Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 2, 1991 TAG: 9104020051
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Despite all this, she makes time each week for the one outside activity she hates to miss: singing.
In addition to her church choir, Adams is a member of the Roanoke Valley Choral Society. On Monday nights, she attends rehearsals at Virginia Heights Baptist Church under the direction of Jeff Sandborg.
What's surprising is not just that she can work it in, but that so many other Western Virginia residents can, too. The choral society has 110 singers, and it is just one of numerous places where those who love vocal music - even if they aren't trained singers - can put away their other cares and throw themselves into it.
"You set priorities," explains Adams, a soprano. "I love the music. I think it's challenging. It's rewarding. You just start off saying, `I am going to block out Monday nights.' Then you get a cassette tape and play it in the car all the time. That's my practice."
Jay Muscatello of Blacksburg is director of manufacturing for Fibercom in Roanoke. He is married and has three children, and he sings with the Blacksburg Master Chorale and in the chorus of the Southwest Virginia Opera in Roanoke.
"I can't live without it," the baritone says. "I just love it, and it's so different from what I do at work that it gives me a real break.
"Everything at work is so organized and structured, and I have to lead it. With the singing, I do what I'm told, and it's a different type of activity."
Adams and the choral society have tackled major works like Bach's B minor Mass. Muscatello has rehearsed over intensive six-week periods for operas that include "La Boheme" and "Die Fledermaus."
Preparing for such ambitious productions takes hours of listening, learning and worrying. But Adams and Muscatello say the payoff outweighs the anxiety - and even the letdown that inevitably follows a performance.
Others agree. The Blacksburg Master Chorale has about 70 members and puts on three concerts yearly. The Virginia Gentlemen, a barber shop group in Roanoke, has 50 active male singers. Thee Chorale Society at Smith Mountain Lake expects to have 50 to 70 singers for its salute to America and its military veterans on July 5.
Sixty to 70 people perform regularly with the Alleghany Highlands Chorale in Covington, and 50 to 65 do the same with the Rockbridge Chorus.
The Virginia Festival Singers, a new group, numbers about 70.
Few of these people are famous or even well-known for their singing. All have other things to do. Yet they dedicate themselves to the sometimes arduous process of creating art - whether it be show tunes and pop songs or choral masterworks.
"I like the process, the camaraderie," says Norrine Bailey Spencer, assistant dean of the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, who is an alto with the Master Chorale. "We commit two hours per week and go and learn challenging pieces. And it's a real community service."
For every person who actually sings, there must be many more who yearn to but lack the nerve to try out. The prospect of failing an audition can chill all but the most confident, or reckless, of candidates.
Chorus directors vary in their expectations and requirements. But they say in unison that, if you love music, can carry a tune and promise to make the commitment, they'll give you a chance.
"I look for dedicated people with a love for singing, a love of the arts and a dedication to the disciplines necessary to become choral singers," says Jettie Harris, who founded and directs Thee Chorale Society at Smith Mountain Lake. "This is not to say that they have to be degreed musicians." They don't even have to be able to read music.
Jeff Sandborg wants "a sturdy, functional voice" and a "reasonable ear" for Roanoke Valley Choral Society candidates. "I'll train them myself."
William McCorkle, the director of the Rockbridge Chorus, seeks "receptivity" and a willingness to focus with him on text - the better to communicate the beauty of the piece.
"Seldom do you find people who literally can't carry a tune and who couldn't contribute in some kind of choral group," says Stan Kingma, director of the Virginia Festival Singers.
"I tell people that most adults are very critical in their self-assessment about their skills. They hear so many professionals on the radio and television, and they think everybody in the world sings that good.
"Most people who sing are like most people who golf. We all aren't Arnold Palmer. It's the golf course and the game and the beautiful day that's fun."
What novices stand to gain for their bravery is exposure to a highly experienced director who just might teach them how to sing.
Consider some credentials:
Jettie Harris has a bachelor's degree in voice from Westminster Choir College and a master's in music education and choral conducting from Montclair State College in New Jersey.
William McCorkle is a graduate of Amherst College and the Yale School of Music. He studied in Paris for two years and was choral director at Amherst, when he and his group toured Asia, Africa and Europe.
Craig Fields, an assistant professor of music at Virginia Tech, has a master's degree from the California Institute of the Arts and sang professionally for 10 years, appearing in more than 800 opera productions in the United States and Europe.
Jeff Sandborg has his doctorate of musical arts in choral conducting from the University of Illinois-Urbana, Champaign. An associate professor of music at Roanoke College, he spent a year studying on a fellowship in Finland. In 1989 he directed the RVCS in the American premiere of Finnish composer Joonas Kokkonen's Requiem.
Stan Kingma founded and led the New Virginians at Virginia Tech and has directed state and national choruses for the Future Farmers of America, among other groups.
If you're contemplating a tryout, the best advantage you can have, other than extensive training and a brilliant voice, is to be a tenor.
"We always end up being short of tenors," Fields says.
"Tenors, I wish they grew on trees," Kingma says.
"We're always looking for tenors," Harris says, with a laugh. "Next in line are basses. Next in line are altos, and then sopranos. Every female in the world thinks she's a soprano. If she's not, she wishes she was, and she'll try and convince you she is."
by CNB