That’s the Italian word “Fine” – pronounced “Fee-neh” – which is a musical term meaning “ending.” I remember as a youngster that I would occasionally see this at the end of the line in a piano piece I was playing and assumed that it was the English word “Fine” as in “You’re doing just fine! Keep going!” It was just the composer’s way of offering the piano player a little word of encouragement. Maybe I’m thinking of “Fine” in both respects- “fine” in the sense of the ending of another school year…. and for our seniors, the end of their undergraduate experience ….. and also “fine” as in “well done! Now keep going!” Here are some scattered reflections on the school year that is about to end. . .
HONORS: This past Sunday afternoon, the 15th of May, was Carthage’s most recent Honors Recital – and what a rich musical feast it was! Nine of our most talented music students offered up a varied program that was a lovely reflection of our department’s considerable strengths. Voice, winds, strings and piano were all represented, and when all nine musicians came out at the end for a group bow, it just reiterated what a fine recital it had been- perhaps our best yet.
Although I enjoyed each and every performance, I have to say a word about the three singers who were part of the proceedings. Senior Sean Kelly was one of my voice students when he first came to Carthage, but at some point he decided that he really wanted to focus his voice studies exclusively on musical theater and switched over to teachers who specialize in that. I still have the sweet email that Sean sent me at the time, hoping that I understood why he was making the change and thanking me for all I’d done for him. And especially over the course of that next year, Sean quite regularly would tell me how much he missed our voice lessons. For all I know he was just being polite, but I sure appreciated the sentiment. Sean sang three Stephen Sondheim songs and did a spectacular job with them; it just underscored how gifted he is – in addition to being incredibly sweet- and one of our hardest working music students.
Junior Olivia Wallace is the soprano whose serious throat infection necessitated the postponement of our performances of The Marriage of Figaro. (She was portraying Susanna, which is the largest role in the opera.) Fortunately, she was sufficiently recovered in time to sing our makeup Figaro performance on the 10th of May- and five days later, she sounded glorious in a performance of “Steal Me, Sweet Thief” from Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief as though nothing had ever been amiss.
Last and far from least was sophomore Austin Merschdorf, a voice student of mine who sang three songs about death by British composer Gerald Finzi – “Come Away, Death” – “To Joy” – and “Clock of the Years.” I knew that Austin was going to sing well, but I really wasn’t prepared for just how splendid this performance would be. Austin poured out some of the most beautiful tone I have ever heard from him- but much more importantly than that, he also sang with such rich expressiveness and musicality. This is one of the things that impresses me most about his singing, especially when I compare him to the kind of singer I was as a sophomore. When I was his age, I was still trying to figure out that there was more to singing than pouring out the biggest, richest sound I possibly could. Austin already knows that it’s about saying something- and every time he steps in front of an audience, he does that even better than the time before. One other thing that made Sunday’s performance by Austin so special is the fact that his mom, dad and younger brother- who had to miss his performance in Figaro five days earlier because they were all ill – were recovered by Sunday and were proudly sitting in the front row to savor every moment of Austin’s marvelous performance.
JURIES/STUDENTS: Monday and Tuesday were devoted to Voice Juries – and I hold the distinction of being the only faculty member who heard every single jury. (Everyone else had final exams to give or important meetings to attend or obligations at another school where they teach. But I had nothing else on my calendar at all, so I was there for the duration ….. from 9:30 in the morning until 5:30 or 5:45. They were long days but they were also wonderful days where we got to enjoy one fine performance after another. One aspect that was a bit exhausting was that we had quite a few students doing what’s known as Junior Standing. At the end of the sophomore year, a student is supposed to sing a double-length jury (four songs instead of two) after which we decide whether or not they can go ahead with their musical studies. It’s a pressure-packed gauntlet that a lot of students dread because if it goes badly enough, it can potentially mark the end of someone’s musical studies- although they’re always given a second chance, if need be. After each and every one of those junior standing auditions, the faculty jurists would talk about what we had just heard and what our collective rating should be: Pass with Distinction, Ordinary Pass, Marginal Pass, or Do Not Pass. We had at least a dozen of those, and they take a lot out of you because you’re having to very carefully evaluate how that student is doing, how far they have come, how far they might be able to go, etc. I was happy that two of my voice students doing Junior Standing- the aforementioned Austin Merscdorf as well as his classmate Matt Burton sang splendidly and emphatically passed. That’s always a nice moment, although it’s also sobering because it signals that their collegiate career at Carthage is half over (unless they stay past the end of their fourth year.) Where does that time go?
