Nathan Pacheco shares his story on God’s divine intervention and guidance throughout his career path
Classically trained tenor Nathan Pacheco received a BA in music in 2005 at BYU in Vocal Performance. He rose to fame through mentorship with Greek composer and pianist Yanni. Pacheco has released three albums since 2012 and has done two broadcast programs with PBS: Introducing Nathan Pacheco and Christmas with Nathan Pacheco.
“Is everyone doing okay this morning?” is the first thing Nathan Pacheco asked the audience at the 2021 Alumni Award Lecture in the Harris Fine Arts Center. His warmth and love for BYU could be felt through his personable conversation with the audience and genuine concern for everyone’s well-being.
Pacheco enlightened students and guests with a rendition of a beautiful Italian love song and then proceeded to share his testimony and story of the lessons he has learned throughout his professional journey.
He took the audience back in time to his own experience as a young adult studying at BYU, trying to figure out what path to take in regards to his education and career.
Pacheco related a story from when he was a senior studying at BYU in 2004. Elder Holland visited the campus and gave a devotional that forever changed the course of Pacheco’s career. “He said something that I think about every single day: ‘God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams,'” Pacheco said.
Elder Holland’s words touched his heart that day as he proceeded to take a leap of faith and pursue his own musical dreams.
“I was living my dream, said Pacheco. “And yet, the best part of my day was going back to my hotel room [and] talking to Katie on the phone.” He related how he eventually married his sweetheart, Katie Pacheco. The couple now has three children together.
Pacheco found that while fulfilling his dreams of singing around the world brought him joy, he realized his desires had shifted to wanting an eternal family. He shared with the audience that this new dream and refocus helped him learn more about God’s love and his plan for his children.
Pacheco then shared five lessons that he’s learned about involving God in his career.
Lesson 1: Consistency
The first lesson Pacheco shared is that being consistent in positive personal habits leads to growth and progress in one’s dedicated passion. He said, “Whatever you want to be good at, whatever it may be, spend time with it every single day and over a long time it will become second nature to you, it will become a part of who you are.”
“Consistency is such a simple lesson,” he said. “I find it so fascinating that small and simple things really do bring great things when done consistently.”
Lesson 2: Perfectionism is the greatest enemy
Pacheco shared a vulnerable moment of how his battle with perfectionism led him to a difficult time in both his personal and professional life. “Perfectionism, in my opinion, and from what I’ve experienced, is the antithesis to true progress and happiness,” he said.
He continued, “We think that focusing so much on becoming a better person doing this and doing that, of course, that’s good, but when taken to the extreme, and most importantly, when taking our focus off of Christ, we actually have a selfish mentality. We’re focused so much on ourselves [that] we fail to love ourselves and we fail to love people.”
Lesson 3: Take risks
Another lesson he learned when doubting his talent is that the Lord makes up for what we lack. He reminded the audience that miracles come after the trial of our faith. “I was not confident in my abilities,” Pacheco shared. “I had to show up and perform and so I took those leaps of faith.”
Pacheco encouraged those in the audience to believe that God will help them even when their dreams seem impossible because God will honor their faith.
Lesson 4: Grass is not always greener
The fourth lesson Pacheco shared is that “there is no grass on the other side. We have to plant it just like everything else and there is always a wilderness to cross through before we reach our promised land.”
Pacheco emphasized how everyone goes through lows and highs, but the important part is to keep going.
Lesson 5: Use an “Emotional First Aid Kit”
The last lesson Pacheco shared was having an “emotional first aid kit” handy. He said, “If you’re an artist, you’ve probably recognized that you experience the highs and the lows to an extreme degree and sometimes the lows can be pretty intense.”
He explained to the audience that having a “kit” or a plan on how to process these emotions will help with taking care of themselves.
Pacheco encouraged the students, faculty, and staff to involve God in their individual journeys with his concluding words: “When you are depressed and want to turn back, turn and refocus on the Lord.”