They say as you age you tend to look back on things that have been important to you. One of mine is music. I guess you could say my “musical career” began when I’d be swinging in the back yard and singing whatever came out! Then there were Church choir and school choir through high school, with the opportunity to go to two State Music Camps at Massanetta Springs, and to be brave enough to sing a solo in front of your peers on what today would be called “open mike” night. And, it’s always knee-knocking to have your high school friend who was to sing the two verses of “O Holy Night” as a solo tell you as the choir entered the school stage that he couldn’t do it and he had told the director I would!!! There were words to cover all the notes, maybe just not those written originally!
In college I sang in the Men’s Glee Club for four years. Many a Friday afternoon in the spring we would board a bus and head to the then all girls’ colleges around the state to either sing with them or to sing for them. We even got to sing at the 1965 New York City World’s Fair. To this day, “It’s a Small World” from Disney (one of the featured rides that year) is not one of my favorite songs! And singing outside while numerous jets are flying in and out of the New York’s various airports can be challenging.
My Junior and Senior years I was also in the College Choir. One year all of the college choirs in Richmond joined on the stage of the Mosque to sing Carmina Burana with a full orchestra; and at UR, we did the Bach “B-Minor Mass” that year also.
While teaching in Sussex County my first year out of college, I was often invited to sing at the churches of some of my students. I often joined the church choir across from where I lived if I didn’t go home to Richmond for the weekend.
Then came the “letter from the President of the United States” indicating that I was being drafted and my choice was to enlist in the Navy rather than possibly being an infantryman in Vietnam. At Great Lakes Boot Camp, I auditioned and was accepted in the Blue Jacket Choir and had the opportunity to be the soloist at one of the base chapels on Sunday mornings. In Vietnam, the senior chaplain formed a choir of members from all of the military units in the area. We did two cantatas, one at Christmas and the other at Easter, parts of which we filmed for broadcast to the troops. I also had the “privilege” of being the chaplain’s organist – if you can call a field organ an organ!! You need hands, feet, and knees to make the thing work!
While stationed in New London, Connecticut, I had the opportunity to join a group that did informal presentations of Gilbert and Sullivan. When moving to the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Arlington, Virginia, for my last duty station, I decided to go to a Methodist Church one Sunday morning rather than make the usual weekend trip to Richmond. That led to a year in the choir there with the opportunity to do the bass solos in an oratorio that featured cast members from Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” and symphony members from the Washington Symphony – flattered but scared to death!!!
Since coming to Newport News fifty-one years ago, I have sung with three church choirs: Trinity Methodist in downtown Newport News, St. John’s in Hampton and St. Andrew’s -- oh, and a brief six weeks at Hilton Presbyterian. For a number of years, I was in the Virginia Choral Society, where I also served as president during the time we were looking for a new director – who turned out to be Michael Cooley. I also sang with Michael at St. Andrew’s for a six-week period one Easter before going to St. John’s, where I was offered a bit of money to sing in the choir!
Hopefully, many of you remember the fun and sometimes crazy evenings the St. Andrew’s Choir provided to both our parishioners in the parish hall and residential homes throughout the area! We’d sing a little, dance a little (some were directionally challenged!), and sing a little more. Through the years we have joined with the choirs of Trinity Lutheran, St. John’s, St. Augustine’s, and First Methodist to do programs together. The choir has been and still is a family.
To those who are younger, I can only wish that you find something that brings joy, contentment, a little excitement from time to time, and love to your life. Introverted or extroverted, take a risk, say a prayer, jump in, and enjoy whatever it may be and wherever it may take you. My one musical regret – I’ve always wanted to direct a symphony orchestra!!
-Bill Wilds