As I listened to my various students in this batch of juries, I realized that my group of guys this semester was one of the most varied groups I’ve ever taught. I certainly had some first-rate vocal performance majors who were great fun to teach- but I also had the pleasure to teaching a number of instrumental majors who also sing well; two who come to mind are trumpeter Nick Gonzales and tubist/harpist Karl Stefans, and they were both a joy to teach. I can think of another instrumentalist who was asked to take voice to strengthen his overall musicianship and it was good for me to work with someone who was pretty much a complete newcomer to the world of singing. And I also had several non-music majors who were a delightful addition to my studio: they include Matt Thome, who used to be a music major but whose college career has taken him in some spectacular new directions, but who still loves to sing … Michael Huff, the talented younger brother of Nick Huff, who is now at Eastman ….. Jon Engle, my lowest bass, who has found time to participate in opera workshop on more than one occasion … and a young man named DaQuawn Bruce whose story is a bit out of the ordinary. DaQuawn is a French major who heard about opera workshop from a friend of his and just sort of wandered in at the start of fall semester to see if he could somehow be a part of it. Well, he turned out to be a delightful addition and we ended up casting him as Antonio. And this semester, he decided to take private voice lessons as well and turned out to be one of my most energetic and enthusiastic students.
Juries are also when we begin to say goodbye to the seniors- and I had three of them this time around. Christian Aldridge is a double major in music and theater and it has been so much fun for me to teach someone who cares about the communicative powers of singing as much as Christian does – and whose gifts are so impressive. Joe Pettit is someone with all kinds of talent but who just hasn’t had any apparent hunger for the spotlight. But then he unleashed his talents in a wonderful senior recital which left me hoping that Joe will do as much singing from here on out as he possibly can. Finally, Peter Burch has been a busy double major in Psychology and Music, but I am so proud of Peter for the beautiful and challenging senior recital which he sang a few weeks ago. Technically speaking, neither Joe nor Peter had to sing a jury because their respective recitals fell so close to the end of the semester- but I insisted that they come by and sing one piece at least … if for no other reason than to have that moment where the circle finally closes.
JURIES/COLLEAGUES: For as much as juries are a celebration of our students and their accomplishments – first and foremost- I also find juries to be a rich reminder of how great it is to be part of such a sterling group of voice teachers. I work with colleagues who have tremendous experience and expertise- but also tons of heart, who care about their students and everything about their wellbeing. That actually played out pretty dramatically at one point when one of our students found that they were unable to sing their jury because of some deeply upsetting news that they had just received from home. As much as my heart broke in two for this student, I was just as moved by the compassion shown by their voice teacher, who could not have been kinder or more encouraging to the student in question. It was a truly beautiful moment. Less dramatic but just as meaningful were all the moments when we needed to deliberate about a particular student, how they were doing, and where they were likely headed. Again and again, I found myself feeling so thankful that I teach with such terrific colleagues.
I also found myself grateful that our department is such that everyone’s voice is heard and everyone’s perspective is valued – from the elders in the group like myself to those who have just completed their very first year with us. We can share our concerns- we can pose questions- we can admit to mistakes- we can be ourselves. We are also a varied group with varied teaching styles and approaches – and it is a scenario where we cooperate with one another in a way that doesn’t always happen in this business. I do not take any of that for granted.
GARBAGE: As if to underscore that last point, I spent a few minutes early Tuesday morning wrestling with the large garbage and recycling bins that are now being used in the village of Mount Pleasant. This was the first week we were to use them, so I was struggling to figure out exactly how and where they were to be placed – and also checking that what was in them had been stowed properly. As I was emptying a blue plastic bag of its bottles and cans (in this new system, the recyclables are not to be in plastic bags of any kind) and making quite a mess of it, I found myself feeling very grateful indeed that wrestling with garbage bins is not how I make my living. God bless those folks who do that – where would we be without them? – but I am so glad that my working hours are spent as they are, working with wonderful young musicians …. and alongside equally wonderful colleagues. I am blessed.
RELAX!: These last few days of the semester are stressful for our students (and for us as faculty, too!) but this year the music department offered something pretty neat for the very first time- complimentary massages from a licensed massage therapist named Amanda Rice, who is with Body Wise Wellness & Spa. As I walked through the lower level of the music building to grab something from my office, I found a group of students lined up to take advantage of this opportunity, and one of our voice students (also named Amanda) had just finished up and was thanking Amanda for doing such a spectacular job in helping her to relax. It was a really sweet sight. I have never been into massage, aside from an occasional back rub- so I can’t speak from experience to what this kind of thing means – but I love that I’m part of a music department that thinks about the whole person and tries to offer whatever is going to make a difference for the better- to help them do the best job they can possibly do.
Today is my first day with some actual breathing room in it – and it feels great …. if for no other reason than because I can actually stop and really think about all that has transpired over the last few days – and stop and say thanks for the many ways that I am blessed. I am especially mindful of the fact that these are difficult times for a lot of teachers, at just about every level- so I have never been as mindful as I am right now of the charmed existence I am enjoying right now. And if for some strange reason it were to end tomorrow, I would still count myself ridiculously blessed for all that I have been able to do here at Carthage.