Gregg Smith, New York Series Concert
It was a beautiful blue, cloudless sky in July, the kind of day we live for here in the Pacific North West. I sat on my balcony listening to the tinkle of wind chimes and the omnipresent hum of traffic on the city streets. None-the-less, on this fine summer day, I was still numb and reeling from hearing the news that my teacher, mentor and friend, Gregg Smith, had died the week before. I am still adjusting to the fact that this dear person who was so important in my life and musical career is no longer with us. Every once in a while there is a moment of realization that one has done something “just right” in life. The times I chose to devote to singing with Gregg Smith were just right, a right choice for which I am thankful.
It all started in the Fall of 1965 when I started my second semester as a music, voice student, at Ithaca College in New York State. I transferred to Ithaca in January of my Freshman year. I had not majored in music the previous semester before transferring. The second semester at Ithaca had been rocky enough that I was considering leaving. The only classes I really loved were my voice lessons and choir. It was Gregg’s first year of teaching at Ithaca. The Ithaca campus is high on South Hill, well away from downtown Ithaca. One Friday night a friend and I were on the shuttle bus, waiting to go downtown; Gregg Smith got on the bus and sat behind us. He started talking to me and Invited me to join concert choir and go to Europe the next summer. After I told him I was thinking of leaving, he offered help with school if I needed it and also offered to hire me to sing with his professional singers (Gregg Smith Singers) if I decided to leave. My life changed direction at that moment. I went straight to a telephone booth (no cell phones then) and called my parents and told them I was staying at Ithaca. That pretty much sums up how my relationship with Gregg continued over the years. After college I was a ringer (substitute) if Gregg needed someone to sub for tours when a regular singer could not go. I started singing again regularly with him in 1990, first summers at the Adirondack Festival of American Music (AFAM), then full time, singing tours of the US, Mexico, Russia, Finland,and Italy, as well as the New York City concert series.
When I moved to California in 1998, I thought singing with the Gregg Smith Singers had come to an end. But no, I once again substituted when a fellow alto was taken ill. I was honored to be invited back to the summer festival, AFAM, in 2006; this would be the last summer of the festival. As circumstances turned out, I also continued to sing the New York concert series until the last official concert. I never dreamed I would continue to commute thousands of miles to sing with GSS. The truth is, many of us continued to sing because of our love for Gregg and love of singing the challenging repertoire he programmed, American music and that of living composers. My breath is taken away when I think of the opportunites I experienced over all these years of working with Gregg, the adventures of travel, singing Stravinsky with Stravinsky and Robert Craft conducting, singing with Dave Brubeck’s trio, singing in Wales, England, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Finland as well as Mexico and across America. There was never a question of whether I would go sing, I just did it. I knew my heart was/is happiest when I can sing that very challenging repertoire with Gregg, the master he was. Now I am content knowing that at least this once I “got it right”.
In two weeks I will travel to New York City and attend a memorial remembering our dear friend, teacher, and mentor. I shall feel honored to sing some of that most remembered and loved repertoire, one more time!
Now I walk in beauty.
Beauty is before me.
Beauty is Behind me.
Above and Below me.
Navaho Prayer, Music by Gregg Smith
EXHALE-BREATHE-ONWARD