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I have been reading the news about Jerry Hadley with disbelief and sadness.  I never met him, but would know his voice anywhere. I love his singing on the Shaw recording of Verdi’s  Requiem, and it is his sound that always comes into my head with the phrase “Qui ad Mariam absolvisti.” (score is marked poco meno mosso, and dolce con calma, then dolciss. morendo…he got it just right!)   His voice was distinctive, clean and clear, and a very American tenor sound, with excellent diction.  But reading the script to the last act of his life is more high dramatic opera than Illinois farm boy.  Perhaps our error is to think that there is any difference.  

Jerry’s story has caused me to reflect on the pitfalls that can be more like canyon falls, in this singing profession.  Sometimes a fall is too much.  We have much to learn from his life story.

Most of us will never know the kind of fame and success Jerry had.  We have simply been plugging along, loving the music and trying to make a difference. Jerry Hadley’s real tragedy, other than losing his own precious life too soon, is that he won’t be teaching the next generation of Jerry Hadleys.   The invaluable collection of knowledge and experience that only he possessed is gone.  The next generation will have to learn from his recordings and from what others say about him.

I’ve read a lot in the news about what an upbeat guy he was, and that he had his eyes on the future. I have a photograph of him with my mother in law at a benefit he sang at their church in Manchester, CT.  He wore a smile as wide and more winning than Tom Cruise.  The mid-western way is to be a little full of bluster and backslapping fun.  Difficulties are often more private.  I am truly sad for him and his family.

I don’t have anything wise to say about what we should all learn in response to this tragedy, but I picked up a quote from Jerry himself that was part of a commencement address at his alma mater Bradley University, in 2004. (This is taken from an article in the Peoria Journal Star).  “When I’ve stepped back and surrendered and trusted…things just fell out the sky and into my lap.”

Northwest Artists has been around since 1993, a networking organization and management alternative for artists working in the field of classical vocal music.  This is the first post I have written for the blog that Mark set up for us.  It is my goal to use this space as a way of sharing information, ideas, and reflections; for announcing concerts, and brainstorming for the future.

 I will begin by announcing a concert that I will be singing in Brooklyn, NY, on October 12, 2007, at 8:00 p.m.  I will be joined by organist/pianist Paul Richard Olson and oboist Shannon Spicciati. The concert will be at Grace Church in Brooklyn Heights, 254 Hicks Street.  We will repeat the program at Union College in Schenectady on October 14 at 3:00 p.m. Concerts in the Puget Sound region will be in Seattle on February 10, 2008, 2:00 p.m.,  at Plymouth Congregational Church, and at Pacific Lutheran University on February 12, 8:00 p.m.  Featured is the world premiere of the song cycle Cummings’ Suite by North Carolina composer Dan Locklair.  This work was a commission, and includes the beloved text I thank you God for most this amazing day.  Also programmed on the concert are works by Carol Sams (NY premiere, and a world premiere for soprano, piano, and oboe),NY premiere of Hilary Tann’s cycle Songs of the Cotton Grass for soprano and oboe, and songs by Simon Sargon, Lori Laitman, and Bern Herbolsheimer.  The title of the concert is Songs of Hope.

Photo by: Andrea Olsheskie

L-R, Shannon Spicciati, Janeanne Houston, Paul Richard Olson