most famous opera singer that there was," said Barron Breland, one of Carducci's close friends who studied music with him.\nThe day after his audition for the performer diploma program, Carducci flew to West Lafayette for a rehearsal. The next morning, his friends and family received terrible news -- he would never have the opportunity to reach the goals he had set for himself.\n"He just wanted to be a professional musician," said Sam Spade, a music student who was friends with all five of the victims. "It was just something that was inherent in him. I could never see him doing anything else."\nThe news of the crash shocked Carducci's friends and family. Organizers canceled the West Lafayette performance and the School of Music canceled rehearsals. Mourners were left to reflect on Carducci's meaning in their lives.\n"I think he would have wanted us to remember him as just the giant character he was, both as a musician on stage and as this charismatic, hilarious friend," said Nathan Bick, a music student who lived with Carducci for two summers and described Carducci as his best friend.\nCarducci was born and raised in Monroe, Mich. His love for music was inspired by his family -- his brother is also a professional musician. \n"He was very loving to his family and friends," said Rolene West, Carducci's aunt. "He was so loving, so giving and cheerful. He loved music, and he was a great brother. He's just a great guy. He loved sports, but he loved classical music the most of anything."\nCarducci's father coached his high school football team, and Carducci was the quarterback. He loved sports, especially University of Michigan football and any Detroit teams. He was also an avid golfer.\n"He loved sports, but he loved music so much," Breland said. "That's not always the cool thing to do, to go from sports to music, but he loved it so much, and he just wanted to be a singer."\nAfter learning to play piano and to sing, Carducci picked up the trumpet in high school and performed in all the choirs. He finished his degree in music education at Bowling Green State University, but what he really wanted to do was perform.\nHe went on to receive a master of music in voice performance from IU's Jacobs School of Music.\n"He loved it there," said his brother Dave Carducci. "He had auditioned at other places and not gotten in. He said later that he was glad he didn't and went to IU."\nJan Harrington, chairman of the choral department at the School of Music, said he will never forget Carducci's voice and performance skills. He said a predominant memory of Carducci was seeing him perform a piece by Robert Schumann.\n"It was basically with piano and chorus, but there were lots of songs he sang by himself," said Harrington, who also considered himself a good friend of Carducci's. "We just sat there in amazement. I don't think I've ever heard anything more complete in its interpretation."\nAside from his music, Carducci was known for his unique sense of humor. He always referred to his roommate, Greg Brookes, as "Gregorio." Breland said Carducci had a knack for quick one-liners.\n"His timing was amazing," he said. "He could make this cricket noise with his mouth whenever somebody said something completely stupid. All of a sudden you would hear a cricket in the room."\nBrookes lived with Carducci for two years, and said one of his favorite pastimes was video games.\n"He loved PlayStation," Brookes said. "He would break his controller if he lost. I think he went through four or five controllers while we were living together."\nCarducci turned 28 last Tuesday. Every Tuesday night, he would go out with Breland and Bick for "Guys' Night Out," but the birthday had to be celebrated Monday so Carducci could be ready for his audition Wednesday.\n"We started doing 'Guys' Night Out' in the fall," Bick said. "It usually involved the Crazy Horse or The Alley Bar next door. We started doing it, then we just had to do it -- I mean, we gave it a name."\nBrookes said Carducci was very close friends with Robert Samels, one of the other victims of the crash. They went to Bowling Green together. This past Christmas, Samels' gift to Carducci was a Web site, www.chriscarducci.com. In the last few months, Carducci updated this site, providing news, photographs and a calender of events.\nIn Carducci's room in the apartment he shared with Brookes, several baseballs and footballs were strewn about to remind him of his love of sports. But on the other side of the room, a framed picture of the Metroplitan Opera hung above his bed.\n"He wanted to sing on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera," Brookes said. "That was his dream. He wanted to be a professional singer. That's what he wanted. He wanted to be the best"