I’ve recently been asked for some audio samples of my singing. My response at that time was ample proof that I don’t sing much these days, given that I don’t believe there was a single online instance. All my significant singing predates a time when everything is recorded and posted immediately for the world to see and hear. As such, I don’t believe there are any videos of me singing, but at least I have had the foresight to record audio of some of my performances.
Graduate Voice Recital
Westminster Choir College, September 2000
This performance was given in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Music in Sacred Music with voice and choral conducting concentrations. My teacher at Westminster was Daniel Pratt. Our studio was blessed to enjoy the incredible talents of Kathy Shanklin, who accompanies me on this recording.
Mr. Pratt put me on a set nearly full of songs, which was very unusual for me at the time. As you’ll see in my senior recital, below, I had nearly no familiarity with solo song, a repertoire which, to this day, ends up lacking in my experience. Here, I performed a set of English songs, German Lieder, and a French set, before wrapping with Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel.
I required (and my teacher allowed) that I sing “O Isis und Osiris”, an aria which has been significant in my life dating back to my discovery of Mozart and the Magic Flute in my teenage years. This aria has featured on every performance I’ve ever given since then, and will continue to, if I ever dust off the larynx for a full recital in the future. There’s not a lot of solo literature that lets you drop in a low C. If you’ve got it, flaunt it. With this aging body of mine, that next hypothetical recital could support a low A, if I so wish. 🙂
Senior Voice Recital
Univeristy of Massachusetts Lowell, March 1999
This performance was given in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Bachelor of Music in voice performance. My teacher was Christopher McGahan, and my accompanist was Stephen E. Bacher.
The recital included works by Mendelssohn (Elijah), Buxtehude, and Bach as the opening set, all sacred works, as I prepared myself for my next phase, as a sacred music student. There was an opera section, highlighted here with an aria from Manon by Massenet. I’ll spare you the 22-year-old’s interpretation of the Kindertotenlieder. (I never understood the meaning behind this being my assigned stretch goal. Intense study certainly gave me a fond appreciation for the piece, but in its entirety, I wouldn’t call it web-worthy.) And finally, a charming set by Paul Bowles, the Blue Mountain Ballads.
An interesting side note happened that night. My life permanently changed in the most major and pleasing way, and not because of anything that happened on stage.
Post School Years
Following school, there were fewer opportunities for me to sing solos. Work and life pushed me in new directions, and I have found the satisfaction I’d expected following my dream of standing silently in front of a group, arms flailing, hoping singers will look at me. Additionally, in recent years, I have developed a strange, choking sensation when I sing even hymns on a Sunday morning. But, I’m always hoping that may disappear as quickly as it first appeared.
Here are a few rare instances of me singing since getting out of school in 2001. There’s one of the most charming ariosos ever found in Bach, from the St. Matthew, with Janet Miller accompanying at Nassau Presbyterian Church, Maundy Thursday, 2006. Also, a small Handel movement from the Dettingen Te Deum, which I selected for Easter 2015’s offering collection at Edwards Church, my current home base, with Don Buell, piano, and Chris Heater, trumpet. Hopefully there will be more files here in the future.
Public Speaking
I’ve also recently begun to express myself through sermons at Edwards Church. Here are the three I gave (one each in spring 2014 and 2015, and the summer of 2016). You can read the full texts on this site at those links.