Boston Singers' Resource News Bulletin, December 10, 2002


He’s one of the busiest tenors I know this season - Reggie Didham is a member of five plus Boston area choral ensembles! But don’t let his humble words and preference for ensemble work fool you - he’s got a voice and solid musicianship to rival many solo tenors. And a heart of gold, too. We’re ringing in the holidays with Reggie Didham, below.

Since 1981, when he joined both TANGLEWOOD FESTIVAL CHORUS, (John Oliver, conductor) and CHORUS PRO MUSICA, (previously with Don Palumbo and Don Kendrick, now with Jeffrey Rink, director), tenor Reggie Didham has been lending his brilliant voice and superb musicianship to major choral ensembles all over the Boston area. "I tried four times via audition to get into TFC starting in Spring 1980, largely in order to sing MAHLER’S 8TH SYMPHONY, but by the time I was admitted in Fall 1981, the run of performances was over!" Reggie shares with us. "I FINALLY did get to sing the piece in 2000 and 2001 as a member of both CPM and the NEWTON CHORAL SOCIETY, (David Carrier, Director), with the Boston Philharmonic under the direction of Benjamin Zander."

Reggie continues as a regular member of TFC, the new TFC Holiday Pops Chorale (which performs AFTER christmas) CPM, and the NEWTON CHORAL SOCIETY as well as THE BOSTON CONSERVATORY CHORALE, (Bill Cutter, director), and THE NEW WORLD CHORALE, (Holly Krafka, John Zielinski, directors.) He has also sung with several groups that are no longer active including the BOSTON CONCERT OPERA (from 1983-1989,) under the direction of David Stockton, the JOHN OLIVER CHORALE (from 1990, 1995,) BOSTON A CAPPELLA, David Carrier, director (lasted two years only in the mid-90’s) and the RUSSIAN CHAMBER CHORUS under Andy Roudenko’s direction (from 1994-1996.)

A Math/Liberal Arts major from NORTHEASTERN and a SIMMONS COLLEGE graduate in Library science, Reggie has been singing in choirs and choruses since he was in the 4th grade (1961)! He attributes most of his musical training to his early singing experiences in church choirs. He started at FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH in READING, (originally under Clarence Schirmer, then under the direction of Richard Reed.) Then, in 1988, he moved to a paid choir position at CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH in NEWTONVILLE under the direction of Marshall Wilkins. CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL will be closing at the end of this year, unfortunately, at which point, Reggie states positively, "I will be up for hire at another church!" (*Church choir directors take note!) A special concert of POULENC GLORIA and other short pieces with chorus and professional orchestra will be held on January 12, 2003, to celebrate Central’s many years of ministry, and as a farewell gift to the Newtonville neighborhood.

He studied voice privately for four years at THE BOSTON CONSERVATORY, where he has been library director and now, Cataloging and Acquisitions Librarian, since 1983, and where he is a much-sought-after tenor for student projects. He studied two years with Mary Saunders, and two years with Robert Honeysucker. "They basically brought me from being a suburban amateur choir singer to a city semi-professional singer, and made it possible for me to get into the choruses that I did, " says Reggie.

Since 1983, he has been happily married to singer/voice teacher, Donna Hewitt Didham.



BSR: So tell us about all your performances this season, busy guy!

RD: This fall I performed with the NEW WORLD CHORALE, CHORUS PRO MUSICA, BOSTON CONSERVATORY CHORALE, and the NEWTON CHORAL SOCIETY. All four concerts were quite successful in their different ways, and as always, I enjoyed the different types of performing experiences.

A highlight of the season was the recent concert with NEWTON CHORAL SOCIETY, which included Gian Carlo Menotti’s THE UNICORN, THE GORGON, and THE MANTICORE. This large work was originally conceived with a strong dance component, (which we did not attempt,) but the music and text are quite strong enough to stand on their own. The work is rarely performed, but really quite charming, full of humor and pathos, and includes lots of juicy choral writing, most of it a cappella. The chamber instrumental ensemble, mostly plays by itself.

Another piece on the program was a commissioned work, A NEW ENGLAND SEASONAL by Charles Shadle, an MIT faculty member and composer. As things worked out, the full work came in at about twice as much music as had been requested by the group, and we found we were unable to prepare both it and the Menotti in the time allotted so we performed just the second half of the piece. This left our audience wanting to hear the rest of the piece, since they so enjoyed the portion they did hear, (which is what any performer always hopes for,) so we hope to perform the full work in the future.



BSR: Do you do any solo work or do you prefer ensemble work?

