Today was our last voice studio class of the semester, because next week will be departmental recital and the week after that will be juries. The last studio always makes me sad because it’s just about my favorite hour of the entire week- especially this semester because I have such a great group of guys right now. They’re good singers, they’re astute listeners, they’re fun without being rowdy, and they’re also really nice. And on top of all that, in studio class I really feel like I know what I’m doing- which is one of the best feelings in the world.
It was not only the last studio class of the semester- it was also the last studio class ever for fifth year senior Jamie Wilson. (Or is he a sixth or seventh years senior, by now? I lose track of such things.) Jamie has been around awhile and has studied private voice with me for most of his time at Carthage. But next semester he student teaches, and although he will be continuing with private voice (because he’s singing a recital in the spring) today was his last studio. So I made sure that he was the last singer of the hour, so he could have a special moment. Surprisingly, he walked up to the stage without any music. (Occasionally, people sing memorized pieces in studio, but not usually.) And then he announced that he wanted to sing for them a composition of mine, “Great and Glorious Light.” I had absolutely NO idea- and I’m still a little bit stunned that Jamie wanted to expend his last studio performance to a piece of mine. So we did it, right then and there, no rehearsal whatsoever. . . and when he finished, he was given a long and really rousing ovation. A sweet moment in several ways. . . sweet to see his colleagues applauding his good work so warmly, sweet that he likes this song of mine so much, sweet that we could do it together.
And that was just the tip of today’s musical iceberg. In the late afternoon was a run through of the Christmas Festival, and it was so exciting to get my first real taste of the whole concert. All the groups sounded well-prepared and the Carthage Choir really raised their singing a couple of notches today – and just sang with more heart and joy than they have since before Thanksgiving. By the way, I’d like to think that I contributed a tiny little sliver towards their good singing today. While they were out in the lobby, waiting to sing the second of their four pieces, I went around to various choir members to quiz them on their words. I started out by approaching kids who seemed to be horsing around a bit – and would just walk right up to them and say “last verse of the Rutter” and make them recite the words for me right then and there. And I was delighted to see that almost everyone knew whatever it was that I demanded of them. And I think that just that little bit of putting-them-on-the-spot review made them a bit more confident when they got up there to sing. So it was a good day for the Carthage Choir and everyone else. . . and it came on the heels of the news that all three performances are officially sold out. The Christmas Festival has never sold out this early in the week (they’ve been sold out since yesterday afternoon) and it’s nice to know that they’re going to be hearing and seeing something special.
If all that wasn’t enough music for one day, I also played for all of the Tremper High School choirs for tonight’s Christmas concert- and they did a glorious job. Highlights included the Chorale’s impassioned performance of “O Holy Night” and their really accomplished performance of my piece “The Winter and the Rose.” Everything went so well – and on top of the fine performances was also the pleasure of seeing Polly’s band colleagues, Ken Wiele and Lou Covelli, backstage – there to help any way they could. And when their band concerts come around, Polly is there with bells on, to return the favor. Everyone should be blessed with such fine colleagues.
And even that wasn’t the final music of the day. On my way out tonight, I plunked down $15 for the Christmas CD which the Tremper singers recorded back in big October. (You can read about it in my blog entry for October 18th.) I put it on as I drove away tonight and I could scarcely believe my ears. It was MAGNIFICENT! I wish I could say that it was all due to the magnificent organ playing of yours truly, but it was mostly due to the singers themselves, their capable director, and perhaps the best acoustics in the whole state of Wisconsin. It really sounded wonderful, and during the most exciting tracks of the CD, I got so excited that I started to speed. . . at one point driving 66 miles an hour in a 35 zone. When I’m driving, if I’m going to play music I really need to stick to stuff that bores me . . . like Haydn string quartets – or better yet, the indecipherable musical mumblings of Bob Dylan. (Of course, listening to Bob Dylan just might send me crashing into a telephone pole.)
At this past summer’s writing workshop at Carthage, Prof. Allan Wallace, in talking about his own childhood, talked about how he would often walk home from the library carrying a large stack of books- and that in those moments he actually felt RICH. I have to confess to a similar thought tonight, as I type these words about the day just completed. How could anyone whose life is filled with so much music not feel similarly RICH? Days like this make me feel like the richest man in town.
pictured: voice student Jamie Wilson in a studio class from last spring.