Director's Remarks (2009, 2008 and 2005)

Saint Anselm College Choir

Mr. Robert Aldrich '01, Assistant to the Director

April 18, 2009

 Here at Saint Anselm we are familiar with the concept that there is usually more than what we simply see on the surface. For example you can see that we are standing on the stairs in front of the altar for the second year in a row… Well that didn’t come without a price. I have never been a supporter of planning a European Concert Tour to Paris, but I always thought that the choir should sing from the stairs (for those of you veteran alumni you know that we used to do this years ago). So when Fr. Bede and I talked about moving the choir down front I gave in and promised that if Fr. Bede would consider the idea I would plan a trip to Paris for the choir… Well I never thought he would agree, but three weeks ago we signed our contract and next March to fulfill my end of the bargain we will take the choir on a 10-day concert tour to Belgium, Luxembourg and Paris.

 It is fitting that this Tuesday marks the 900^th anniversary of the death of Saint Anselm - a man whose writings and teachings have influenced so many students here on the hilltop.  Most famous of course is his concept of “faith seeking understanding.” Faith and reason must be cultivated together for one can not stand without the other. This idea is discussed in our Humanities program, veteran choir members remember the song “Prayer of Saint Anselm” and you will all hear the same words very soon when we sing the “Saint Anselm College Anthem.” Just as there is more to a Saint Anselm education than what is learned in the classroom, there is a lot more to the Saint Anselm College Choir than just singing.

 Father Bede shared a story with the choir on Thursday night that underscored a message of service and ministry. Bishop Leo O’Neil of the Diocese of Manchester, despite his struggles with bone cancer regularly attended choir concerts here in the Abbey Church. After one of the concerts, Fr. Bede thanked him for coming despite the obvious pain he was in. The bishop simply responded that our music was his medicine.  

Yesterday in an e-mail I emphasized Fr. Bede’s message to the choir that with our music we never know the impact we have on those that come to hear us sing. Just as important however is the impact that we have on each other.  There is no doubt in my mind that current students and alumni will agree with me when I say that there is a lot more to being a member of the Saint Anselm College Choir than just singing.  

Later in the evening you will have the opportunity to hear from one our graduating seniors who will share how the choir experience has impacted him – or her. That story is only one of many. Now in our twenty-second season, it would be impossible to capture the countless stories of what the choir has done for the hundreds of students that are lucky enough to call themselves “choir alumni.”  

Speaking of alumni, every time I am with the choir I go through an identity crisis… am I choir member, am I a staff member, am I a choir alumni?  Even though math isn’t required here at Saint Anselm, it doesn’t take long to figure out that now in my twelfth year I have seen three complete turnovers in the student body. I consider myself very fortunate to be a part of such a great group and I only hope that I have done as much for other students over the years as they have done for me. However the freshmen class this year is special to me as I have made myself an honorary member of the Class of 2012. I feel like a freshman again and I look forward to our journey together as  I told Fr. Bede a couple months ago that in three years I will truly become a choir alumni 

Over the course of my tenure with the choir I have the seen the choir grow both in numbers and in talent.  I have seen them perform in some of the most amazing venues around the world.  I have seen them be there for each other when a member is in need.  And most often, I have seen the tremendous amount of energy and passion that these students have poured into their ministry.  We all know that choir is not just an activity here on campus, this isn’t just something we “do” –it quickly becomes an integral part of our Saint Anselm experience and an important part of who each of us are.

 To the choir: Frank Wright, a famous architect, once said “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” Nothing better could explain the level of commitment that you have put forth over the last several months. I give you this advice, especially for the seniors graduating in just a few weeks. As life gets hectic – and as the years pass after you have left Saint Anselm – it will. Just as you have done here for your last four years, make time for the things you love. Give everything you do the same level of commitment and the same level of hard work as you have given to your service to the choir this year. To achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedication. Each of you possesses all of those traits. You are all creative people and Saint Anselm has prepared you well – both in and out of the classroom. Don’t ever forget ALL that you have learned here and all that you have learned about yourself and remember that all things are possible for those who believe. 

As the choir begins to take its place we invite those choir alumni here with us tonight to please come up and join us for the final three songs before intermission. 

Thank you for your continued support of the Saint Anselm College Choir, we hope you enjoy the rest of the program.

A speech given by Assistant Director Robert Aldrich to the audience and to the choir in March 2008

Just because everything is different it does not mean anything has changed. In my last eleven years as part of the Saint Anselm College Choir I have seen many differences, but not too many changes. You see one of those major differences tonight – the fact that choir is out front on the stairs right in front of you. Every year graduating seniors leave us and we welcome incoming freshman and every four years we have a complete turnover – each year offers a different group of faces and a different sound but it doesn’t change the choir. Talking to choir members, hearing from alumni and listening to those that come to hear the choir sing, everyone has a different story on how they are affected – but it doesn’t change the fact that the choir is a powerful force in so many people’s lives. So, let me try to bring you into the world of the Saint Anselm College Choir…

Let’s start with a typical rehearsal. Picture a Wednesday evening at about 5:50PM (bearing in mind we start rehearsal at 6)… We begin in the lower church as Fr. Bede slips quietly out of Mass upstairs to come down and get ready for rehearsal, Aimee is putting out the folders, Brandon is waiting for Mass to end to move the piano and set-up chairs and about eighty choir members begin to fill the lower church – well minus those who have course conflicts. They begin to check off their names on the all important attendance roster and they pick-up their folders. Everybody is talking about how their classes went today, how they did on their nursing exam, what they are doing after rehearsal, what the plan is for the weekend or what the latest gossip is on someone’s Facebook page.

