 After arriving they contacted one of Vera's former pupils, Thalia Sabanieeva, then a leading soprano at the Metropolitan Opera.She helped Cehanovsky get auditions with several companies, and he soon obtained work touring with Fortune Gallo's San Carlo Opera Company, mainly in small to midsized roles, from 1923 to 1926.In 1926 Cehanovsky auditioned for Artur Bodanzky, chief conductor of the German wing of the Metropolitan Opera, and was hired as a comprimario baritone after he heard him sing only two measures.