Lessons from a Genius: A Tribute to Glenn Parker (1955-1996)

Abstract

Lessons from a Genius: A Tribute to Glenn Parker (1955–1996) Mutsumi Moteki (bio) COLLAB CORNER This year marks the 25th anniversary of the passing of Glenn Parker, a world class vocal coach-pianist, a dedicated music educator of singers and pianists, and a beloved friend to many musicians and others who were blessed to have crossed his path. After receiving his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Oberlin Conservatory in 1977, Glenn's career path led him to become one of the first students to study with Martin Katz at Westminster Choir College and to receive his Master of Music in Piano Accompanying and Coaching in 1981. Subsequently, Glenn was invited to join the Westminster faculty as diction teacher and head of both the opera and collaborative piano programs, serving as well as the school's primary vocal coach until his untimely death at the age of forty. Although he left only a few published recordings of his performances, those who knew him and had heard him play were well aware of his exceptional talent as pianist and teacher. Singers and vocal collaborative pianists continue to hold him in high regard and are deeply grateful for his legacy. I remember Mr. Katz telling me more than once, "I'm not a genius, but Glenn was a genius." In a recent interview I had with Mr. Katz, he explained how Glenn's vast knowledge about music and everything that relates to music far surpassed the level of ordinary intelligent people. He added that Glenn had an immense repertoire in his fingers and in his ears, as well as an ability to explain the most profound matters with the simplest words. I was fortunate to be in Glenn's orbit from 1985 until 1992. During the summer of 1984, while I was attending a master class in Switzerland, Dalton Baldwin suggested that I study vocal accompanying at Westminster Choir College, where he had been serving as an adjunct professor after Mr. Katz left. In August 1985, I arrived in Princeton with two suitcases, one containing all my vocal scores and various dictionaries, and the other one packed with some clothes to get through one year. Because of the exchange rate, it was then very expensive for a Japanese person to study in the United States, and my plan was to go back to Japan after one year of study. Meeting Glenn Parker changed my mind. He was only thirty years old but seemed to know everything about music, songs, singing, opera, history, poetry, teaching, as well as an endless number of other things, including books, films, art, cooking, and sewing draperies. I had never met a teacher so passionate and inspiring as Glenn Parker. I felt there was no way I could learn everything he knew, even in the next thirty years, but I was determined to stay in Princeton and [End Page 279] learn as much as I could from him. The lessons I learned from Mr. Baldwin were, of course, invaluable; however he came to Princeton only once a month. Glenn, an assistant professor at that time, was the resident teacher. Attending his classes and lessons and almost daily observing his coaching were crucial to my growth and prepared me in many ways for further studies with Martin Katz at the University of Michigan. While teaching at Westminster Choir College, Glenn toured regularly as pianist to the famed Westminster Choir led by legendary choral conductor, Joseph Flummerfelt, and served for many years as opera chorus master for the Spoleto Festivals in Charleston, South Carolina and Spoleto, Italy. He performed regularly, mostly on campus, with some of the excellent voice teachers at Westminster, such as Laura Brooks Rice, Lois Laverty, Judith Nicosia, and Lindsey Christiansen, to name a few, and I was fortunate to attend many of these recitals. He never, however, seemed to be interested in pursuing an international career as a collaborative pianist, although he certainly could have. In my fourth year at Princeton in 1989, when I had become more comfortable talking to Glenn, I told him that he should be performing with singers like Fischer-Dieskau and Hermann Prey. Why not? Instead, even though...