Saturday was State Solo and Ensemble, and it’s actually not much of an exaggeration to say that it’s my favorite day of the year. . . like Christmas, my birthday, a family reunion and the Fourth of July rolled into one. It’s the one day of the year where I feel utterly and completely in my element – “in the zone” as the saying goes, because all I’m called upon to do all day long is what I do best – accompanying singers on the piano. I’m not asked to make the bed or defrost the refrigerator or any number of things for which I am undeniably inept. All I have to do is play the piano – and not Beethoven sonatas, but rather accompaniments that I know and love and (for the most part) can play in my sleep. And it’s really the one day of the year when I come close to feeling like a Knight in Shining Armor, as I rush from room to room – greeted each step of the way by a relieved and grateful singer and their parents and other fans. You can’t imagine what a kick it is to inspire smiles just by showing up, ready to play. That scenario played out for a total of 19 performers- 16 singers plus two flutists and a trumpeter. Something else that is WONDERFUL about State is that this is pretty much the cream of the crop- if you’ve made it from District to State, then you know what you’re doing, and it means that I spend almost no time at all gritting my teeth through a painful performance. These are good musicians, one and all – and some of them are splendid.
I almost felt like King Midas this year because basically every single person I played for did really well – and seven of the nineteen were given a special Exemplary Award that each judge is only allowed to give to a small handful of exceptional performers. It’s one step up from getting a “I” rating. That special distinction was given to Max, Aja, Aja, Jacey, Nick, Cassie, and Sydney . . . and I’m delighted to say that three of those musicians are private students of mine. And what a delight in each case, even with those where I was just the piano player and not the teacher, to see the judge reach for one of those famous and precious “pink slips.”
It was especially fun to see one of my seniors, Cassie Jordan, (who sings in Polly’s top choir) really hit it out of the park – and what made it even more delightful was that her judge was a former choral director of hers back when she sang in a children’s choir in Appleton. How fun for this judge to see and hear one of her former singers – whom she hadn’t seen or heard sing in eight years – deliver a searing, soaring performance of Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade.” (One of the toughest songs there is to sing.) It was also a joy to see a home school student of mine named Sydney deliver a truly heartbreaking performance of “Wishing you were somehow here again” from “Phantom of the Opera.” You could hear a pin drop in the room – and I had a lump in my throat the size of a refrigerator. Finally, it gave me joy upon joy upon joy to see my student Nick – just a freshman – sing “Gia’il sole dal Gange” with breathtaking beauty and expressiveness- and to see his mom with tears streaming down her cheeks. This whole music thing is largely new territory for this family which has been mostly into baseball and basketball and the like. They relish all this like it’s a wonderful new adventure- because that’s exactly what it is for them.
There were lots of other neat moments in this long, wonderful day – – – which began at 8:16 and ended at 3:55. There was a student of Polly’s I played for (singing Vaughan Williams’ “Whither must I Wander”) who inspired his judge to say, with all seriousness, “you are the finest high school singer I’ve heard in the last thirty years.” It was pretty amazing to be in the room when those words were spoken.
Another favorite moment: Right before my student Sydney sang her broadway solo, a lovely young lady from Racine who I knew from the RTG’s production of “Scrooge,” sang a very entertaining performance of “just you wait, Henry Higgins,” from “My Fair Lady.” And when she was done receiving her comments from her judge, rather than zipping out of the room with her parents in tow, like 99% of singers do, this young lady plopped herself down in a chair to listen to Sydney sing her solo- and this young lady just beamed from ear to ear as she listened. And afterwards, the two of them gave each other a big hug. (And they only met for the first time right before their performances, as they waited for the judge to return from lunch.) THIS is what contest is supposed to be about.
Yet another favorite moment: When my young student Nick was at the judge’s table, filling out his pink slip in order to receive his Exemplary Award – incredible for a freshman – his judge turned to me and say “And I have to thank you, Mr. Berg, for Nicholas Sluss-Rodionov!” I had never met this man before, but he recognized my name on my student’s entry form. It turns out that this guy is the director of music at the church in Milwaukee where Nic S-R, a wonderful bass who studied with me at Carthage and still does from time to time, is the organist. Talk about the music world being a small and incredibly inter-connected community.
And a last favorite moment: I heard a truly wonderful baritone from Racine’s Park High School sing a performance of “Vittoria, mio core” that was on a par with most of my Carthage voice students, aside from some mistakes in the Italian. Gorgeous voice – terrific natural musicianship. He was young- either a freshman or sophomore – a bespectacled African-American young man – with a big, easy smile and lots of charm. As he exited the room, I complimented him on his fine performance and added, almost in passing, “you must be studying with a really fine teacher.” He replied without missing a beat, “actually, we’re trying to find me a teacher.” The woman beside him, the choir director at Park, shook her head in agreement. So I introduced myself, met the young man’s guardian- and to make a long story short, it looks like I will become this young man’s voice teacher. That’s one nice thing about this business – that as the seniors graduate and move on to new things in new places, there are new youngsters who emerge, sometimes in the most surprising ways, to keep the circle going.
pictured above: Cassie Jordan in that excruciating moment before her performance, waiting for the judge to give her a nod to begin.