RD: Since 1988, I’ve had a couple of "true" solo experiences. There is an annual tradition on Maundy Thursday at Central of having a solo voice sing the three verses of the hymn "Were you There" entirely unaccompanied and in darkness. My turn came up several years ago, but rather than have me ascend into the rear balcony as is usually done, someone, perhaps the minister that year, decided they’d rather hear it from the front of the church. So, I was spared the grope up the dark stairs, and sang instead to the front wall of the chancel. In complete darkness, it was easy to forget that anyone else was there, and I just sang for myself! A very transporting and moving experience for me, at least, and I got good feedback from others who were there.

Another significant solo experience for me came several years ago when CHORUS PRO MUSICA began performing with NEWTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. On the primarily chinese patriotic program was the YELLOW RIVER CANTATA, the YELLOW RIVER CONCERTO, several Chinese concert arias for vocal soloists with orchestra and BEETHOVEN’S CHORAL FANTASY. While the chinese portion of the concert already called for four professional solo singers, the Choral Fantasy calls for two more, one additional tenor and another soprano. I auditioned for, and got the second tenor solo, (really a trio part.)

In the concert at Jordan Hall, I moved from the chorus to the lip of the stage and sang with the two professional Chinese singers. As the performance came to the only verse of the sung portion that includes the second tenor, the first tenor suddenly began rushing his line, getting a measure and a half ahead of the orchestra, pianist, conductor, the baritone and me! We other two singers soldiered on, (I think succeeding in staying with the ensemble,) while the first tenor finished first! (This verse, for those of you who don’t know, is a very homophonic little segment of the piece, with nice close harmonies among the three solo voices, an effect of course completely destroyed as the first tenor hurried ahead of the two of us.) Once that verse was over, and my "chance for glory" gone forever, the other fellow, of course, sang perfectly on time the rest of the way.

As soon as the piece ended, as had been arranged, I hurried back to my spot with the chorus at the back of the stage, (it having been decided that we two chorus soloists would take our bows for our brief little solos from our chorus positions.) Meanwhile, the other professional soloists were all taking their bows and receiving flowers. As the applause continued, I was surprised to notice the first tenor craning his neck around, obviously looking for something onstage behind him, but I couldn’t figure out what. Much to my surprise, he came back to the chorus, and handed his bouquet back through the rows of choristers, to me! At the time, I was stunned and didn’t know what to make of it, but a few moments later as we filed off, I figured that this might have been his way of apologizing for messing up my Jordan Hall solo debut! I’ve never spoken to him again to confirm this, so it may not have been what he was thinking, but I like to imagine it anyway.

My occasional solos remind me that I am, at heart, an ensemble singer, much more at home within the confines of blend, ensemble rhythm, and all of the values we develop as choral singers, rather than singing entirely on my own.

BSR: What a great CPM Choral Fantasy solo story, though!


BSR: Any interest in doing opera chorus work?

RD: I have sung in opera choruses, both staged, with BSO/TFC and THE OPERA COMPANY OF BOSTON (as a member of CHORUS PRO MUSICA singing AIDA and MASS under the direction of Sarah Caldwell), and unstaged, with the BOSTON CONCERT OPERA and again with CPM. While I love the music of the great choral operas, TURANDOT, CARMEN, AIDA, etc., the staging and memorization become more challenging with each passing year! I envy those singers for whom memorization comes easily and naturally, but must acknowledge that it never has and never will for me, especially these several billion deceased brain cells later! I’m happy to leave that work to those who do it all the time. Give me a score, a place to plant my feet, and colleagues to blend with and I am happiest!


BSR: But we have certainly done our share of memorization with the TANGLEWOOD FESTIVAL CHORUS! (Which is often a hot topic with TFC members.) But the BSO is very proud to have one of the only volunteer chorus’ in the US that memorizes most of their repertoire. Do you agree with them?

RD: I have very ambivalent feelings about it. On the one hand, there is an excellent level of musical understanding attained when one memorizes and internalizes a score for performance, that can’t be denied. A conductor can have an amazing degree of flexibility and control with a memorized chorus. And it looks great from the audience, too. I am speaking from experience both as a memorized singer and as an audience member, (listening both in person and on radio.)
On the other hand, there are less obvious realities that are not so great: with no score to refer to, the inevitable musical errors have much more of a ripple effect than they do in performances with scores. One immediately doubts one’s own memory, even for a fraction of a second, when an error happens nearby, causing anywhere from a slight to a major dropout in sound production. With enough people going through this experience, however brief, there is an audible loss of integrity in that voice part’s line, usually minor, but nonetheless audible. As a performer, the inability to be 100% certain of correctness can be very frustrating, too.

Perhaps the idea of a memorized rehearsal late in the learning process, with scores allowed in performance for choral concerts (not staged operas, of course), is the best compromise I’ve heard.