Now it’s six o’clock and there are about fifteen of the eighty choir members here for rehearsal. Fr. Bede and I look at each other at about this time every rehearsal actually surprised that not everyone is here on time… I mean how many e-mails has he sent out about punctuality. We flash the lights to let everyone know that we are ready to move upstairs to begin. You would be amazed at how many people can make it down the elevator, into the lower church, drop their bags, take off their coat, check off the attendance sheet, pick-up their folders, run up stairs and be in the choir stalls ready to go between 6:00 and 6:04.

By 6:05 we are ready to start our warm-ups. Our warm-ups are certainly unique and most are not anything that I can describe with words. Father Bede says he has learned most of his warm-up techniques through his studies at Westminster Choir College --- I am still not convinced and I think he makes them up as we go along… Sometimes we are then asked to sit and close our eyes for a meditation and Father Bede takes a few minutes (not nearly often enough) to clear our minds and bring us into the right space for a rehearsal. Most choir members would say this is one of their favorite parts of their choir experience. After warm-ups and a mediation we dive into the list of songs he has picked out for us to practice for the evening, working notes, practicing our “t’s” or “k’s” or our ability to speak Latin. By about 6:15PM three tenors have already disappeared to go to the bathroom.

Everything seems to move smoothly from about 6:15 until 6:58 when everyone is lost in the music we are singing. It’s about 6:58 that I start trying to give the signals to Father Bede that it is time to wrap us as the monks are lining up to come into the church for vespers. He is usually on page 2 of a 7 page song and just keeps pushing forward. I watch Brandon’s face across the choir stalls knowing he still has to move the piano, get the chairs away and be out of the church in about 90 seconds and we are now only on page 4. Finally I am able to get Fr. Bede’s attention and we usually get an abrupt – “oh yea, GO!” Everyone knows what that means and like clock work the stalls empty, the piano disappears the chairs pile up and we are gone leaving only an empty church behind. Downstairs some people slip out quickly, others stick around to chat, but everyone goes their separate ways and Bede and I usually disappear to the pub across the way for dinner…

But a lot of the choir members probably don’t realize what went into that one-hour rehearsal… They don’t think about their folder and how much work Aimee has put into getting it ready for them. They don’t think about the fact that Brandon has to come early and get our rehearsal space set-up. The time that our accompanists, Brother Andrew and Doctor Cox, spend fine-tuning their talents and practicing our ever changing repertoire. The time that Father Bede and I spend on picking out the music that we sing, mapping out rehearsals, thinking about how each piece will fit into a concert – and of course my favorite, all the time we spend thinking about the logistics of everything.

So that’s a brief glimpse of what we do, but why do we do it? I mean, the students don’t get course credit, we only perform two concerts a year, so it’s definitely not for the performance aspect of it, there are a lot of other activities and groups on campus but yet they give four hours a week to being a part of the choir. Why? That answer is different for every one of them. Most alumni say that the choir was one of their favorite experiences of being at Saint Anselm – something that has helped them more in life than anything that they learned in the classroom. As Father Bede has been known to say --- “Choir is like life.” Maybe, just maybe – he is right.

I recently found this definition online of a church choir. This definition alone can probably answer that question of “why”: The author says that a “church choir is a church within a chuch, made up of many of the church’s finest leaders… the most likely place where a majority will bond together in friendship and unity, as they bond with the Lord.”

Father Bede has written in his yet to be published book “Hobblestone’s Bridge” that on the journey of life you don’t get to choose your bridges, the bridge chooses you. Maybe, just maybe – he is right.  Most would say that their choice to join the choir here at Saint Anselm was one of their best decisions --- I would argue that you didn’t choose to be a part of the choir, you were chosen for this experience.  To some the Lord gives the ability to sing soprano, to others alto, tenor or bass. To some he gives a special solo talent and some the power to harmonize. He gives someone the power to select and direct our music and others the ability to play the piano, organ or flute. The choir has many parts, but the many parts make up only one choir when they are all put together. You didn’t chose those gifts, those were given to you to share with others and you have been chosen by Him to share those talents as part of THIS choir.

You have answered that call and have answered it well. Many of you have shared with me how much the choir has helped you personally, we have heard senior farewell speeches about the impact of choir, Father Bede has shared with you many e-mails and notes from alumni and those that come to hear us sing regarding how important the choir is in their lives and how it continues to be a source of peace and inspiration. Those are only the tip of the iceberg. How many touching stories of how you have helped, touched, soothed or inspired go untold. You never know how you are helping – not only yourself, but everyone singing with you and everyone here tonight. That is the reason why we were brought together and that is the reason why all of us continue to serve.

