The renowned singer Jessye Norman passed away on September 30th of this year. In her fascinating memoir Stand Up Straight and Sing she says something about how much she loved the month of September- in part because it was the month in which she was born, and also because September is also a time when many new ventures and adventures (like school years or performance seasons for musical ensembles and theatrical companies) are beginning anew. In the air, there might be a sense that the cold of winter is right around the corner, but for the arts it is a time in the year when one can be (and certainly ought to be) intensely aware of exciting new possibilities. And certainly for me, September 2019 represented all of that and more.
September means the start of a brand new school year all across the country, including Carthage College, and I am so glad that I volunteered to be one of the faculty who was on campus to help greet our new freshmen and their families as they came to campus on Sunday, September 1st. That busy moving-in day used to be interrupted by a rather formal event at 12 noon to which attendance was pretty much required. Our incoming freshmen and any loved ones with them were politely yet firmly ushered into the arena for a New Student Convocation with the faculty entering in a stately procession dressed in full academic regalia. That fairly serious ceremony has given way to something much lighter and less formal in tone- and while there are things about the ‘old’ convocation that I very much miss, I do appreciate the joyousness and warmth of this newly-conceived event – and it was tremendously fun to be in much closer proximity to the freshmen and their families rather than viewing them from afar … and one could not help but be caught up in the electric excitement in that room.
Speaking of electric excitement, I began this school year with a roster of 18 voice students that included NINE new students (eight freshmen plus an upperclassmen who wants to add a music major and begin formal vocal training) – more than twice as many new students as I had last year. That infusion of ‘newness’ has energized me in ways that I did not fully anticipate. Each of these nine new students is, in a sense, their own special and unique adventure for me – and the process of getting to know each one of them, inside and out, and sorting out how best to relate with them, has been great fun. At the same time, I am also tremendously grateful for the gifted and passionate upperclassmen who are with me as well – including a couple of fifth-year seniors who have obviously been with me for quite some time. The farewells in the spring at graduation are the hardest part about teaching- but the happy welcomes of the fall make those farewells bearable. In fact, it is that natural process of releasing students into the world while welcoming new ones into the fold that makes the teacher’s experience feel a bit like the healthy circulation of blood through the body. And in that respect, my voice studio feels especially healthy at the moment – and I feel like an especially healthy teacher, as a result.
<This is 16 of my 18 voice students, including all 9 of my new students.>
One week after the freshmen were welcomed to campus and five days after classes began, I presented a faculty lecture-recital titled “There is Nothing Like … My Favorite Things: A Celebration of South Pacific and “The Sound of Music.” I chose to highlight two important landmarks in musical theater history- the 70th anniversary of the Broadway premiere of South Pacific and the 60th anniversary of The Sound of Music. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable undertakings of my Carthage career – although it was challenging to decide what to sing (and what to leave out) and to figure out what I should say and how I should say it. Anybody who knows me well will not be surprised to hear that as of a half hour before the recital, I was still uncertain as to exactly what songs I would sing or in what order. Fortunately, it worked out well in the end- and it was a tremendous pleasure to talk about these two great shows and to offer up some highlights from them. The original cast album of South Pacific was one of the very first Broadway albums I purchased, back in college, and I still have nearly every moment of it committed to memory. And although “Some Enchanted Evening” is the song from the show that I have sung most often over the years (and love very much), there is a special place in my heart for “Younger than Springtime,” which was the first big solo I got to sing back at Luther during my freshman year- and more than forty years later, it’s the song that thrills me above all others. As for The Sound of Music, it’s the first movie I can remember seeing in the theater (I was five years old) and my love of the show resonates from a place very deep within my soul.
What made the recital an especially rich joy for me was that involved some very special collaborations. One was with my upperclassmen voice students who joined me in a spirited performance of “There is nothing like a dame.” I deeply appreciated how energetically they threw themselves into this song- which most of them did not know at all before I invited them to join me.
I was also able to persuade Kathy to join me in a couple of moments from South Pacific – the rollicking “I’m in love with a Wonderful Guy” as well as the highly poignant “Twin Soliloquies,” which is the closest that Emile and Nellie come to singing an actual love duet in the show. (Mary Martin, the original Nellie, told Rodgers & Hammerstein that she would only do the show if she never had to join opera singer Ezio Pinza, her Emile, in a duet …. convinced – and perhaps rightly – that such a duet between two such different singers would not work out very well.) It’s one of my favorite moments in any R&H show, and to get to sing this with Kathy was an extra-special treat.
Then there was the matter of the Two Nieces – Aidan Spencer (Randi’s oldest daughter) and Lorelai Amborn (Polly’s daughter) – nieces from two different family trees, who had scarcely ever even met before the recital. But they created magic- Aidan as Maria and Lorelai standing in for the von Trapp children. Aidan, a tremendously accomplished singer, was born to perform the role of Maria, and I dearly hope that she gets to do that someday. Her performances of “The Sound of Music” and “I’ve Got Confidence” were a tantalizing hint of how beautifully suited she would be for the role.
