Harmonies of Heritage: The Legacy of Willis Patterson's Our Own Thing Chorale - Part 1
In this episode of Behind the Curtain with Rosanita Ratcliff, we dive into the rich history of Willis Patterson's Our Own Thing Chorale with guests Sharon Vaughters and Janet V. Haynes. Discover how the chorale and its instructional program began, their mission to celebrate African American heritage through music, and the inspiring journey of fostering a space for diversity and unity. Learn about Dr. Patterson's groundbreaking contributions and the transformative impact of the chorale on the Ann Arbor community. Join us in this exploration of the power of music to unite and inspire.
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Episode Transcript
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Rosanita (00:00):
Welcome to Behind The Curtain with Rosanita, Ratcliff
as your host.
This week's episode is part, oneof Harmonies of Heritage, Sharon
Vautner's and Janet V.
Haynes of Willis Patterson's OurOwn Thing Chorale.
Explore their journey Infostering a space where voices
(00:21):
come together to celebrateheritage, diversity and the
power of music to unite andinspire.
Thank you both for agreeing todo the interview this afternoon.
I'm really excited.
When I was a kid, I used towatch the Willis C.
Patterson, Out Own Thing Choraleperformances.
(00:41):
Was talking with my parentsbecause I vaguely remember that.
My brother used to play one ofthe instruments.
He wasn't in the chorale but hewas in the orchestra program for
a little bit of a time.
Do you remember him?
Janet (00:58):
I remember him from then.
Rosanita (01:01):
He was probably very rambunctious.
Back then, and so then hearing areading that it was the 50th
anniversary that you guys werecelebrating and knowing that you
were still around when I movedback to Ann Arbor, just, I was
just so excited about that.
(01:23):
And was kind of wondering if youcould give for the people who
are listening, uh, history ofthe chorale and the
instructional program, becausethere I know there are 2
different things, right?
Janet (01:42):
Yes, yes they are.
Rosanita (01:45):
So which one came first, the chorale or the
instructional program?
Janet (01:50):
The instructional program came first.
It was, founded in 1969 and Dr.
Patterson had been on faculty atthe University of Michigan
School of Music for about ayear.
He was the first AfricanAmerican, faculty member at the
School of Music.
And having grown up Born andraised in Ann Arbor, he
(02:15):
understood and saw thedeficiency that African American
kids were unable, were not beingrepresented in the music classes
in the public schools,especially in the grade school
level.
And he wanted to do somethingthat would enable more kids to
(02:36):
feel more comfortable aboutentering those spaces.
And so he started theinstructional program.
It was launched at FirstCongregational Church where he
was the music director.
Classes were held there and theteachers were students from the
(02:56):
School of Music.
And I happened to be one ofthose students while I was in
school.
He was my voice professor.
And the kids, the childrenreally flourished in that.
That they were offered voicelessons as well as instrumental
lessons, and that was piano andviolin, and I, and I think a
(03:18):
couple of the woodwinds wereoffered at the time.
So, that's how the instructionalprogram started.
And it went, and this 1, Icannot remember totally, but it
stayed at 1st CongregationalChurch.
until just before Dr.
Patterson retired from there.
(03:40):
And then it moved to CommunityChurch of God in Ypsilanti.
And it was the program was therefor a while.
Can you continue that story onthe instructional program?
What it's doing now?
Sharon (03:52):
Sure.
I think the exciting thing aboutthe instructional program is, is
that Dr.
Patterson saw potential in thesekids and knew that they should
be able to be exploring theinstruments and their talents as
much as everyone else.
So now in the instructionalprogram, you know, we all went
through COVID.
Which was an interesting part ofthe process.
(04:16):
Lessons have been going on atthe community church of God in
person, and the way they are setup was in group lessons.
So, a group of kids would comeevery Tuesday night and be
taught on their instrument.
And then if a student hadpotential or wanted to go on,
they would be given individuallessons.
And many of the students overthe years have gone on.
(04:39):
To do music, but that's not thepoint of it.
The point is to give them theaccess to music and the arts.
And some of them have even goneon to start their own program in
Kenya, in California, to name acouple.
And I think one of the thingsthat the program also prides
itself on is kind of the role ofthe teacher mentor.
(05:02):
So it wasn't just going in andcaring if, you know, little
Sharon.
I wasn't in a, you know, knewher scales, but it was more, you
know, about being an adultsupport in the community and
kind of enriching the studentsas a whole person.
So now we're coming out of covenand back into kind of a new era,
(05:25):
which is kind of interestingsense.
It's little over 50 years old.
And what we'll be doing isreinstating the whole array of
instruments in a communitysetting.
All along, even through COVID,there was a partnership with
University of Michigan School ofMusic, and particularly in piano
students were able to takelessons from University of
(05:45):
Michigan students who are doingkind of a practicum experience
for teaching, and that's stillgoing on today, where they get
matched up with a student, andthey take them at any level,
which gives the students atMichigan a chance to have that
experience and have theexperience with a.
population and then have a, youknow, chance for the students
(06:08):
and parents to celebrate that atthe end of the semester.
And in that way kind of enrichthe community.
So that's what's going on now.
