OCEAN SPRINGS — After an Ocean Springs opera singer sings for the crowds in Europe, he plans a concert stateside to thank the friends, family and fans who made his “trip-of-a-lifetime” possible.

J.T. Anglin, 42, leaves for Austria today for a minimum of six weeks’ intensive training at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz. .

During his six weeks abroad, he’ll receive voice lessons, study with vocal coaches and perform often. “There’s about 30 different concerts scheduled,” he said.

He’s one of 100 singers invited, and the only participant representing Mississippi.

The cost of the program — $10,000 — was a deterrent for the middle school choir director, but he appealed to the public for help and they showered him with generosity, he said.

“This is something that I could have never done by myself,” he said. “This definitely shows what a wonderful community the Mississippi Gulf Coast is.”

The timing is a drawback as well because when he returns Aug. 17, he will have missed the first two weeks of school — an absence approved by the Ocean Springs School Board last month.

Anglin sees his trip as a learning experience for his students as well. They see him achieving goals and reaching for his dreams.

“I want them know that you don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something, because you can do it. I’m living proof of that,” he said. “This is a pipe dream. I never thought I’d get to do it.”

There is a chance he’ll be offered a 12-month contract as a house tenor, the “golden ticket,” he called it. It means Anglin would sing for an opera house whenever they needed a tenor for performances, he said.

He might also be offered a season contract, which means he’d come home and live and work, but travel to Europe to perform with various opera houses when needed.

He started singing about the same time most boys’ voices change. His debut was on the stage at First Church of the Nazarene, which was in Pascagoula at the time.

Thirty-years later he’ll be singing southern spirituals on the other side of the Atlantic.

Anglin recalled his amusement when institute directors announced a special concert on the schedule and asked the Mississippi-born singer if he knew any southern spirituals. “I said, ‘You’re kidding, right?’ I’ll have to show them how it’s done.”