I have been teaching at Carthage College since 1991, and in those 22 years I am absolutely certain that there has never been a day like yesterday, when four recitals – yes, four recitals – were presented …. at 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, and 7:30. It was a veritable feast of fine music-making, a staggering celebration of what our gifted students are capable of doing, and also a powerful reminder for me and a lot of other people of what a community of musicians looks like and feels like and means. It was an extraordinary day, and the phrase “you had to be there” comes to mind… but I hope what I write here will give you a hint of what the day was like if you weren‘t here to experience it yourself. And if you were there, I hope what I say here will remind you of what a great day it was, and maybe give you something to think about.
1:00- The Junior Voice Recital of Mike Anderle and Nick Huff- Talk about beginning the day with a bang! This was a groundbreaking recital unlike any that had ever been sung or played before …. and I don’t just mean at Carthage. I strongly suspect that no one anywhere has ever presented a recital quite like this one. And for me to be a part of it, both as teacher of these two young men and as their piano accompanist, is a privilege and pleasure I cannot even weigh. I go back quite a ways with both of these guys. Nick has been my voice student since the middle of his high school years, and I have taught Mike since the end of middle school- so by now, we know each other incredibly well, to the point where it’s impossible to know where our teacher/student relationship ends and our friendship begins. These guys are spectacularly talented … but in some ways it is their passion and commitment to excellence that is even more spectacular. And certainly this recital was the very embodiment of that passion. These guys left no stone unturned in making this a recital to remember!
To begin with, they sang an incredible array of repertoire that began with the baroque master Georg Frederic Handel (in three excerpts from his oratorio Samson) and ended with the twentieth century genius Benjamin Britten (with striking excerpts from his operas Peter Grimes and Billy Budd.) And in between, they sang two opera arias by Mozart, sampled the German art songs of Beethoven/Schubert/Schumann, celebrated the music of bel canto masters Donizetti/Bellini/ Rossini, and confronted three challenging excerpts from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers. And they sang all of this with astonishing excellence, and even managed to sing several of these pieces better than they’d ever sung them before.
What was especially gratifying to me was to see both Mike and Nick sing with such extraordinary expressiveness – inspired, I am sure, by the people who filled that recital hall and who were listening with such rapt intensity. As Nick began the recital with the aria “Total Eclipse,” you could feel the anguish of Samson as he cursed the blindness which he had brought upon himself by succumbing to the wiles of Delilah. We felt Samson’s anguish because Nick made it his own. And the recital ended with Mike as the young sailor Billy Budd, awaiting his execution, reaching deep into his soul to turn from despair to face impending death with courage and confidence . . . moving many of us to tears by his heartfelt and commanding performance. It was a recital that was about so much more than just beautiful sounds; it was about some of the most expressive, heartfelt singing that I’ve ever witnessed on that stage.
And on top of all of the excellence demonstrated, there was also the sense of joy and fun and innovation which was a hallmark of this recital at every turn. The guys decided to have “freshments” before and during the recital, to make people feel even more welcome. They wrote a very humorous pre-curtain speech for me to read, which served not only to entertain everyone there but also had the more important effect of making people realize that this was a recital to enjoy, not endure. And towards that end, the recital was done with projected supertitles like you would see in any major opera house, with English translations of every foreign language text that was sung. Those titles took an incredible amount of time to put together, and I salute both Nick and his gifted younger brother Michael for making that happen. (There was a frightening moment during the intermission, when Michael – who operated the titles during the actual recital, realized that some kind of technical glitch was preventing him from loading up the titles for the second half. But the Huff Brothers worked furiously and were able to resolve the problem.) The recital included a surprise encore, penned by Nick and Mike (with a little help from me) in which they reaffirmed their love of opera in hilarious words set to the melody of “Popular” from the musical Wicked. And once the last of the applause had died away, there was a splendid reception in the lobby of Siebert Chapel where we all got to gather and celebrate what we had just experienced together: one of the most noteworthy recitals ever given at Carthage.
3:00 – It would have been the easiest thing in the world for the music theater recital at 3 to be but an afterthought after what had just ensued. But Morgan Diaz and Seles Van Huss delivered an exciting and innovative recital of their own, accompanied by my brilliant colleague Dimitri Shapovalov. You knew it was going to be an out-of-the-ordinary recital the minute you walked into the recital hall and saw the chairs- which had been in standard formation for Nick and Mike’s recital- arranged in an interesting array of clumps pointed in different directions It made for a very informal setting that nicely fit their wide-ranging program, which even included one song involving audience participation. It was such fun and a job well done by these gifted young singers and their fine accompanist. By the way, I was fighting a terrible cough that afternoon (which fortunately hadn’t been much of a factor during Nick and Mike’s recital) so I enjoyed the recital from the outside hallway, where I also stripped duct tape off of some of the cords that had been used in the earlier recital. (This was easily the most glamorous moment of the day for me ….. lol.) Anyway, Morgan and Seles and their collaborating musicians are to be congratulated for a job very very well done.