And we're really targeting toget instruments started again,
since COVID restrictions areless and we still see the
interest in instruments.
We've had people all along, evenduring COVID wanting to do
individual lessons where weweren't necessarily set up to do
(06:30):
that for the community settings.
Rosanita (06:33):
For the instrumental instruction, do the students
like check out an instrument?
Is that what happens?
Sharon (06:41):
Yes, part of the program is that instruments will be
supplied, so that doesn't giveany kind of economic barrier to
someone who wouldn't have themeans to rent their instrument.
The schools have really not beengiving instruments out, you
know, as much.
The instruments were, you know,The program on the students have
instruments that are in goodshape.
(07:02):
So that continues today, wherestudents can check out an
instrument.
And in the piano program, whathas happened is a special
partnership where there was agrant written to purchase a
large number of keyboards.
So students can even take akeyboard home and practice on
that keyboard.
And during COVID, they, throughthe University of Michigan, were
(07:23):
meeting on Zoom.
Rosanita (07:25):
That's, that's great, especially to know that they
were able to continue on throughcoven, or, I mean, even beyond
coven, if like someone couldn'tmake it right then they would
still be able to potentiallyparticipate.
Get practice in or use zoom.
Sharon (07:45):
Yes.
Well, actually, based on thecommunity standards, they want
all online for a certain periodof time, probably, probably from
right away in 2020 all the waythrough until this year.
They're where they're justgetting started back in person.
Rosanita (08:02):
And how young can a student be to first start with
the instructional program.
Sharon (08:09):
Um, I think it's elementary age.
I think they probably preferfirst grade or students who are
getting closer to age 10, butI'm sure, you know, a younger
student would be turned away ifthey, if they could really, they
really wanted to do it and goesup through high school.
Something that started beforeCOVID, it was offering some
(08:29):
adult lessons as well.
And the interesting thing aboutthe The relationship between the
instructional program and thechorale was that when it first
started, the parents also sawwhat kind of benefit the
students were getting out ofbeing able to study music and
have that kind of enjoyment intheir lives.
So the parents wanted a place todo music.
(08:49):
And as Dr.
Patterson says, that's all ittook for him to start the Our
Own Thing chorale.
Rosanita (08:54):
That just led right into, to that one in terms of
how the chorale started, becausethat's the part that, Like I
think really sticks out for meand better.
Remember the most.
Janet (09:08):
Dr.
Patterson was born and raised inAnn Arbor, and during his youth,
he attended to Dunbar CommunityCenter, which was the forerunner
of the Ann Arbor CommunityCenter on North main and that
community center was a centerfor the black community and all
(09:30):
kinds of activities and thingswere done there and one of the
things that was offered was ayouth choir, and he was a part
of that youth choir.
So fast forward to 1971.
That thought was, was with himand there were community members
that were also interested, someof which had also been in that
(09:53):
community choir had grown upwith him.
And so they wanted him to starta community choir, and he did so
so the corral was started in 71with the sole purpose of
performing and preserving themusic of African American
composers and arrangers.
for joining us.
(10:13):
Mm hmm.
With special emphasis on theNegro spirituals.
So that choir started, as I saidin 71.
As a voice student of his, Iparticipated in that choir in
74, and was there until Igraduated.
And then the choir disbanded andI can't remember why.
(10:36):
But it stopped, I think in 76 or77, and then he picked it up
again.
Some of those same communitymembers said, we want to come
back.
We want to do more of this.
And as Sharon had mentioned,there were some parents that had
children in the instructionalprogram that also wanted to be a
part of the music making scene,so encouraged him to start.
(10:59):
So he started it again in 1980,which is when I rejoined and
it's been going since.
Sharon (11:07):
One of the things that Dr.
Patterson said in a recentinterview was that one of the
niches that the crowd providedwas a place or a variety of
music so that the only place tosing this type of music was not
in the churches.
It was another place to be ableto sing music that might come
from the churches but alsospirituals that were in choral
(11:30):
arrangements for concert andthat there was a definite need
in the community.
We're doing that.
In fact, the name of the corral,our own thing corral kind of
came from that, from that needthat there were things in
Detroit that were happening asfar as corrals, some things in
Ipsy, but Ann Arbor didn't havethat kind of thing.
(11:53):
And he knew there was a need.
So that became our own thingcorral.
And I think that title is justwonderful because it is about
the whole community.
Not just for the singers, butfor the audience and other
people who might be interestedin this singing process.
So it's a very, to me, it's,it's such a very special
(12:13):
organization.
Rosanita (12:16):
It really is.
And how did you become involvedwith the organization?
Sharon (12:22):
Well, I am not an Ann Arbor native, but I moved here
in 1986 and probably, that's
Rosanita (12:28):
enough.
Sharon (12:29):
Yeah, I know now.
I feel like I'm a Midwesterner.
Person from the East Coast, butprobably in the 90s, I would say
a colleague of mine who was inthe Chorale told me about the
chorale.
And she said, you'd got to come.
You'd would really love singingthis.
I have a undergraduate degree ininstrumental music education,
(12:53):
but kind of switched and I wasworking in higher education
leadership at the university ofMichigan, and she asked me for
years and years and years.
And I think my hesitation attime was that I was a classic.
