The news site of Santa Barbara City College.

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The news site of Santa Barbara City College.

The Channels

The news site of Santa Barbara City College.

The Channels

The Boxer Who Sang Opera

Josh Schneyer is a passionate man.

He has been a City College English teacher for 10 years as well as owning a boxing club downtown and learning to sing opera.

He looks relaxed enough, as he sips his coffee at Santa Barbara Roasting Company, his well-defined biceps bursting out of the sleeves of his t-shirt.

Perhaps it’s the busy lifestyle that keeps him sane, or perhaps it is the option to beat the hell out of a punching bag on a regular basis.

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Schneyer was an undergraduate at the college of creative studies at UCSB.

He received a master’s in creative writing at Boston University.

“The college of creative studies sounded like a program tailored to people like me,” said Schneyer.

“I could study literature and not have to worry about all the general education requirements and all that jive I didn’t care about,” said Schneyer.

Schneyer is now teaching English 111, “Critical Thinking and Composition Through Literature.” He says it is his favorite class to teach.

“I like dealing with the ideas in literature,” said Schneyer

He says that being able to analyze and apply ideas is so important to enjoying college- level English.

“I like figuring out what is going on and dealing with that in the class. To me the analysis is working out those ideas and then being able to apply them,” he said.

“My hope in teaching is to take the academic notions and ideas out of it and make it something living. I want to make the literature and the ideas relevant because they are a part of my life,” said Schneyer

“School of course is ass-backwards because before it is entertainment they want you to treat it critically. You can’t treat it critically if you don’t have a response to it,” said Schneyer.

“My goal as a teacher is to pass on the idea that it is entertainment first and then through the entertainment come the ideas.”

Carolyn Fleg went to school with Schneyer. She has remained a lifelong friend since.

“Josh was very smart and very outspoken,” she said.

“He was pretty hot-tempered as a student, but he manages not to be as a teacher,” Fleg said.

“I think he is much kinder as a teacher.”

Fleg’s husband Jerry is also a good friend of Schneyer’s.

“He is one of the most interesting people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing,” he said.

“He has always got something critical to say, and he doesn’t just take the view of others.”

Schneyer is also the head coach and owner of a boxing club downtown.

He was a patron to the gym for many years, and then later a trainer. When the business went up for sale, Schneyer sought out the financial means to buy it.

“I never expected to be in the position of being a small-business owner or for that business to be a boxing club,” said Schneyer. “It’s been a tremendous decision for me and it’s worked out really well.”

Schneyer started boxing in his late teens.

After a few years of fighting in San Francisco he joined the military where he fought for four years.

“I got out [of the army] and I worked out on and off on my own, but apart from staying in shape, I thought it was a closed chapter in my life,” said Schneyer.

Schneyer says he still spars with his students at the club and works out all the time but he hasn’t competed since 1985.

Danielle Tupper is one of Schneyer’s boxing students and has been an amateur fighter for 3 years.

“Josh is absolutely amazing,” said Tupper. “He is my family, and I have always looked up to him.”

“He’s not just an awesome trainer, but an all around amazing guy,” said Tupper.

“My life is all teaching,” said Schneyer. “I guess I’m a windbag and it just gives me an opportunity to tell people what to do,” he said with a smile.

Another one of Schneyer’s loves is opera.

His mother was a traditional folk singer and he says he has been around music all his life.

His revelation about opera singing was in a most unusual location.

“I was actually sitting on the toilet and I had Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’ playing,” said Schneyer.

“There is this one aria by the lead bass of the opera and I had this strange realization that it was a song. The arias are songs.”

“That is when I thought to myself: ‘I want to do that.'”

Schneyer said he discovered that this was a much harder task than he thought.

Over the next few years he dedicated himself to taking lessons. He learned about vocalizing and the rudiments of the languages that he needed to sing.

After singing choruses in Albuquerque, he moved to Santa Barbara where he started to land small solo roles with the Santa Barbara Opera Company.

“The last one I did was in the ‘Barber of Seville’ about a year and a half ago, since then I haven’t had time. Having to go to rehearsals ’till midnight — it’s just not feasible right now,” said Schneyer.

“‘The marriage of Figaro’ and ‘Don Giovanni’ are my favorite pieces.”

When asked how he keeps all of his hobbies alive with such a busy schedule Schneyer replies philosophically.

“You just do it. You find things you want to do and you make time to do them. That’s what life is. It’s not about finding free time, it is about making use of the time you have,” he said.

“It’s funny, these things seem like contradictions to people: boxing, English and opera. To me, it’s just the process of living.”

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