Gilfry began his studies at Fullerton as a music education and physics double-major. He dropped physics, realizing that it required too much math. But Tina, now a fifth-grade teacher at Caryn Elementary School in Etiwanda, says he is “a scientist at heart. Just for fun, he would go to the library and research fuel cells and alternative energy sources.”

Gordon Paine, professor of music, remembers Gilfry as a “young, gangly guy, who, when he opened his mouth, had this stunningly beautiful sound. But, as I learned very quickly, it wasn’t just sound. This is a very sharp guy, and it became clear to me the first time I ever heard him sing a solo, he did musical and expressive things with it that were far beyond the level of technique and level of artistry of most of our students. And he seemed to be born with it.”

Initially, Gilfry stubbornly stuck to his plan of becoming a music teacher. “I had these dreams of establishing a choral program like I had when I was growing up,” he says.

But the state of California was reeling from the impact of Proposition 13, passed in 1978, slashing many arts programs to balance its budget and meet voter mandates. At the same time, substitute teachers were in demand in some Orange County high schools, so Gilfry obtained an emergency permit, and immediately began teaching. “I would teach maybe one period of choir and five periods of everything else.”

What he hoped to accomplish in the classroom was so different from what he was doing that he ultimately gave up his dream and decided to pursue singing instead. Meanwhile, a last-minute request to fill in for an ailing singer in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito, led him to renowned French baritone Martial Singher, who became Gilfry’s vocal teacher for the next six years.

In addition, Gilfry accepted a scholarship in USC’s master program for vocal performance. All the while, he kept singing, traveling to different cities to perform.