Sandwich generation.
I had younger kids and olderparents and younger active kids
in Ann Arbor, but you know, the90s are talked about as the time
(13:16):
where kids were overscheduled,you know, so my kids were in
Girl Scouts and soccer and musicand all these different things.
And, you know, as a dual careercouple, my husband and I didn't
do very many things outside ofthat.
But later in my career, when thekids got older, I actually, you
know, my friend, Gene actuallyregularly asked me probably
(13:37):
every six months, you need tocome and sing, you need to come
and sing.
And the other thing sheemphasizes, it's non audition.
You come and if you, you know,can join in and sing and talk,
then you can join this.
For me, I ended up retiringearly.
from the University of Michiganalmost 10 years ago because of
some health concerns.
(13:58):
And some of those healthconcerns Really generated a lot
of stress and anxiety for me.
So I ended up retiring early,going on disability and taking
care of myself.
So in taking care of myself, Ialso was kind of isolated
though.
And as I was starting to feelbetter, my friend, Jean said,
you really need to come andsing.
(14:20):
And so out of this kind of timeof time of life where there's
kind of a health crisis for me,the corral was the first thing I
did out in the community.
And it really changed my life tobe able to sit there with a
diverse population, butparticularly sitting next to
other African American women,some professional faculty
(14:42):
members working at the U otherin other professions, others
that came in more from a churchbackground was so inspiring and
so uplifting.
And the way that Dr.
Patterson taught us and acceptedus was also uplifting.
I spent my life.
Most of my life doing careercounseling sorts of things.
(15:02):
And one of the things we say isthat constant improvement in
something helps build yourconfidence and your self esteem.
And I really feel like theCorral had done that for me
starting, I think, nine yearsago.
And it's become family.
To me, and for me, it's also afull circle because I did study
music as a young person all theway through college.
(15:24):
And the other, I think,interesting full circle is that
I grew up watching a mall in thenight visitors every Christmas,
which was a first of its kind.
It was a TV opera, one act, um,opera that, um, talked about the
story of mall and the Kingsvisiting for the birth of
Christ.
(15:45):
And we watched that quitereligiously.
Sat down with my sisters, turnedon the TV and watched them.
And the ironic thing was thatDr.
Patterson was one of the Kingsand it was important because
previous to Dr.
Patterson doing that, mostoperas cast white singers in
(16:07):
roles for black characters.
And yes, and they were using notnecessarily a, you know, a black
face sort of thing, butdefinitely, you know, not
representing.
An African American singer.
So the story goes that Dr.
Patterson went to NBC because itwas a, you know, a TV opera by
Menotti and told the executivesthat he knew at least a dozen
(16:31):
African American opera singersthat could do this part.
So they listened to him andgathered a number of opera
singers to audition.
And he landed the role, youknow, kind of therefore breaking
the color barrier in opera.
At that time and that kind ofstage.
So I feel like I come fullcircle to actually get to know
(16:53):
this person who probably taughtme that black people sing opera,
you know, that music was foreveryone.
I'm sure that, you know, notnecessarily conscious of that,
but I think that it definitelywas part of my childhood.
And so being able to then studywith him and sing in the corral
with him is just been amazingfor me too, as a.
(17:14):
Kind of a career path and a.
Part of my identity.
Rosanita (17:19):
So when you joined the chorale, did you know that he
was the man who was in thatrole?
No,
Sharon (17:27):
no, I did not, but you know, he'd talk about it and
other people told me about it.
And he would, you know, talkabout that experience because
part of the corral is reallyexposing all the different range
of music that African Americanscompose, arrange, perform.
And so when I realized that, youknow, and.
(17:48):
Talk to him, to him about that.
It was a great aha for me.
I'm sure he had those ahas allthe time.
But for me, it was a great,great connection, especially
growing up like the students inthe instructional program with
some of the support and ability.
To be high school ensembles ata, at a top level, I played just
(18:09):
well enough to get into college,but you know, in my story, I did
not have a good instrument.
I probably could have gonefurther.
I did not have private lessonslike the people.
I was usually third chair, thesecond and first year person
had, had been studying musictheir whole lives and at a
private level.
So I also resonate with that aswell.
(18:29):
My parents, Did end up andfamily helped me get a, uh, uh,
professional clarinet going intocollege.
And I remember my band directorsaying, why didn't they do this
before?
And, you know, of course it'sthe expense, but also they
needed to make priorities aboutwhether I was serious or not
about that instrument.
And so I was very.
(18:51):
Kind of blessed to be able tohave that to go into college.
But, you know, just like thestudents in the instructional
program, I really didn't havethe means to have that
instrument or have thoselessons.
And one of the things we'redoing right now is not a capital
fundraising campaign, but one tocelebrate the 50th anniversary.
And, one of the things webelieve that donors will want to
(19:13):
give to, our scholarships and,and monies, for the
instructional program, becauseit is such a big support for
students.
Rosanita (19:22):
It really is.
And I just think about how.
Some kids can feel reallydisconnected in school and music
gives them such a great outletand then being around other
people who feel the same wayabout music.
Yes, without the pressures ofacademics, or some kids it just,
(19:43):
it must really make, you know,kind of make some kids shine who
wouldn't necessarily shineduring the school day.
