Yesterday was our second and final day of voice juries at Carthage- and for long-time colleague Richard Sjoerdsma it was essentially the very end of his teaching career (38 years) at Carthage. All of us, including Dr. Sjoerdsma, have been wondering both out loud and quietly to ourselves what that moment would feel like when the very last student jury finished and Dr Sj finished writing out his last comment sheet. I was anxious that this moment not be left to awkward silence, so I shared with my colleagues this idea- that when the last student was done and it was just the six voice teachers left in the recital hall, I would start playing the introduction to Franz Schubert’s famous song “An die Musik” a remarkable ode to the capacity of music to brighten the many gray hours of our earthly existence – and the five of us, his voice colleagues, would sing it for him. This piece means an awful lot to Dr Sj, partly because of its own intrinsic beauty- but also because it has been something of a theme song for Lambda Kappa, our music fraternity, for whom he was advisor for many years. (For the farewell concert honoring Dr Sj, it was sung beautifully by Aaron Steckman, and composer Mattias Kern wrote a piece for the concert which included the Schubert as one major theme.) It has also become a treasured tradition that it be sung as part of the opening ceremonies for every national NATS convention. . . and you can’t imagine what it sounds like when one thousand voice teachers from across the country join together in that song.
Well, we weren’t a thousand singers- we were five (I’m pretty sure Dr Sjoerdsma just listened) but we did a mighty fine job of choking back our tears and singing this piece for our colleague in gratitude for all he has given to the school and to the department – and singing also in gratitude for this thing called Music which fills our lives with such beauty and splendor. And it really was a touching moment- a perfect moment- in which music said a whole lot more than any of us could have said ourselves in any kind of speech.
By the way, I tried to make sure that this did not appear to be my idea, per se, but something we all did. I didn’t say anything from the piano, but simply starting playing the music – and then as if by magic, lyric sheets (which I had quietly had brought up earlier in the day) were passed amongst the teachers, although they probably didn’t need them, and away we went. But I tried not to make it seem like this was my doing. But today as I was bringing some opera scores out of his office and into mine, he asked me point blank if that had been my idea and I felt like I had to say so at that point, and he replied that he wasn’t surprised. It really pleased me that this seemed to him like a Greg Berg idea – and he told all five of us yesterday at dinner that he will probably never listen to that song the same way again.
Ah, dinner- That was so much fun. One reason I thought the Schubert would be a good idea is that it might actually give Dr Sj a chance to have a really emotional moment at Carthage- and that maybe our dinner together at Charcoal Grille and Rotisserie (also my idea- I guess i was on a roll this week) would maybe feel a little more celebratory and less like a wake. And indeed, that’s what it was; actually, it was just the right blend of fun and poignant (as his farewell banquet had been.) And it reinforced for me what a great unit we are . . . Amy, my good friend and former office mate, who is now the elder statesperson of the group, having taught there a couple of years longer than me- and having also graduated from Carthage – – – Corinne, who in seven years has already transformed much of what we do with her extraordinary organizational skills, and her love for musical theater- – – Nancy Henninger, a veteran on the opera stages of Europe for a quarter of a century, now back in the Midwest (she grew up in Freeport, Illinois) and teaching at Carthage with great distinction – – – and the newcomer of the group, Sarah Gorke, who sang under me in the Carthage Choir and Chamber Singers before going off for her Masters degree at Roosevelt University, having just completed a very successful first semester of teaching. We are a fine group- each with our own strengths and personalities – and just sitting around that table at the restaurant, swapping stories, listening, laughing, made me just so happy and so grateful that life has taken me to this point and to this place. . . has given me such an esteemed colleague in Richard Sjoerdsma, from whom I have learned so much. . .has given me these other colleagues who are so accomplished and so much fun . . . and has allowed me to have music be such an integral part of my life.
Not that it’s all glory – not that it’s all pleasant. There were enough reminders of that – especially in the singing of a couple of different students of mine who walked into their juries not adequately prepared – and boy, did it show! And there is also the unhappy situation of a student of mine who is transferring to another school next year- and who still has not bothered to tell me about it. (I found out in a roundabout way from others.) This is a student to whom I’ve given a lot of myself and they have grown tremendously – but they have decided not to return to Carthage in the fall, AND without saying a single word about it to me. I am hurt and more than a little mad, but that’s also part of this business. Voice teachers are so vulnerable; that’s maybe the hardest part of the work. And my hat goes off to Dr Sjoerdsma weathering similar sorts of hurts and other kinds of trials over the course of almost forty years.
Of course, we do hang in there for those great students who give us great moments, and I really had my share this time around.. A freshman student of mine really hit the ball out of the park on Monday – another upper classman (a fifth year senior, actually) sang what may very well have been his best jury at Carthage – and yesterday, another of my upper classmen sang so well that Dr Sjoerdsma- for the only time in the two days- did not just say “thank you” but rather “I have to tell you, Bryan, that this performance represents some truly inspiring growth in you.” Those words might not seem like a big deal as you read them off the screen, but when spoken by someone like Dr Sjoerdsma with SUCH exacting standards, they are as exciting as a Fourth of July parade. In this case, these words were spoken about a singer who – when he came to Carthage – had all kinds of intonation problems and seemed incapable of cracking so much as a hint of a smile when he sang. In three years, he has become one of our best singers on campus – light years ahead of where he was. That’s why we do this. . . for the Trevors and the Aarons, the Andrews and Bryans, the Anthonys and Nicks. . . .for the joy of hearing them sing better than even they ever thought they could – and it’s because of something we said or did. It’s hard to imagine a more gratifying legacy to leave than that.
Pictured above- the Carthage voice faculty right after our farewell dinner with Dr. Sjoerdsma. front: Sarah Gorke and Dr. Sj – back: GB, Amy Haines, Corinne Ness, Nancy Henninger.