Today was the day that the morning show was devoted to composer Glenn Burleigh, a gifted African American composer who died quite unexpectedly back in December. It was way back in 1990 that the Racine Choral Arts Society (back then known as the Racine Symphonic Chorus) sang his wonderful gospel-flavored Alpha Mass to enormous acclaim – – – the first of many wonderful collaborations which occurred over the years between Burleigh and various choral groups in the area.
Joining me in the studio today were two really strong figures in the music community- Dr. James Kinchen, the director of choral activities at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside – and James Schatzman, founder and director of the Choral Arts Society – both good friends of Glenn Burleigh and tireless champions of his music. The two of them have put together a memorial concert this Sunday afternoon, and that was the immediate reason for them coming on the morning show. And they really outdid themselves, speaking so eloquently and devotedly about their late friend and what made him such a special musician and human being. They talked about how gracious he was – so positive and affirming – so open-hearted in these collaborations. . . the easiest person in the world with whom to work. And even though his music seemed at a glance to be simple gospel music, in fact his works were carefully crafted and were an intriguing amalgamation of gospel and classical styles. And Burleigh himself was a crackerjack musician who was just as comfortable playing Mozart piano concertos with orchestra as he was doing his gospel music thing. I especially loved how comfortable he was regarding the matter of Race; he was someone who was tremendously proud of who he was and what and whom he came from – and yet he was not overly concerned about race nor prone tiptoe around it. I remember in particular a moment from my very first interview with him back in ‘90 or ’91 when I asked him about his childhood in Oklahoma and if music had been his main interest as he grew up. “Well first of all,” he said, “I probably need to say that I didn’t play basketball – which is always amazing to people because I’m a tall black guy. But it’s true.” We were about two minutes into our first interview and I can’t tell you how relaxed I became when he cracked that little joke. And that was such a Glenn Burleigh thing to say.
Today was about Glenn Burleigh, but I also feel like I want to acknowledge the two Jim’s who joined me in the studio today. Jim Kinchen is someone with whom I’ve had the great pleasure of collaborating in several different ways. We were fellow Kings together in the RSO Amahl and the Night Visitors a few years back – and I was KoKo to his Mikado with the Choral Arts Society. I have also soloed under his baton on a number of occasions- most notably a series of Messiah performances with the RSO in which I was saddled with a truly terrible cold. (It was so bad that I tried to cancel at least one of the performances, but there just wasn’t anyone else available on such short notice, and so in the best “the show must go on” tradition, I gritted my teeth and went on anyway. That run of Messiahs was especially interesting because we did one at St George’s Catholic Church in Kenosha, another in Burlington, and still another at a Black church in the heart of Milwaukee. It was also an interesting series of performances in that Dr Kinchen did the Messiah completely uncut, and also using all kinds of interesting variants which made every performance unlike the one before. Dr. Kinchen prides himself on doing things the right way – not the easy way.
Jim Schatzman is someone else with whom I’ve had the great pleasure of collaborating. I have lost count of all of the solo gigs I did with his groups over the years. . . including Mozart’s Regina Coeli, Vaughan Williams’ Hodie, Bach’s Easter Oratorio, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury – just to name a few. . . but more recently have collaborated with them as a composer. Jim is an interesting guy who created his own community choral group and has led them with great distinction despite the fact that he did not graduate from college with a music degree. But he has been a tireless student of choral music and really willed himself to become a truly impressive choral conductor. And like Jim Kinchen, this Jim has almost never chosen the easy way but rather the way which leads to the greatest benefit for all concerned. And Jim has gone out of his way to do things to reach out to the young people of Racine.
What a pleasure, then, to have these two Jim’s with me on today’s morning show. . . articulate and entirely heartfelt in their spoken tributes to Glenn Burleigh, someone who will he SO missed but who lives on in his music.