Sharon (19:52):
Right, and I think that You know, I'm a student affairs
person, which means all thestuff that surrounds academics
that helps people learn andbeing part of extracurriculars
like music or in schools whereyou can major in music is one of
those, because you do find yourcohort.
And my experience growing up isthat that.
(20:15):
Predominantly white school was alot of the African American kids
were in sports and not in musicand maybe not exposed to it.
So I think that this programcould conserve that niche
because some people just want todo music and they want to be
able to have that, that forayinto the music and may have
supportive parents, but maybeparents who did not study music,
(20:38):
so they get to have thiscommunity support to kind of
discover who they are and findtheir community.
I think that's why the choralefor me feels like such a
community because it's somethingthat I had growing up, but this
is very special to me because itis their other African American
performers and learning along,which I didn't have that much.
(20:59):
I was the kid where you saw theband and you could find me
really fast.
And if you know, if you're notmajor orchestras and things like
that too, I mean, it's stillexists today.
So there's such a need for thisbecause no one believes that the
talent is not there or thededication is not there.
It's just access.
(21:19):
And that's what the programtries to do.
Rosanita (21:22):
Someone I know said that her son was the only
chocolate chip in the crowd.
Sharon (21:26):
Yes, only chocolate chip in the cookie.
Yes.
Yes.
Rosanita (21:31):
And for the instructional program is that
solely instruments or do thestudents also learn how to
compose music as well.
Sharon (21:40):
Not at this point, the problem was a little broader
when it first started, there wasdance and visual arts along with
it.
And I do believe when someonestudies piano, they learn more
of those, but composition hasnever been part of it.
But that's an interesting idea.
Rosanita (21:58):
I remember reading on the website about the, you have
the African American composers,and I think it was, called
Kaleidoscope, the program thathappened last month.
And there is the mention of, wasit like a, a library of some
(22:18):
sort?
Was it a music library?
Sharon (22:20):
Well, the chorale, one of the things that we have that
is a treasure to us is acollection of music that is very
extensive for choral.
Music written by AfricanAmerican and or arranged by
African Americans or othercomposers that really study,
especially the spiritual AfricanAmerican spiritual and beyond.
(22:41):
So the choir has access to that.
We would love to be able to havethe funds to make that happen.
The library, a lending library,that's one of the dreams down
the line, but yes, we do havequite the collection.
And because Dr.
Patterson's history in musicspanning such a long range that
(23:02):
one of the guest speakers is acomposer arranger, Uzi Brown,
who Dr.
Patterson worked with, who isnow, you know, faculty member
doing compositions.
So there is that wanting tosupport.
African American composers andarrangers.
And some of it is simply byexposing the music, but other
(23:24):
is, is seeking them out.
Rosanita (23:26):
How do you find them specifically?
I mean, especially since you'retalking spirituals and is it
finding ones who that are beingnewly composed or arranged, or
is it looking back in history,trying to find older ones that
kind of got lost maybe, or?
Sharon (23:44):
One of the associations that supports African American
composers, arrangers, andperformers is the National
Association of Negro Musicians.
And that is a place where peoplegather, just like any other
professional conference, toexplore the materials.
And there are experts out therein the African American
(24:05):
spiritual and other areas.
Music written by AfricanAmericans.
So for the spiritual, it'ssurrounding yourself with people
who have an interest in that andwho have gone back to study the
slave tunes and how theydeveloped and how they turned
into choral works through thebisque jubilee singers.
(24:26):
You know, so there is a historythat Dr.
Patterson himself has studied.
And that is a network of peopleout there who are studying that
music.
So some of the pieces, forexample, Dr.
Patterson has arranged himself,and there were composers who
were doing this.
And of course, because ofeconomic situations and access
(24:47):
and other resource needs, Theydid like hidden.
I think they're becoming muchmore unearthed and that's,
that's one of the excitingthings about being in the corral
that we really want to pullthose forth.
Because the reality is thatspirituals are a truly unique
American form of music.
(25:09):
That came out of such aremarkable in a negative sense
experience.
And, you know, we believe thatthe music that the enslaved
Africans produce with theirlimitations, they weren't
allowed to bring their culture.
They weren't allowed to bringtheir language, really help them
survive.
(25:30):
And in some cases escape thatenslavement.
So it really, you know, deservesa place in history.
One of the visionary goals isthat, at some point, this music
will be part of the classicalcanon, just like We would find
any other composer, you know, sothat what we say is that we're
(25:54):
not just, we're not juststudying dead white guys in
music that we're studyingmusicians from all backgrounds,
because some of it will end upas standards.
Standard pieces of music.
It's fun to be part of a groupof people who want to do that.
Rosanita (26:11):
It sounds amazing to me and really uplifting because
not just with the camaraderie,but also learning more about
your own history.
Right.
And that aspect of the culturethat there were people who were
composing, even when we didn'tknow that some people were
writing things down.
(26:31):
Right.
That through the oral tradition,then came writing it down, and
it's there, it's just having tofind it and so for the people
who are finding it I'm like alittle jealous because I'm like,
Oh, that must be.
