Jason Duika’s Scot Speaker Event

KYLE SCHECK
PHOTOGRAPHER

JACK JONES
STAFF WRITER

2/17/2025

Earlier this month Alma College hosted speaker Jason Duika for their Scot speakers series. This series is a program through which Alma College hosts speakers of a variety of expertise to share their experiences with students and provide valuable insight into issues at hand and prevalent throughout life. 

Jason Duika, who spoke earlier this month at Alma, is a successful Opera singer and has worked with many different Opera companies across North America including West Bay Opera, Toledo Opera, Opera Mississippi and more. Duika has Tourette’s syndrome “which he describes as helping him persevere in this career

Dunika began speaking about Tourettes and how it affected him in 2012 as he began to see growth in his Opera career. After he was invited back to speak at commencement for his high school and his speech and singing were met by a standing ovation, Duika recognized his powerful purpose on the public stage.

“I realized I had more to do then just sing, not that that isn’t enough,” said Dunika. He went on to speak at Yale Medical School with fellow musician Nick Van Bloss in the Music and Tourette Symposium.

Duika notes that his Opera singing and singing in general has helped him manage his tourettes.

“When I was really struggling with TS and ticcing all the time, when I would sing it would stop, and would give me the most glorious reprieve,” said Dunika in an interview with The Tourette’s Association of America. However, he does say Opera did not come into his life until his later years.

Duika began his career by singing pop and jazz but says that Opera found him. This is a hard statement to deny when one sees him perform. He sang the lead in Verdi’s Nabucco with West Bay Opera in 2019 and received astoundingly excellent reviews. He also appeared as Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet with Toledo Opera and later sang in Carmen with Boheme Opera in New Jersey. 

Opera is not very popular in the United States in comparison to other arts or entertainment, but it nonetheless persists. The United States is the second largest performer of live opera in the world putting on 1,657 performances a year according to Operasense. This places it only behind Germany – at a whopping 6,795 performances a year.

“It’s very sad. We are every bit as important as a sports or acting celebrity,” said Duika regarding the lack of attention that Opera receives on the international spectrum.

Duika speaks to young individuals about his struggles and success and how important perseverance isto finding such success. “Let perseverance be your guide, and never give up,” said Duika, instilling a sense of resilience in his audiences. Duika makes his next appearance in Iolanta for the Tahoe Symphony on May 15th, 16th, and 18th.

Alma College runs a series of events covering different topics each year and occasionally when important events arise or they feel the need. For example, this past year, during the fall semester the college ran a series of Scots Speaker events themed around navigating change together. This next year will likely see the return of the series.

“Our world is changing faster and faster every day. Communities need to work together to navigate these changes, but we are more divided as a country than ever. Working across divisions requires understanding each other, but that seems harder every day” said the Alma College website.

Those interested should be sure to keep an eye out for any announcements about new speakers coming to Alma.