Some people jet off to exotic locales like Cancun or Key Biscayne for spring break, but the farthest I managed to get was Batavia, Illinois. The occasion was a happy one, however- because a former student of mine, Paul Marchese, is the new director of choirs at the high school there- and he had his Varsity Choir sing three of my compositions for his spring concert last Tuesday night. The initial request was for permission for them to sing my arrangement of Amazing Grace, but by the time the plans had been finalized I had also agreed to write a couple of entirely original things- an Irish Benediction and a lively romp about the legend of Saint Patrick. And as luck had it, their concert fell during Carthage’s spring break, which allowed me to head down the day of the concert to work with the students a second time. (I’d been down in early February during the brief break before second semester started, to introduce them to the pieces.)
And it turned out to be a great deal of fun. The students had learned the songs well (much to my relief) so it was time for polishing – and in the case of the lively Saint Patrick piece, I ended up adding an unexpected transposition into a higher key for the last time through the refrain, which acted almost like an extra dab of horseradish sauce for a spicier climax. Boy, they loved that- and I think they really saw it as a great compliment that I would trust them with such a last minute alteration in the piece.
The trickiest thing was that the rehearsal was on the risers in the hall where the concert would take place (in the cafeteria, actually) and they were perpetually distracted, as high schoolers often are under such circumstances, so I can’t say that we broke any records for productivity in those few minutes- but they had fun and I had fun and that’s what mattered the most. And Paul’s primary goal in bringing me in as he did was to give this particular choir (the “second” choir or “silver medalist” choir, if you know what I mean) something exciting to do – and I think that happened to some extent. In fact, one sign of what Paul was trying to do for this choir was that he broke rather drastically with tradition in starting that night’s concert with his top choir – and he ended the night with the second tier choir singing my pieces. Giving them that place of honor was a neat thing for him to do and I think at least most of them realized that this was something quite out of the ordinary.
Part of what made it such an interesting experience for me is that I was pretty much in a roomful of total strangers, aside from Paul. . . I really don’t find myself in that situation very often at all, anymore. . . and that in and of itself was pretty cool. I realized that nobody in that audience knew that I watch superhero cartoons or that my car is usually a landfill on wheels or that I spend 90 percent of my waking hours with my shirt tail hanging out. All they knew was that I was one of Mr. Marchese’s past voice teachers and professors at Carthage College, and if I wasn’t expected to Walk On Water, there was some expectation at least that I would accomplish something out of the ordinary that night. And I would like to think that I did, or more accurately that we did.
It was actually a remarkably easy night for me- I got to be an interested audience member until the last three songs of the program. That meant watching Paul guide his various choirs through their paces – and I liked what I saw. I was especially impressed with how he managed to get some good singing out of his groups with the most limited gifts. He was not just up there beating time and impatiently waiting for them to finish so he could usher out his higher choirs with their superior skills. He was trying to draw the very best from each of his groups. . . something which has long been a hallmark of Polly’s work at Tremper. If you could sit where I sit for her concerts (onstage at the piano) and watch her as carefully as I do, you would not be able to tell from her stance or level of involvement what choir was on the risers at any given moment. Polly is there with the exact same level of intensity and involvement – with not the slightest trace of “wake me when its over” absent mindedness or disinterest. And because of that, you hear quality singing from every one of her choirs – that is to say, the highest quality of singing which each group is capable of delivering. And Paul already strikes me as that sort of director as well – a director who really really cares. And that’s of course the first step in developing young singers who also care.
Anyway, I felt fortunate indeed to have my three pieces sung as well as they were sung Tuesday night- and on my way out the door (I dashed off so I could see the end of the opera at the Lyric) a mom stopped me to tell me how much she loved my Amazing Grace. There is something especially delicious about a compliment when it comes from a complete stranger. And for me, the audience was comprised entirely of strangers- but the choir members actually felt like new friends.