As for Lorelai, I created some amusing business in which Aidan invites her up to the stage (after Lorelai grouses about how long the recital is and how loudly her Uncle sings – “but at least he isn’t singing opera”) to have Lorelai teach her how to sing in “Do Re Mi.” (Probably the single funniest line was when Lorelai protested that she didn’t know how to sing because “my mom doesn’t really like music.” The loudest laughter in the room was from everybody who knew full well that Lorelai’s mom is the choir director at Tremper High School.) They did a great job together, as I knew they would.
They reunited a few minutes later to sing “Edelweiss,” with Aidan on guitar and Lorelai playing the ukulele that her grandpa Bob gave her (and taught her how to play.) I think every heart in the room was bursting at that point – but especially the heart of her grandpa, who was sitting just a few feet away in the front row. My dad and Sonja were there as well, so there were actually two proud grandfathers sitting in that front row. Stir in Polly & Mark and Randi & Matt and you can well understand why this was such a heartwarming occasion for Kathy and why the tears were flowing freely!
I also need to mention the afternoon’s encore, or encores. It started with the world premiere of a little ditty of mine that started out with the words: “Burger King’s new vegetarian Whopper … Fresh kettle corn from our new popcorn popper … A piece of Saran Wrap that perfectly clings ….. these are a few of my favorite things.” Once I had finished that, it was on to something I had eagerly awaited from the moment the recital began, as I invited the audience to join me in singing “The Sound of Music.” It sounded incredibly beautiful – but even more importantly, it felt so right, as though all of us were celebrating the precious gift of song that enriches our lives so much. I’m not sure I will ever forget the profound beauty of that moment.
Less than a week after my recital, I had the enormous pleasure of playing piano for a spectacular voice recital delivered by a former voice student of mine named Nick Huff – and his brilliantly talented fiancee, Keely Futterer. They met at Eastman School of Music, one of the country’s premiere music schools, and both of them have enjoyed some very impressive successes in their still young careers. One nice thing for me was that they sang repertoire from the bel canto era in which the fireworks are all delivered by the singers rather than the pianist – so I pretty much got to hang back and just listen and marvel at what these two were able to do. (The recital ended with what has become Nick’s big signature aria, “Ah mes amis” from Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, with its nine high C’s- which Nick tosses off like child’s play.) They sang the recital at a storefront space in downtown Kenosha called The Creative Space … and the intimate setting felt just right. And I appreciate how Dr. Eduardo Garcia-Novelli (conductor of the Carthage Choir) made a point of encouraging Carthage students to attend. There were quite a few of them there, and they were blown away. Frankly, so was I!
(I wish I had made a point of getting some photos shot that night to really capture the occasion. This photo that I snapped during our dress rehearsal is all I have.)
As if all that weren’t enough September pleasure, I also had the tremendous pleasure of directing the season-opening concert of Racine’s Belle Ensemble, the vocal group created by a former voice student of mine named Nick Barootian. They have offered up some truly exquisite and innovative programs over the five years of their existence, and this program “Echoes from the Abbey,” was no different. It was a program of music of the British Isles from the late 19th and early 20th century …. lush, romantic, expressive music …. some of it the sort of thing that might have been offered up for the people living in Downton Abby. (Nick planned the concert to coincide with the release of the Downton Abby film. He’s a smart one.) Nick actually approached me early in the summer when he realized that the date of this concert was going to fall uncomfortably close to his wife’s due date for their first child- and he asked if I would be willing to take the concert off of his hands. I would have probably said yes to anything he asked me to do, but it was easy to say yes to a concert featuring the kind of music I love. It ended up being a rich and varied program featuring eight extremely talented and capable young professional singers from southeastern Wisconsin, singing music of Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Quilter, Stanford and more. Working with them was a total joy – as well as the kind of challenge that any serious musician relishes.
We actually did the concert twice- not just at Holy Communion in Racine (a gorgeous space for this kind of music to be sung) but also at a Lutheran church in Evansville, WI that has just created a concert series. We had an enormous and enthusiastic audience, and even a huge (and very noisy) thunderstorm during the concert could not dampen our spirits. What a joy!
By the way, for as much as I loved pretty much every moment of the official program, in some ways my favorite part of the concert was when I led the audience in some group singing of great British, Irish, Scottish and Welsh hymns and songs – beginning with the magnificent Welsh hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” and ending with the Scottish classic “Auld lang syne.” It was a potent reminder for me that for as fun as it is to be in the spotlight as a soloist, the richest experiences of my life as a musician is when I am blessed to collaborate with others ….. and especially when that collaboration blurs the line between performers and audience and all of us together are tasting the matchless joys of music. It’s in moments like that, when an audience joins in the singing of “Auld lang syne” or “The Sound of Music” that it’s possible to believe that maybe we will find our way to a brighter and more loving future.