Opening the Marilyn Perkins - Memorial Hall

I was privileged to be able to make some remarks at the opening of the Marilyn Perkins - Memorial Hall in Scarboro United Church this past weekend.  Some of you who read this blog were there so feel free to skip it. Others, I know, wanted to be there but weren't able to. I thought you folks might be interested in what I said. It was a great evening and the hall was filled to capacity with people who knew Marilyn over the years or who came to celebrate the official opening of this wonderful new space. There were people in wheel chairs and with walkers, people who were in their 90's, people who came from out of town to pay their respects and celebrate the legacy of their former teacher. There were children and young people who are completely at home in the hall although they never met Marilyn. Sorry I don't have any photos of the actual event.  I inadvertently left my phone at home.

Good evening and once again, welcome. Since Marilyn’s death I’ve been the keeper of many of her personal papers and I’m pleased say that her papers now have a permanent home in the library here at Scarboro United Church. In organizing this material the word that surfaced most often in my mind was ‘giving.’ The stories of what and how Marilyn gave are legion. Some of you knew Marilyn longer and better than I did and I hope you will tell many Marilyn stories during tonight’s celebration. As is the way with stories someone has to go first.

Marilyn was my teacher, my mentor, my choir director, my vocal coach, and my friend. Before I retired I taught high school. I had some time during the school day to prepare lessons and mark papers and I looked forward to those periods of quiet. I was less than gracious if someone asked me to give up a prep. Marilyn, on the other hand, regularly filled her preps by working with individual students on vocal technique, repertoire, and interpretation. I don’t know how many people over the years benefited from this generosity but I know I did.

Marilyn was a great problem-solver and if she saw a need she stepped in to fill it. While she taught at Viscount Bennett there was a need for teachers to drive football players to games. Marilyn got her chauffeur’s license, drove the the bus and managed to recruit some of the football players to sing in the mixed chorus.

Tyrone Patterson, now a well-known Canadian conductor and the artistic director Opera Lyra in Ottawa for years, was one of Marilyn’s football recruits. He mused that he was probably one of the few young men who went to university with both a football and music scholarship in his pocket. He also noted that when he first conducted a choir it was much harder than he anticipated. As a student he watched Marilyn conduct and Marilyn, of course, made it look easy.

When one of her students desperately wanted to learn to play the piano Marilyn somehow arranged for the family to have access to a piano. When another student was about to get kicked out of school for being late and absent so often Marilyn phoned her in the mornings to make sure she was up. A number of people say it was only because Marilyn cared that they finished high school.

Those of us who had Marilyn as a conductor retain a persistent voice in our heads. “My tempo!” “ Now don’t get mad.” “Put the consonants ahead of the beat.” As we rehearse pieces we did first with Marilyn we remember her words, dynamics and phrasing. Most of the time that’s a good thing. Once when we were practicing a piece with Liz some of us insisted that the version we were singing had the wrong words. I don’t remember if Liz rolled her eyes or not but, during a break, she managed to dig up the copies with the ‘right’ words. We used that version even though the piano part was quite a bit harder.

Marilyn was a great supporter of the arts. While still quite young she worked as a coach accompanist in the Voice Opera department at the Banff School of Fine Arts. Marilyn conducted productions by the Calgary Theatre Singers where many singers got their first taste of being on stage in front of an audience. She directed many high school musicals. Years later, people with grey hair fondly remember rehearsals and performances of musicals such as The Fantastics, Bye Bye Birdie and Little Mary Sunshine. Marilyn also supported the arts by commissioning paintings and sculptures, attending performances and donating time and money.

Then there are the many, many ways Marilyn enriched the life of this church and helped with social services programs in Calgary. I haven’t even touched on Marilyn’s membership in the Order of Canada. There are many people here tonight who can tell those stories. As we celebrate the opening of this beautiful space I hope you will share your own stories of Marilyn or take a moment to listen to the stories of who she was and the many ways her kindness and generosity enriched people’s lives. I think Marilyn would be very pleased with this hall and the opportunities it offers to this congregation and the wider Calgary community. Enjoy the space, the experience of being here on this special evening, and, if I got a story wrong, feel free to tell the correct version.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

YouTube YouTube, YouTube - at least that's how we got there.  At Easter 2015 the choirs of Knox and Scarboro United Churches presented Dan Forrest's "Requiem for the Living," and someone posted a clip on YouTube.  We received an invitation to take part in a concert at Carnegie Hall celebrating the music of Dan Forrest. We accepted the invitation, rehearsed, organized and raised funds. No, it wasn't that we were so brilliant that they offered to pay us to sing but, in my mind that's okay.  I looked at it as a unique holiday and a chance to go to New York City and it's always enlightening to work with other conductors, in this case Jo-Michael Schiebe who chairs the Thronton School of Music's Department of Choral and Sacred Music at the University of Southern California. It's also interesting to be part of a 200+ voice chorus. There are lots of people in your section so you don't feel so exposed as in a small chorus.  On the other hand, if you happen to sing through a rest a lot more people will notice, especially if you do it with gusto. No, I didn't make that mistake.

We had a great hotel in Manhattan a block away from Carnegie Hall and within walking distance of Central Park, The Apple Store, Uniqlo (a Chinese clothing chain) and Century 21 (Winners on steroids.)  Richard even went shopping the first day we were there and we both picked up some good deals on clothing.

