Connections & Reflections No. 21: BCS baritone John Buchanan reflects on his relationships to choirs.
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Always in the Choir
Some of my earliest musical experiences were in church. I was in every choir growing up and cantored regularly for mass. I had hymn numbers memorized and was best friends with every adult choir member by the time I was in high school. I held extra rehearsals with friends at my house, took piano and voice lessons, and toured music schools. In 2014, I began a Bachelor of Music in Voice at the IU Jacobs School of Music and studied with the supportive, patient—and funny—voice professor, Wolfgang Brendel.
The first time I felt the immense power a choir can produce came in my first semester at Jacobs. I was in a chorus of over one hundred performing Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. As a kid coming from a tiny high school with a tiny music program, I didn’t even know who Benjamin Britten was! I was so excited to pick up my score in the library, and when we met for our first rehearsal, I’ll never forget how all-encompassing our sound was. I was seated next to graduate students whose voices totally drowned out my own. It was intimidating and awesome all at once!
By my senior year it became clear I felt called to an administrative career, so I subsequently began a graduate degree in arts administration at IU. The first year of grad school, I sang for the holidays at home and at a couple of weddings, and even directed a musical project for the IU Center for Rural Engagement. I realized that for the first time since I was five, I was not in a choir. I was too busy to even notice I missed it until that summer, when I did an internship at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. There, I was constantly exposed to live performance and was so often right next to the stage, but never on it. That didn’t feel right.
Finding a new musical community with BCS
My second year of grad school (fall 2019) I knew I had to do something musical for myself. I enrolled in voice lessons with a doctoral student to keep my voice in shape and began searching for a choir. After a quick Google search, I realized I had seen some advertising from Bloomington Chamber Singers before. I signed up for an audition and tried my best to whip Homeward Bound into shape. I was a bit worried I had forgotten how to perform, so I thought it was best to keep it simple. Luckily, Gerry looked past my nerves and disastrous sight-singing demonstration, and I was able to join in September of 2019.
My very first concert with BCS was a celebration of the group’s fifty seasons. What a way to start! Soprano, friend of the choir, and my English diction professor in undergrad, Sylvia McNair was a guest soloist. We then gave a wonderful November concert featuring all sorts of works from Billy Joel to Monteverdi. I already loved the group, but it was the piece we started before quarantine that solidified my love for BCS.
Considering Matthew Shepard by Craig Hella Johnson, and other works focusing on social issues, demonstrate music’s power to communicate through emotion. I’m so proud to be part of a chorus that understands the need to use its platform to address injustices in our society. As a gay man from a rural place, it’s obvious to me that members of the LGBT community are still at risk of violence simply for being who they are. But not everyone knows about the experiences of members of our community. That’s the reason it’s so important to perform pieces that educate and begin a conversation with our audiences.
Bloomington Chamber Singers is a place to express myself musically after I went too long without music. I’m so grateful to all my fellow members for their warm and welcoming spirit. I’m a board member now and will continue working on new ways to fulfill our musical mission digitally. Even more, I’m looking forward to the day we can sing together again side by side.
Musical Offering
This is one performance that will always be special to me. It includes my very first solo, or rather duet, with BCS. I was intimidated to sing alongside Patrick Conklin’s gorgeous tenor after not singing in front of others for so long, but with some coaching from Gerry I’m proud of how it went. Please enjoy our recording of Monteverdi’s Hor che ’l ciel et la terra e ’l vento tace from Fall of 2019.
