When speaking to Jacques Snyman, two things are immediately noticeable: his masculine, sexy British accent and his amazing, muscled physique.
But it's what you can't see or hear immediately that brings the sexy former Rugby player to Tampa for the Tampa Bay Bears' Monkey Suit Ball on Oct. 1″his counter tenor voice and his operatic abilities.
“A reaction from a lot of people is that they find it strange,” Snyman says from his home in Fort Lauderdale. “First they're surprised that I can sing, second they're surprised I sing opera, and last they're surprised I can sing this high. They say I'm different, and I quite like that. I don't fit the norm.”
The handsome performer is a certified personal trainer”or in England, a Master Trainer, which means he teaches personal trainers. It wasn't until 2009 when the 38-year-old discovered his talent for high notes when he returned to his native South Africa and joined a choir. There, the conductor of that choir suggested he reach for the stars, musically.
“He words were, “How bloody high can you sing?'” Snyman recalls. “I told him, “I don't know.' There was this guy on the piano and he'd hit a note and then I'd hit it. I kept going higher and higher. That's when the conductor said, “My God, that's what you're supposed to be doing.'”
Soon after that first experience, Snyman found himself singing a solo in a concert that was originally written for a soprano. After his video was seen in London, he relocated to study under Brian Parsons of the Conservatory de Lyon in 2010. He studied, but since many opera classes have an age cap of 32, Snyman decided to relocate to Fort Lauderdale, where he is currently studying the fundamentals of music and other core curriculum.
While Snyman has always been a fan of music and opera”his grandmother was an opera singer”he has many interests.
“I've got the new Lady Gaga album”I love her,” says the single musclebear. “She's one of those people who doesn't care what people think and that's what it's supposed to be about. We worry too much about others' opinions of us.”
He's also a seasoned athlete who began training as a gymnast at the age of 6. He also excelled in cricket, rugby, soccer, track and field and swimming. Eventually, his size limited his gymnastics performances so he focused on rugby, where his size and speed were an advantage.
He then discovered track and field, where he was a long-jumper and, eventually, a decathlete.
“One day, for the first time, I hurled the javelin,” he recalls. “It just went far”really far.”
Snyman was chosen to represent the South African national team in gymnastics, rugby and track and field, but was sometimes prevented from competing internationally because of the isolation of South Africa due to Apartheid.
He competed in the Gay Games in Chicago in 2006 and won four gold medals.
Most of Snyman's athletic accomplishments are listed in his bio, provided on his website. The highly competitive and successful athlete is surprisingly humble, but very determined.
“I don't like talking about myself,” Snyman says over the phone. “It's difficult. I enjoy sports and I enjoyed the long jump, until I broke my back.”
Snyman says that he broke part of a vertebrae during a jumping accident and for awhile, he wasn't sure if he'd walk again.
“My coach visited me in the hospital and asked me what I was going to do if I was paralyzed,” Snyman says. “I told him that I'd go to the Paralympic Games and win a medal. You can't let things get you down and life is about coming back from disappointment.”
That's could explain the singer's passion for anti-bullying programs. He says his YouTube singing performances receive feedback from young LGBT teens who thank him for showing his successes as an out, gay man. It's an opportunity, he says, to make a difference in the lives of people he'll never get to meet in person.
With his arrival in the United States, Snyman sees his performance career as a new beginning. He continues to train”hard”in the gym, but he's also focused on making quite a name for himself on the performance circuit. He plans to sing for 30 minutes or more at the Monkey Suit Masquerade Charity Ball at the Westshore Wyndham Hotel in downtown Tampa.
After his performance here, he'll travel to San Francisco to perform with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus.
“I'm not saying I'm the next big opera star or anything like that,” Snyman says. “It's nothing to do with that. But I do know I have this ability to sing and make people sit up because of how I look and what I sound like. I want to use this as an opportunity to make a difference”to make my mark. I think everyone wants the opportunity to do that in their life.”
Tickets to the Monkey Suit Masquerade Charity Ball are $60 and available online at MonkeySuitBall.com. For more information on Snyman, visit his website at Jacquesvsnyman.com.
S+H
WHO: Jacques Snyman
WHAT: Monkey Suit Masquerade Charity Ball
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 1
WHERE: Westshore Wyndham Hotel, Downtown Tampa
TICKETS: MonkeySuitBall.com