In addition to rehearsals, we saw two shows, Something Rotten and Kinky Boots. The size of the theatres surprised me.  I thought they would be much bigger and I was taken aback by the lack of space in the lobbies. People lined up down the block and went directly through the lobby to their seats, no time and no space to wander before the performance.  We loved Something Rotten.  The script was solid and witty with numerous allusions to Shakespeare's plays and to many of the classic musicals I grew up with. Some of it, such as Shakespeare's rival composing a musical called Omelette, was just silly. I laughed nonetheless. I enjoyed Kinky Boots as well but had more difficulty making out the song lyrics and it lacked the wit that I so enjoyed in Something Rotten.  The theatres were within walking distance of the hotel and, having been there once, I'd certainly consider going back just to see a bunch of shows.

The temperatures the first couple of days were warm and I was happy with a light fleece sweater covered by a wind-proof fleece vest.  The temperature then dropped and the wind came up. The day we walked in Central Park there was a wind warning for around 70 kmh.  Although it was only a couple of degrees below freezing the wind chill made it feel like -15C.  We enjoyed our walk anyway.  There weren't a  lot of people out and we could hear bluejays squawking from the trees. I never actually spotted one but I did see grackles and the ubiquitous sparrows and Canada geese.

At our first rehearsal Dr. Scheibe told us to take out our pencils and write everything down because he didn't want to have to make the same correction twice. Gulp. As someone who might get it right on the 25th try I was a little intimidated.  He also said things like, "I hear one soprano..." and, "one baritone is..." I determined not to be that one soprano and I confess to hedging my bets by coming in just a little late and cutting off just a little early when I wasn't absolutely sure.  No accidental solos for this camper!

There were a couple of funny moments involving tempo.  "Doc" as Scheibe invited us to call him, got going at quite a clip in one section and then asked an assistant how fast he was going.  The tempo marking was in the 60's and the assistant responded, "88."  "Really?" asked Doc, "Really?" "Yes," replied the assistant.  "Okay," responded Doc, "we'll slow it down."  We took another run at it and again Doc asked for the tempo. It was 80.  We tried a third time and managed to slow it down a bit. In performance when everyone was excited, I'm almost certain the original tempo crept back in.

There were pretty strict dress regulations and, after some consideration, Richard decided to rent a tux in New York.  It was expensive and he does own one, but we decided it would be way less hassle than trying to pack the tux and then having to iron out the wrinkles when we got there. As it was he went for a fitting the second day we were there; they delivered the tux to the hotel on the day of the dress rehearsal and they picked it up from the hotel so we didn't have to worry about getting it back. Money well spent for the lack of fuss. I was very glad I had purchased a variety of concert attire a couple of years ago because I was able to put together an outfit that enabled me to wear long johns and a t-shirt underneath.  Sorry I do not willingly freeze for my art.

Distinguished Concerts International New York had us very well organized by row and position in the row.  We sat that way in rehearsal and lined up that way for the performance. Although I avoided an accidental solo I was that one person who blithely got into the wrong dressing room and didn't realize it until they called the row numbers. Luckily I did realize in time, and scuttled up another flight of stairs to the fifth floor and sneaked into the correct line. There was an elevator but the organizers encouraged all those who could, to walk up the stairs.  I was grateful that I regularly walk up five flights to my chiropractor's office and that, although I don't consider myself in great shape, none of the walking we did caused any twinges or tiredness.

When we filled in the initial information forms we had to give our height so they could arrange us by voice part and height.  I don't know what happened to the system but there was a young woman right in front of me who was at least a head taller than anyone else in her row. I was able to dodge her in rehearsals and before our rehearsal in Carnegie I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was going to wear heels in the performance.  She said they weren't very high.  I guess height is a subjective thing because when we lined up to go onstage she was a good two inches taller than in rehearsal.  By moving to the very edge of the riser with the toes of my right foot hanging over I was able to see around her and, luckily, the person next to me was still able to see around me.

The performance came off fairly well.  There were moments when derailment threatened but we managed to stay on the tracks. For the second half of the performance we sat in the audience and listened to Dan Forrest's "Requiem for the Living."  I always enjoy hearing that music. Forrest was at our dress rehearsal and took a bow on stage at the end of the performance.

Following the concert there was a very pleasant reception with a buffet and booze included.  I know we paid for that in our fees but it was fun to share stories with our cronies and socialize a bit with members of the other choirs. We were the 'international' component, all the rest of the choirs being from the US.  We left New York the next evening just in time to beat the storm Jonas which, two days later halted all air, car and subway traffic in the city.

Perhaps it was watching too many crime shows when I was a kid but I was a bit apprehensive about going to The Big Apple.  I found the people to be friendly and I felt safe walking after dark. People seemed to be there for a good time and were polite and relaxed.  We ate way too much cheese cake and visited the diner which is referred to in South Pacific as 'Mindy's.' It's real name is Lindy's and the food was excellent.

As with our road trip to Newfoundland two summers ago, we crossed one thing off our bucket list only to add a dozen more.  I'd like to go back to New York to see the museums, the 911 memorial, Staten Island, some more shows and a performance at the Metropolitan Opera.  That, however, will have to wait until the Canadian dollar becomes a little healthier with respect to the American green back.