5:00 – This recital I had to miss, because this was my only chance to slip home, clear my head and catch my breath before returning to play for that evening’s recital. I was sorry to miss what I later heard was a spectacular program played by one of our piano majors, Katie Dolata. One interesting aspect of her story: Her teacher, Debbie Maslowski, was sidelined earlier in the semester with a detached retina. (I understand that she has made a good recovery.) She told me later that she was able to take two lessons each from Dimitri and from Dr. James Ripley (not a pianist, but our director of instrumental activities and a crackerjack musician) …. played for Jane Livingston’s studio class to get feedback there …. and for various peers who were happy to give of their time. (She was also able to take one lesson from Dr. Maslowski during her absence – via Skype! How cool is that?) I love that Katie showed such firm resolve and that so many people stepped in to help her any way that they could. Carthage is that kind of community, and it made me even prouder to be a small part of that community.
(It’s certainly worth mentioning that, in addition to all of the recitals, Carthage was the site of a special Estill Voice Conference which was supposed to be hosted by our dept. chair and voice coordinator, Corinne Ness. Sadly, Corinnne was called away with a family emergency – and another voice teacher, Lorian Schwaber, stepped in to take care of the hosting duties and also looked in on the various recitals. That’s the Carthage Way.)
7:30- This extraordinary day ended on the happiest of notes with the joint junior voice recital of two of our music theater majors, Lizzie Calombaris and Fletcher Paulsen. (Fletcher studies both with me and Corinne.) It was wall-to-wall Rodgers and Hammerstein, with music from Oklahoma, State Fair, Carousel, Allegro, South Pacific, Cinderella, Flower Drum Song and The Sound of Music. (Nothing from my favorite R&H show, The King and I, but I’m trying to get over it.) What a glorious time. These two singers were ridiculously well-prepared, which means you get to actually have fun – and you also don’t have to settle for “satisfactory” and can aim for “sublime.”
There were plenty of sublime moments in this recital, including Fletcher’s exquisite singing of one of my all time favorite songs, “You are Beautiful” from Flower Drum Song. Fletcher and I also got to sing a fun little duet from State Fair which honors the great state of Iowa…. but as well as we sang, we couldn’t compare with the lovely performance by Lizzie and Nick Huff of “When the children are asleep” from Carousel. (How cool is it that Nick was willing to contribute to someone else’s recital on the same day as his own? Again, that’s the kind of place Carthage is.) There were all kinds of other great things on this recital, but have to make special mention of Fletcher’s dynamic performance of Billy’s Soliloquy from Carousel. This is the scene in which the rough but well-meaning Billy Bigelow tries to come to terms with the bewildering news that he’s going to be a father. It’s a tour de force for any baritone, and I know that from experience, having sung it more than once with the Racine Symphony. Fletcher not only sang it well – but actually managed to embody this character who is nothing like himself. I can’t think of anything more exciting than to witness a singer achieve that level of excellence.
I’m almost done! Two more quick things. . . (sorry. It’s hard for me to turn off the faucet when I get this excited)
First I have to tell you about an amusing moment when, amidst all of the glory of the day, I was given an unexpected slice of Humble Pie. I won’t say after which recital it was that someone (a relative or family friend of one of the singers) came up to me, drew me into a hug, and began whispering into my ear. What I was expecting to hear was something like “you don’t know what a difference you’ve made in xxx’s life” or “xxx could never have sung this recital without you.” But what they actually said was . . .
“You play too loud.”
I’m not sure whether or not I managed to disguise my shock- but it’s not like I could disagree with them. When I get excited, I write 99-page blog entries …. and I play the piano too loudly. What can I say? Guilty as charged. 🙂
Finally- There were a couple of moments during Nick and Mike’s recital when I got a little teary …. for all kinds of reasons that I won’t get into here …. but the moment when I really had a huge lump in my throat and tears in my eyes was during the evening recital when Fletcher was joined by soprano Liz Tindall in a medley from Cinderella. I was already feeling a bit tender-hearted because this medley (my own arrangement) actually dates from my own junior voice recital a hundred years ago when I sang these songs with my wonderful classmate Annette Kirkpatrick. Moreover, my brother Steve sang the role of the Prince at Atlantic High School, and after we moved to Wisconsin in 1980, my sister Randi sang the role of Cinderella in her high school in Orfordville. So this show means a lot to me. And hearing Fletcher and Liz sing these great songs so beautifully was very moving, in and of itself. But what really got to me was when I looked over my shoulder as Liz moved stage right for the solo “In my own little corner.” As I looked over my shoulder at her, I couldn’t help but notice the students sitting in the front row, who were watching and listening as if their lives depended on it – their eyes absolutely glued to Liz, taking in every tiny detail of her beautiful performance. Desiree Gonzalez is the student I saw most clearly, but I could tell that every one of those front row students was listening with similar rapt intensity. And as I saw Desiree and her schoolmates, I just felt myself starting to cry – because what better gift can one give to your fellow musicians then to so gratefully and attentively receive what they’re sharing with you? And isn’t that exactly what it means to be part of such a community of musicians?
One of many splendid gifts shared and celebrated on this extraordinary day . . .
pictured above: I snapped this photo during the 3:00 recital of Morgan and Seles. As I understand that, the printed programs were color coordinated, and whatever color your particular program was determined in what section of the audience you were to sit. They wanted to split people up from the people they came with, so people were more likely to end up next to someone they barely knew or knew not at all. What a fascinating idea!