Tribute to Teacher

By Doug Roland

During the run-up to my 50th high school class reunion, many of us paused to remember the teachers who influenced our lives. Most of us recalled fondly the academic folks who perhaps even inspired our careers. Others were role models that we may have copied. I know that 3 of my English teachers made possible everything I did professionally. However, none of us works all the time. We do other things. Many people become spectators, watching TV, going to games of all sorts, concerts. But because of a teacher, I had an avocation that, while it has probably ended for me, enriched my life in ways I could never have imagined. What I learned from him made me a participant, literally put me on stage.

So, I share with you a letter I wrote to my high school choir director. He is 85 now but still writing music to add to the 250+ pieces he has written.

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Dear Mr. Davenport:

About 20 years ago or so, I wrote a letter to you to thank you for instilling in me a love of choral music. Having no address, I sent it to First Friends church on east Main St.. I do not know if you received it.

So, at the risk of repeating myself, I am writing again, this time with a confirmed address. A fellow classmate and chorister from RHS's class of 1961 advised me of the recent article in the Pal-Item. I can not help but respond.

During my 5 1/2 years at I.U., I did not sing a great deal nor during the next eight years when I was teaching or going to law school. Then I married a music major (Ohio Wesleyan) and devoted Methodist. We joined the choir (Middletown, Ohio). One night our director handed out some new music and I recognized the composer. I don't recall the name of the piece but I proudly announced that your were my high school choir director and I took great joy in singing it.

Some years later, we moved to Tampa, Florida, and soon auditioned for and sang in the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay for 12 years. During that time, I thought of the groundwork you provided years earlier. The Chorale is the principal chorus of the Florida Orchestra. My wife and I agree that the memories from those years are indelible. We sang most every major choral work in the repertoire. For example, the masses of Verdi, Berloiz, Rutter, Durufle and Faure. Bach's B minor mass was perhaps my favorite. But our two highlights were to sing two concert weekends under Robert Shaw and one trip to England.

Shaw was an advisory director to the Florida Orchestra. I could not believe that I would fulfill a lifelong dream and sing under his baton. When I arrived at the first rehearsal, I looked at the seating chart and saw that I was going to be standing about 10 feet from his right ear. Maybe I could just mouth the words. We sang the Durufle Requiem (3 concerts) and a few years later, Brahms Requiem, with him.

In 1996, the Chorale was invited by Sir David Wilcox to join the London Bach Choir for a concert at Westminster Cathedral (as distinct from the Abbey) featuring the Berlioz Requiem, prefaced by 4-5 wonderful a cappella pieces before about 2,000 people including the Duchess of York.

The next day, we were bussed up to Cambridge where we performed in the famed King's College Chapel. Following choristers over the last 500 years, we added our voices to this hallowed space. Our chorale sang several American pieces, including what we think was the European premier of Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium.

So, here I was, a kid from Richmond, Indiana, singing in an ethereal and holy place. I had been well-prepared, and it started in your classroom. These are things no one can ever take away from me.

I've gone on too much about myself, but I want you to know that it would not have been possible without you. My life would have been qualitatively poorer. That goes for me and I suspect legends of others. The learning of those couple of years in your choir multiplied exponentially.

I am delighted that you are still writing. What a wonderful way to contribute to an art form that worms its way into one's soul.

Finally, do not be confused about the postage and address. My wife and I are volunteering for three years in South Africa's only Methodist seminary. It's quite a challenge for a retired lawyer and a nurse to fit in, but we work at it.

May God continue to bless you.

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There is universal and important point here. Each of us has, everyday, an opportunity to influence others either for good or for ill. In a sense we are all teachers as none of us has, despite claims to the contrary, all the answers. Small, seemingly uneventful incidents and/or comments can re-shape the life of another person. So, think first, talk later. Someone is listening.