BCS Connections and Reflections no. 17: Kathy Allen sang alto with BCS from 2011–2015. Her time with us also included service as a board member and as President.
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People Who Care About Getting it Right
My experience with BCS came at a later time in my life, a time of my return to Bloomington upon retirement. I had music experience, training from an early age, and spent many years in what is now called the Jacobs School of Music. However, returning to Bloomington was somewhat daunting to me. This was a school and a town where my music career was shaped. What would people think of my talents now?
When I arrived at the Unitarian Universalist Church to audition for BCS, there in a pew holding my application was a familiar face, a person I was sure didn’t even know my name, and yet one I recognized and admired from the music school many years ago: Gerry Sousa. He was smiling. He made me feel comfortable and asked me to sing. Then he stopped me. My heart sort of stopped, too. Then he said he’d heard all he needed; would I join? My heart started beating again :). Gerry was always smiling and always kind to me.
It was then that I began to realize the importance of what I’d done. I’d surrounded myself with people who loved to sing classical music. People who really cared about getting it right. Not the type who would show scorn for a wrong note you might hit, but instead, kind people who had come together to share music. I’d also been fortunate enough to have that same friendly guy stand in front of me with a baton. But this time, although it was a fun and laughing Gerry Sousa, it was also a serious director who was teaching music and its meaning. He never missed a chance to add some history of the composer and the composition.
I was fortunate to help on the BCS Board for a period of time. Lots of people worked very hard to put on two productions every year. This allowed me more interaction with all of the BCS members, who became my friends.
We sang those big classical pieces that I had missed so much. We added some newly composed and published pieces, too. All in all, we sang music of all periods that stretched both your vocal instrument as well as your mental capacities and yet filled your heart with awe and aching.
The above might seem to be a lot to have gained from one chamber chorus, but this one … this one was special, and I loved every year I could spend in it.
Musical Offering
I don't keep much recorded music anymore because streaming music is so easy to access, and to choose one or two favorite pieces of music is difficult. There can be no question that the music I listen to most is Pavarotti singing Nessun dorma. However, here are the two pieces I hum the most: Abendlied by Rheinberger and Fauré’s Requiem (36 minutes).