BSR: You’ve sung in so many wonderful choral ensembles - any favorites? Any others you would like to join?

RD: I very much miss Andy Roudenko and the RUSSIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA. That group was a unique treasure, and I feel fortunate to have been invited to sing with them for their last two years. Andy is not only a deeply committed advocate of Russian choral music, but also a great scholar and editor, bringing many of the pieces his group performed into usable editions for the first time in this country. In its approximately fifteen-year existence, the members of RCC built up a very special esprit de corps that was a tribute both to the members and to the personalities of the Roudenko family, who made each chorus member feel like a family member themselves! Very special, indeed.
There are other groups I wish I could sing with but can’t due to schedule conflicts. BACK BAY CHORALE, CANTATA SINGERS, and BOSTON CECILIA all do attractive concerts and get good critical response.


BSR: Gee, scheduling conflicts with 5 plus groups - I can’t imagine! You sure you couldn’t add one or two more groups? (She says with a smile.) Seriously, though, how do you juggle so many performing groups and stay healthy?

RD: Luckily, I’ve never been particularly vulnerable to colds or flu and am fortunate not to suffer from any other major illness or condition,(knock on wood.) Also, I’ve actually found that the more I sing (meaning quantitative) with good vocal experts as my conductors, the better I sing. It’s like any other physical activity, as long as it’s done properly with good guidance and careful attention, you get better at it!

As far as keeping it all straight when singing with five groups: it becomes easier as time goes by. Of course, one has to choose among groups that rehearse at the same times, and that can be difficult. Also, one must not mind being out of the house several nights a week. I never found that a problem, although it did require my wife’s indulgence and understanding! Luckily, she’s a singer, too, so she knows how important it is to me.



BSR: Do you get to sing with Donna, these days?

RD: Donna and I rarely sing together any more these days, for many different reasons. We did get to sing together last July 14 for the farewell to Seiji Ozawa concert at Tanglewood, on which we performed the BEETHOVEN CHORAL FANTASY and Randall Thompson’s ALLELUIA, (the latter with the entire Tanglewood audience of 15,000+ invited to join in!) It was an amazing and moving experience to be back with everyone on the Tanglewood Shed stage, and to sing with such a huge "chorus"!

Donna is not singing as much as she used to these days, having slowed down physically with the passing years, but she continues to teach voice at WELLESLEY COLLEGE and sing jazz with MARK HARVEY’S ARDVARK JAZZ ORCHESTRA. She also often sings with TFC in the summer.

Our longtime friends will remember our 1983 wedding in the formal gardens at Tanglewood, attended by 250 of our dearest friends and family. Still an astonishing memory after all these years.


BSR: Do you have any favorite choral pieces? And are there any pieces that you would like to do, but have not so far?

RD: My favorite piece is still the MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 8. But I would love to perform the BACH ST. JOHN PASSION that has somehow managed to elude me so far. And of course, there are pieces I’d like to do again that I haven’t done enough, like the MISSA SOLEMNIS by BEETHOVEN.



BSR: What words of advice do you have for the aspiring Boston area ensemble singer?

RD: For anyone just starting to look at Boston-area choral singing as a serious avocation, there are several serious questions to answer: 1) Do I want to be a professional (i.e., paid) or an amateur/volunteer (i.e., unpaid). There are many more opportunities for the unpaid choral singer than the paid one, but both exist and are out there if you have the talent and the thick skin to get into auditioning. 2) At what level do I want to perform? Certainly, there are groups at every level, so there’s no need to be discouraged if the first few audition attempts don’t work out. Sometimes, the failure to be accepted into a particular group can have virtually nothing to do with your talent; it may just be a numbers situation at the time you’re auditioning for a particular group. Keep trying, and network; talk to friends who are in groups, and ask them how they got in.



BSR: Any spring performances you are looking forward to?

RD: Yes! On Jan. 12, 2002, the NEWTON CHORAL SOCIETY will join with the NEWTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and soloists for a concert version of Puccini’s MADAMA BUTTERFLY. The performance will be at 8:00 at the Rashi School on Walnut Court in Newton Corner. Later on, there are plans for NEW WORLD CHORALE to join the CLAFLIN HILL ORCHESTRA in Milford for a concert performance of CARMEN. Dates and times TBA.



BSR: Thanks, Reggie. I’ve always been impressed with your wonderful tenor voice and excellent musicianship (as I have had the pleasure of standing near you in TFC many times.) I know you could easily do more solo work if you chose to, but how wonderful it is to have a talented singer in our community who so proud and happy to be doing ensemble work. Best wishes for your continued singing success. We’ll look forward to your many performances!

For more information about any of the groups listed above or to contact Reggie Didham, please email: RDidham@bostonconservatory.edu