Janet (26:46):
And I remember some of my early days, especially with the
chorale being simultaneouslyproud and really angry because I
had studied music, you know, andI don't think when I was in
college in the late seventiesthat I'm sure the music existed
(27:07):
and I'm sure some people knewit, but it was not the way that
people got to be faculty membersin college, maybe in the HBCUs.
Of course, there's a little bitmore of that, but yeah, uh,
definitely pride and curiosityand you know, I think that the
anger also helps to motivate,you know, the sharing because
(27:32):
you know, I love every kind ofmusic music coming from my
people has a different kind of ahold and that this unique genre
of music fills a niche in music.
As a whole, there are not manythings that are like spirituals
that exist.
Dr.
Patterson is a scholar inAfrican American art songs and
(27:57):
art songs that we learned aboutwere by Schubert and Brahms and
they're beautiful and the Frenchcomposers, but that literature
exists out of American culture.
And, um, one of his books is theAnthology of African American
Art Songs.
Um, that's a collection that'snow being studied more and more.
Um, University of Michigan, Ithink, was one of the first
(28:18):
places that has a course onthat.
Rosanita (28:21):
What exactly is an art song?
Janet (28:25):
Okay, so they might take my music degree away, but an art
song is a solo piece of musicthat really incorporates word
painting.
So it takes the language ofoften poets or visionaries and
Puts it to music in the way thatpaints the image.
(28:50):
So Langston Hughes is used awhole lot.
One of the one is, I too dreamAmerica.
And that's becoming standard,one of the arts songs.
So it's I too sing America, I'mthe darker brother.
So it's from that poem and themusic follows that.
The rhythm is I too singAmerica.
(29:12):
I am the darker brother and thenit flows.
I'm not that comfortable singingwith you, but you know, but the
music, one of our songs is, butI love and, but I love and I eat
well.
It's very modern.
(29:33):
You know, so the, the musicreally paints the picture of the
poetry.
And that's what an art song is.
Also another characteristic ofan art song is that the
accompaniment is more a wholepiece of music versus simply
accompanying the singer or theinstrumentalist.
It stands on its own in manycases as a composition or
(29:56):
arrangement.
Rosanita (29:57):
Okay.
Janet (29:59):
But especially for the art songs, this collection that
everybody uses now comes with aCD of artists singing the
different pieces.
And there are so definitelyexamples on YouTube of this
music.
And some of the people who sangwith Dr.
Patterson in the studio and sangwhat they Our Own Thing Chorale
and went on to get theiradvanced degrees or doctorate
(30:21):
degrees and are performingstarted through the
instructional program, it's sucha rich history.
Rosanita (30:27):
Well, unfortunately, we came to the end of today's
episode.
I really enjoyed the first partof our conversation with Sharon
Vautner and Janet V.
Haynes from Willis.
Patterson's Our Own ThingChorale.
Their dedication to fostering aspace where voices come together
to celebrate heritage,diversity, and the power of
(30:48):
african-American music is trulyinspiring.
Be sure to come back next weekfor part two of our interview,
where we'll continue to explorethe rich history and impact of
the chorale.
Don't miss it.
Until then keep celebrating themusic that unites us all.
This is Rosanita signing off.
Welcome to Behind The Curtain with Rosanita, Ratcliff
as your host.
This week's episode is part, oneof Harmonies of Heritage, Sharon
Vautner's and Janet V.
Haynes of Willis Patterson's OurOwn Thing Chorale.
Explore their journey Infostering a space where voices
(00:21):
come together to celebrateheritage, diversity and the
power of music to unite andinspire.
Thank you both for agreeing todo the interview this afternoon.
I'm really excited.
When I was a kid, I used towatch the Willis C.
Patterson, Out Own Thing Choraleperformances.
(00:41):
Was talking with my parentsbecause I vaguely remember that.
My brother used to play one ofthe instruments.
He wasn't in the chorale but hewas in the orchestra program for
a little bit of a time.
Do you remember him?
Janet (00:58):
I remember him from then.
Rosanita (01:01):
He was probably very rambunctious.
Back then, and so then hearing areading that it was the 50th
anniversary that you guys werecelebrating and knowing that you
were still around when I movedback to Ann Arbor, just, I was
just so excited about that.
(01:23):
And was kind of wondering if youcould give for the people who
are listening, uh, history ofthe chorale and the
instructional program, becausethere I know there are 2
different things, right?
Janet (01:42):
Yes, yes they are.
Rosanita (01:45):
So which one came first, the chorale or the
instructional program?
Janet (01:50):
The instructional program came first.
It was, founded in 1969 and Dr.
Patterson had been on faculty atthe University of Michigan
School of Music for about ayear.
He was the first AfricanAmerican, faculty member at the
School of Music.
And having grown up Born andraised in Ann Arbor, he
(02:15):
understood and saw thedeficiency that African American
kids were unable, were not beingrepresented in the music classes
in the public schools,especially in the grade school
level.
And he wanted to do somethingthat would enable more kids to
(02:36):
feel more comfortable aboutentering those spaces.
And so he started theinstructional program.
It was launched at FirstCongregational Church where he
was the music director.
Classes were held there and theteachers were students from the
(02:56):
School of Music.
