Ritorna vincitor

In a dedication to her late father, Dale Hart, spinto soprano Megan Marie Hart sings «Ritorna Vincitor» from «Aida» by Giuseppe Verdi.
Maestro Paolo Arrivabeni conducts the Staatsorchester Darmstadt.

DALE HART: October 9th, 1952 – May 23rd, 2021
My beloved father, Dale Hart, tragically passed away in May 2021 from complications of ALS. Dale was born in Los Angeles. He grew up playing baseball with his brother Roy, building go-carts, and racing motorcycles. He taught himself to sing, play the guitar, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. He married Claudia Carol Chambers, and they had me, Megan Marie Hart. Our house was always filled with music. He worked for many years as a metallurgical engineer, and later he bought a farm in Oregon. There he worked for Genesis Juice and became co-owner and plant manager. Although he and Claudia got divorced, they remained good friends and co-parents. With his life-partner until his death, Kathy Ann Rice, he loved to go sailing, kayaking and river rafting, and she called him her “King of the Farm.”

He was such a proud father to me. He spent my childhood coaching my softball team, taking me on father-daughter ski trips every year, telling epic hilarious bedtime stories (he had a great sense of humor), driving me to all of my ice skating/piano/violin/voice lessons and orchestra rehearsals, and he encouraged me in all of my dreams. He was the most supportive dad. He traveled all over Europe and the United States to see me sing.

He began to experience devastating symptoms of ALS in 2020. ALS is one of the most terrifying diseases known to mankind, and through it all, he was incredibly brave. Selfless and noble to the very end, he asked that his body be donated to advance ALS research, so his brain and spinal cord were shared between four institutions: the OHSU Brain Bank, another private ALS research center in Oregon, Massachusetts General Hospital's Healey Center for ALS, and an international ALS brain bank, where scientists all over the world can access his data to find a cure. He wanted, despite his monumental suffering, to give back to the world and to help others in the fight to end ALS.

On his death-bed, I told him I was going to sing in a concert in July, and I told him I would dedicate my performance to him and asked him what he would like me to sing. He wanted me to sing Aida — it was the last role he had seen me sing at the very beginning of the pandemic. How fitting that he would ask me to sing an aria that is all about the love Aida has for her father. Although she is torn by her love of Radamès, in the end she chooses her dad. I promised him I would sing it, and said that I would never let the world forget him. When they took his tube out, and he began to pass, he asked me to sing to him, and I sang him arias from Tosca, La bohème, and La forza del destino. I sang to him until his final breath.

When a loved one dies, it can feel important to speak their name. It is a way of keeping their memory alive. For me, speaking his name to the audience was so empowering. As I sang, I felt his presence all around me. It was difficult to remain vocally calm as I sang, but I know he was there helping me to get through it. The audience was supportive, granting him a moment of silence at the very end of the aria, for which I felt incredibly thankful. I knew they understood.

I hope you all enjoy this performance, and take a moment to remember my father. If you would like, you can raise a glass of scotch to him (it was his favorite drink). For the rest of my life, I will devote myself to fighting ALS, and offer everything I have — my voice — to raise money and awareness for research.

To learn more about what you can do: ALS Association at
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