Recently a member of the choir said to me: Bobby you have been involved with the choir so long that you have seen so many students come and go. He said that it was amazing how important Father Bede and I were in his life and how important we were in his Saint Anselm experience, but to us he was just a small piece of our experience and just a small dot in the big picture of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each and every one of you plays an important and very large role in both my life and that of Father Bede’s. Remember you are all a part of the Saint Anselm College Choir. I have invested eleven years of my life to that choir and you all as collective individuals make up that group. You are the members for season 21, but just as important as my first year – season 10, and just as important as year 1. You all offer something different and yet it doesn’t change a thing.

A speech given by Assistant Director Robert Aldrich to the audience and to the choir in March 2005

Frank Lloyd Wright, a famous organic architect, once said “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” Nothing better could explain the level commitment that the eighty students seated behind me have put forth over the last several months. This year the choir saw some hard times in terms of preparing for tonight’s performance. Not only was their hesitation and concern on the part of the choir when it came to the decisions on what to include in the program – there were many a disagreement between myself and Father Bede behind closed doors. We had musical difficulty with several pieces that had been chosen for the concert. The choir couldn’t stay on pitch, the solos just didn’t work right, the tempo was always off and the enthusiasm (due to their frustration) was just not there. Father Bede and I met only a few weeks ago to talk about the problems and to attempt to come up with a solution. The problem was this- the concert was only a few weeks away. Did we have enough time to work on substitute selections in place of the pieces that were giving us problems? Should we shorten the length of the concert and just go with the pieces that we could handle? Or do we continue working the problems and fixing them – after all we had already invested a significant amount of time into these pieces: was it fair for the choir or for us to cut them now? Father Bede made the command decision on this one – after all that’s why he makes the big bucks. Stick with it. Work the problems and don’t worry – everything will work out just fine. I will admit – I was skeptical and scared.

             Well for those of you that don’t know me – by day I am the Chief of Police in a small town on the seacoast of New Hampshire . And like a typical cop, I don’t always like to admit when I am wrong. But here it goes – Father Bede “you were right.” Tonight the concerns that I had only weeks ago are gone. I can honesty say that tonight’s performance is one of the best I have experienced in all of my years with the choir. The students behind you, despite some expected groaning and complaining – came together, worked even harder and made it work. I have never been more proud to be a part of the Saint Anselm College Choir then I am this year and I hope that every single student seated behind me is aware of their accomplishments, their hard work and their commitment and is proud of the final product of their work that is presented here tonight.

            A lot of people always ask me… Why are you still here? Why do you continue working with the choir year after year – I mean come on, you graduated FOUR YEARS AGO NOW. I think the answer is pretty simple, and for a choir member or for a former choir member should be pretty obvious. If you didn’t have to leave this experience, would you? I mean why would I leave – look what I get to be a part of. Most students only get to have this experience for four years, I consider myself lucky and honored to be able to continue my involvement and my experience with the choir for now eight years. I have many personal memories about my time spent in this Abbey Church , both well I was a student and after. I have met some of my best friends in the choir stalls behind me. Some of the people I consider my closest friends are seated back there right now. If I had not continued in my choir experience beyond my four years as a student – many an opportunity would have been lost. Choir is a unique experience – it is different for every single one of us. I know that I have learned so much from the students behind me – more than I could possibly ever explain tonight. They have inspired me, they have lifted me up when I’ve been down and they have been there for me when I needed help. It is always been said in choir (for as long as I can remember) you never know the impact you have on someone else as a member of the choir. Well believe me; you all have had a tremendous and positive impact on me. I only hope that Father Bede, Brother Andrew and I have had as much an impact on their lives as I know they have had on ours.

            I give you this advice, especially for the seniors leaving us this year. As life gets hectic – and as the years pass after you have left Saint Anselm – it will. Make time for the things you love. Give everything you do the same level of commitment and the same level of hard work as you have given to your service to the choir this year. If you do that you will be happy and successful. As Gail Deevers said “Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”

            As we end the first half of the program, we finish with a piece titled “Were You There?” This was one of those pieces that I spoke about earlier, which only a few weeks ago was on the list to be removed from the program. It is a piece that I must admit was one of my least favorite songs when the list for the concert was finalized – today it is one of my favorites – and in just a minute you will see why. After this song, for those that have asked me - why do I still do this after eight years- I think the answer will be very clear.

As the alumni take their seats I would like to take this opportunity to thank several people for making the choir program and tonight’s concert possible. We would like to thank Abbot Matthew and the members of the monastic community for their presence here tonight, their encouragement and their patience with our rehearsal schedule throughout the year. We would also like to thank Father Jonathan, president of the college, and his administration for his support of the choir program. And most of all we would like to thank Susan Gabert and the members of the Office of Campus Ministry for all of the work that they do behind the scenes in keeping the choral program on track and functioning. The work that myself, Father Bede and Brother Andrew and the success that the choir has had would not have been possible without all of their help.