And I happened to be one ofthose students while I was in
school.
He was my voice professor.
And the kids, the childrenreally flourished in that.
That they were offered voicelessons as well as instrumental
lessons, and that was piano andviolin, and I, and I think a
(03:18):
couple of the woodwinds wereoffered at the time.
So, that's how the instructionalprogram started.
And it went, and this 1, Icannot remember totally, but it
stayed at 1st CongregationalChurch.
until just before Dr.
Patterson retired from there.
(03:40):
And then it moved to CommunityChurch of God in Ypsilanti.
And it was the program was therefor a while.
Can you continue that story onthe instructional program?
What it's doing now?
Sharon (03:52):
Sure.
I think the exciting thing aboutthe instructional program is, is
that Dr.
Patterson saw potential in thesekids and knew that they should
be able to be exploring theinstruments and their talents as
much as everyone else.
So now in the instructionalprogram, you know, we all went
through COVID.
Which was an interesting part ofthe process.
(04:16):
Lessons have been going on atthe community church of God in
person, and the way they are setup was in group lessons.
So, a group of kids would comeevery Tuesday night and be
taught on their instrument.
And then if a student hadpotential or wanted to go on,
they would be given individuallessons.
And many of the students overthe years have gone on.
(04:39):
To do music, but that's not thepoint of it.
The point is to give them theaccess to music and the arts.
And some of them have even goneon to start their own program in
Kenya, in California, to name acouple.
And I think one of the thingsthat the program also prides
itself on is kind of the role ofthe teacher mentor.
(05:02):
So it wasn't just going in andcaring if, you know, little
Sharon.
I wasn't in a, you know, knewher scales, but it was more, you
know, about being an adultsupport in the community and
kind of enriching the studentsas a whole person.
So now we're coming out of covenand back into kind of a new era,
(05:25):
which is kind of interestingsense.
It's little over 50 years old.
And what we'll be doing isreinstating the whole array of
instruments in a communitysetting.
All along, even through COVID,there was a partnership with
University of Michigan School ofMusic, and particularly in piano
students were able to takelessons from University of
(05:45):
Michigan students who are doingkind of a practicum experience
for teaching, and that's stillgoing on today, where they get
matched up with a student, andthey take them at any level,
which gives the students atMichigan a chance to have that
experience and have theexperience with a.
population and then have a, youknow, chance for the students
(06:08):
and parents to celebrate that atthe end of the semester.
And in that way kind of enrichthe community.
So that's what's going on now.
And we're really targeting toget instruments started again,
since COVID restrictions areless and we still see the
interest in instruments.
We've had people all along, evenduring COVID wanting to do
individual lessons where weweren't necessarily set up to do
(06:30):
that for the community settings.
Rosanita (06:33):
For the instrumental instruction, do the students
like check out an instrument?
Is that what happens?
Sharon (06:41):
Yes, part of the program is that instruments will be
supplied, so that doesn't giveany kind of economic barrier to
someone who wouldn't have themeans to rent their instrument.
The schools have really not beengiving instruments out, you
know, as much.
The instruments were, you know,The program on the students have
instruments that are in goodshape.
(07:02):
So that continues today, wherestudents can check out an
instrument.
And in the piano program, whathas happened is a special
partnership where there was agrant written to purchase a
large number of keyboards.
So students can even take akeyboard home and practice on
that keyboard.
And during COVID, they, throughthe University of Michigan, were
(07:23):
meeting on Zoom.
Rosanita (07:25):
That's, that's great, especially to know that they
were able to continue on throughcoven, or, I mean, even beyond
coven, if like someone couldn'tmake it right then they would
still be able to potentiallyparticipate.
Get practice in or use zoom.
Sharon (07:45):
Yes.
Well, actually, based on thecommunity standards, they want
all online for a certain periodof time, probably, probably from
right away in 2020 all the waythrough until this year.
They're where they're justgetting started back in person.
Rosanita (08:02):
And how young can a student be to first start with
the instructional program.
Sharon (08:09):
Um, I think it's elementary age.
I think they probably preferfirst grade or students who are
getting closer to age 10, butI'm sure, you know, a younger
student would be turned away ifthey, if they could really, they
really wanted to do it and goesup through high school.
Something that started beforeCOVID, it was offering some
(08:29):
adult lessons as well.
And the interesting thing aboutthe The relationship between the
instructional program and thechorale was that when it first
started, the parents also sawwhat kind of benefit the
students were getting out ofbeing able to study music and
have that kind of enjoyment intheir lives.
So the parents wanted a place todo music.
(08:49):
And as Dr.
Patterson says, that's all ittook for him to start the Our
Own Thing chorale.
Rosanita (08:54):
That just led right into, to that one in terms of
how the chorale started, becausethat's the part that, Like I
think really sticks out for meand better.
Remember the most.
Janet (09:08):
Dr.
Patterson was born and raised inAnn Arbor, and during his youth,
he attended to Dunbar CommunityCenter, which was the forerunner
of the Ann Arbor CommunityCenter on North main and that
community center was a centerfor the black community and all
(09:30):
kinds of activities and thingswere done there and one of the
things that was offered was ayouth choir, and he was a part
of that youth choir.
So fast forward to 1971.
