INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — One of Indy's newest ear, nose and throat doctors has an interesting specialty. Dr. Ben Anthony specializes in singers, more specifically: opera singers.
One of his patients said he understands the voice more than just basic physiology. He speaks the opera language.
That's because Dr. Anthony was once an aspiring opera singer himself.
"In high school, I started thinking, 'this is what I want to do when I got to college. I really want to be a singer, and I want to study classically, and I want to try to make a run for a career in singing.'"
That took his dad by surprise because Dr. Paul Anthony is not a singer. He's a radiation oncologist.
"He was very supportive," the son said of his dad.
"You've got to pursue your passion," said Paul.
Ben did just that by studying both music and medicine at Northwestern.
"I made a very honest and hard effort to try to get a professional singer career going," said Ben.
But now he's helping other professional singers resurrect their careers by coming up with vocal solutions that doctors without singing experience might miss.
"He was able to drill down and to find some things wrong with me physiologically that other doctors had missed for almost a decade," said Mario Cuomo.
At IU Health, Ben gets the opportunity to work alongside his dad, which Paul loves. "The real fun thing is he'll say, 'Hey Dad, you wanna come over and have lunch?' And that's like a dream come true."
But it wasn't just the memorable moments with dad that made Ben give up music for medicine. Just like in any great opera, it was love that changed his life forever.
Ben and his wife Juliana fell in love on stage while performing at Northwestern during their freshman year.
"We had a 'showmance' is what they call it," said Ben. "That was what solidified it," added Juliana. "Then we were an item."
But after they started dating, Juliana started having problems with her singing voice.
"She was terrified that she was going to come to the doctor and they were going to find something wrong with her voice and tell her, 'You can't do what you've been training to do,'" said Ben.
"I know from living in that world when something happens it is extremely helpful for someone to be able to be empathetic," said Juliana.
And while Ben was at the doctor's office with Juliana, he had what he calls a life changing "A-ha Moment."
"I was looking at all the stuff he [the doctor] was doing, and I just said, I can do this! You know, I'd never really known that that specialty existed like that. And that somebody could be a physician who just took care of singers and people with problems of the larynx. And I discovered that that was possible, I was like, 'Yeah! That's what I want to do!'"
"You feel like a useless entity when you can't use your voice, and you're a professional voice user, period," said Juliana.
So Ben enrolled in medical school and went from singing to treating singers. He said while it's hard work, it has been very rewarding.
"I'm proud of him as a doctor," Juliana said. "I love him as a person."
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