 "I was average, just average," he said.He began to experiment with singing in the countertenor range after reading a 1997 "New Yorker" profile of the countertenor David Daniels, whose early experiences seemed to mirror his own.In 1998 he attended the Music Academy of the West summer conservatory program, where Marilyn Horne, who knew of his work as a boy soprano, offered him sponsorship through the Marilyn Horne Foundation, an organization that works to develop new talent and preserve the art of song recital.