That thought was, was with himand there were community members
that were also interested, someof which had also been in that
(09:53):
community choir had grown upwith him.
And so they wanted him to starta community choir, and he did so
so the corral was started in 71with the sole purpose of
performing and preserving themusic of African American
composers and arrangers.
for joining us.
(10:13):
Mm hmm.
With special emphasis on theNegro spirituals.
So that choir started, as I saidin 71.
As a voice student of his, Iparticipated in that choir in
74, and was there until Igraduated.
And then the choir disbanded andI can't remember why.
(10:36):
But it stopped, I think in 76 or77, and then he picked it up
again.
Some of those same communitymembers said, we want to come
back.
We want to do more of this.
And as Sharon had mentioned,there were some parents that had
children in the instructionalprogram that also wanted to be a
part of the music making scene,so encouraged him to start.
(10:59):
So he started it again in 1980,which is when I rejoined and
it's been going since.
Sharon (11:07):
One of the things that Dr.
Patterson said in a recentinterview was that one of the
niches that the crowd providedwas a place or a variety of
music so that the only place tosing this type of music was not
in the churches.
It was another place to be ableto sing music that might come
from the churches but alsospirituals that were in choral
(11:30):
arrangements for concert andthat there was a definite need
in the community.
We're doing that.
In fact, the name of the corral,our own thing corral kind of
came from that, from that needthat there were things in
Detroit that were happening asfar as corrals, some things in
Ipsy, but Ann Arbor didn't havethat kind of thing.
(11:53):
And he knew there was a need.
So that became our own thingcorral.
And I think that title is justwonderful because it is about
the whole community.
Not just for the singers, butfor the audience and other
people who might be interestedin this singing process.
So it's a very, to me, it's,it's such a very special
(12:13):
organization.
Rosanita (12:16):
It really is.
And how did you become involvedwith the organization?
Sharon (12:22):
Well, I am not an Ann Arbor native, but I moved here
in 1986 and probably, that's
Rosanita (12:28):
enough.
Sharon (12:29):
Yeah, I know now.
I feel like I'm a Midwesterner.
Person from the East Coast, butprobably in the 90s, I would say
a colleague of mine who was inthe Chorale told me about the
chorale.
And she said, you'd got to come.
You'd would really love singingthis.
I have a undergraduate degree ininstrumental music education,
(12:53):
but kind of switched and I wasworking in higher education
leadership at the university ofMichigan, and she asked me for
years and years and years.
And I think my hesitation attime was that I was a classic.
Sandwich generation.
I had younger kids and olderparents and younger active kids
in Ann Arbor, but you know, the90s are talked about as the time
(13:16):
where kids were overscheduled,you know, so my kids were in
Girl Scouts and soccer and musicand all these different things.
And, you know, as a dual careercouple, my husband and I didn't
do very many things outside ofthat.
But later in my career, when thekids got older, I actually, you
know, my friend, Gene actuallyregularly asked me probably
(13:37):
every six months, you need tocome and sing, you need to come
and sing.
And the other thing sheemphasizes, it's non audition.
You come and if you, you know,can join in and sing and talk,
then you can join this.
For me, I ended up retiringearly.
from the University of Michiganalmost 10 years ago because of
some health concerns.
(13:58):
And some of those healthconcerns Really generated a lot
of stress and anxiety for me.
So I ended up retiring early,going on disability and taking
care of myself.
So in taking care of myself, Ialso was kind of isolated
though.
And as I was starting to feelbetter, my friend, Jean said,
you really need to come andsing.
(14:20):
And so out of this kind of timeof time of life where there's
kind of a health crisis for me,the corral was the first thing I
did out in the community.
And it really changed my life tobe able to sit there with a
diverse population, butparticularly sitting next to
other African American women,some professional faculty
(14:42):
members working at the U otherin other professions, others
that came in more from a churchbackground was so inspiring and
so uplifting.
And the way that Dr.
Patterson taught us and acceptedus was also uplifting.
I spent my life.
Most of my life doing careercounseling sorts of things.
(15:02):
And one of the things we say isthat constant improvement in
something helps build yourconfidence and your self esteem.
And I really feel like theCorral had done that for me
starting, I think, nine yearsago.
And it's become family.
To me, and for me, it's also afull circle because I did study
music as a young person all theway through college.
(15:24):
And the other, I think,interesting full circle is that
I grew up watching a mall in thenight visitors every Christmas,
which was a first of its kind.
It was a TV opera, one act, um,opera that, um, talked about the
story of mall and the Kingsvisiting for the birth of
Christ.
(15:45):
And we watched that quitereligiously.
Sat down with my sisters, turnedon the TV and watched them.
And the ironic thing was thatDr.
Patterson was one of the Kingsand it was important because
previous to Dr.
Patterson doing that, mostoperas cast white singers in
(16:07):
roles for black characters.
And yes, and they were using notnecessarily a, you know, a black
face sort of thing, butdefinitely, you know, not
representing.
An African American singer.
So the story goes that Dr.
Patterson went to NBC because itwas a, you know, a TV opera by
Menotti and told the executivesthat he knew at least a dozen
(16:31):
African American opera singersthat could do this part.
So they listened to him andgathered a number of opera
singers to audition.
And he landed the role, youknow, kind of therefore breaking
the color barrier in opera.
At that time and that kind ofstage.
So I feel like I come fullcircle to actually get to know
(16:53):
this person who probably taughtme that black people sing opera,
you know, that music was foreveryone.
I'm sure that, you know, notnecessarily conscious of that,
but I think that it definitelywas part of my childhood.
And so being able to then studywith him and sing in the corral
with him is just been amazingfor me too, as a.
(17:14):
Kind of a career path and a.
Part of my identity.
Rosanita (17:19):
So when you joined the chorale, did you know that he
was the man who was in thatrole?
No,
Sharon (17:27):
no, I did not, but you know, he'd talk about it and
other people told me about it.
And he would, you know, talkabout that experience because
part of the corral is reallyexposing all the different range
of music that African Americanscompose, arrange, perform.
And so when I realized that, youknow, and.
(17:48):
Talk to him, to him about that.
It was a great aha for me.
I'm sure he had those ahas allthe time.
But for me, it was a great,great connection, especially
growing up like the students inthe instructional program with
some of the support and ability.
To be high school ensembles ata, at a top level, I played just
(18:09):
well enough to get into college,but you know, in my story, I did
not have a good instrument.
I probably could have gonefurther.
I did not have private lessonslike the people.
I was usually third chair, thesecond and first year person
had, had been studying musictheir whole lives and at a
private level.
So I also resonate with that aswell.
(18:29):
My parents, Did end up andfamily helped me get a, uh, uh,
professional clarinet going intocollege.
And I remember my band directorsaying, why didn't they do this
before?
And, you know, of course it'sthe expense, but also they
needed to make priorities aboutwhether I was serious or not
about that instrument.
And so I was very.
(18:51):
Kind of blessed to be able tohave that to go into college.
But, you know, just like thestudents in the instructional
program, I really didn't havethe means to have that
instrument or have thoselessons.
And one of the things we'redoing right now is not a capital
fundraising campaign, but one tocelebrate the 50th anniversary.
And, one of the things webelieve that donors will want to
(19:13):
give to, our scholarships and,and monies, for the
instructional program, becauseit is such a big support for
students.
Rosanita (19:22):
It really is.
And I just think about how.
Some kids can feel reallydisconnected in school and music
gives them such a great outletand then being around other
people who feel the same wayabout music.
Yes, without the pressures ofacademics, or some kids it just,
(19:43):
it must really make, you know,kind of make some kids shine who
wouldn't necessarily shineduring the school day.
Sharon (19:52):
Right, and I think that You know, I'm a student affairs
person, which means all thestuff that surrounds academics
that helps people learn andbeing part of extracurriculars
like music or in schools whereyou can major in music is one of
those, because you do find yourcohort.
And my experience growing up isthat that.
(20:15):
Predominantly white school was alot of the African American kids
were in sports and not in musicand maybe not exposed to it.
So I think that this programcould conserve that niche
because some people just want todo music and they want to be
able to have that, that forayinto the music and may have
supportive parents, but maybeparents who did not study music,
(20:38):
so they get to have thiscommunity support to kind of
discover who they are and findtheir community.
I think that's why the choralefor me feels like such a
community because it's somethingthat I had growing up, but this
is very special to me because itis their other African American
performers and learning along,which I didn't have that much.
(20:59):
I was the kid where you saw theband and you could find me
really fast.
And if you know, if you're notmajor orchestras and things like
that too, I mean, it's stillexists today.
So there's such a need for thisbecause no one believes that the
talent is not there or thededication is not there.
It's just access.
(21:19):
And that's what the programtries to do.
Rosanita (21:22):
Someone I know said that her son was the only
chocolate chip in the crowd.
Sharon (21:26):
Yes, only chocolate chip in the cookie.
Yes.
Yes.
Rosanita (21:31):
And for the instructional program is that
solely instruments or do thestudents also learn how to
compose music as well.
Sharon (21:40):
Not at this point, the problem was a little broader
when it first started, there wasdance and visual arts along with
it.
And I do believe when someonestudies piano, they learn more
of those, but composition hasnever been part of it.
But that's an interesting idea.
Rosanita (21:58):
I remember reading on the website about the, you have
the African American composers,and I think it was, called
Kaleidoscope, the program thathappened last month.
And there is the mention of, wasit like a, a library of some
(22:18):
sort?
Was it a music library?
Sharon (22:20):
Well, the chorale, one of the things that we have that
is a treasure to us is acollection of music that is very
extensive for choral.
Music written by AfricanAmerican and or arranged by
African Americans or othercomposers that really study,
especially the spiritual AfricanAmerican spiritual and beyond.
(22:41):
So the choir has access to that.
We would love to be able to havethe funds to make that happen.
The library, a lending library,that's one of the dreams down
the line, but yes, we do havequite the collection.
And because Dr.
Patterson's history in musicspanning such a long range that
(23:02):
one of the guest speakers is acomposer arranger, Uzi Brown,
who Dr.
Patterson worked with, who isnow, you know, faculty member
doing compositions.
So there is that wanting tosupport.
African American composers andarrangers.
And some of it is simply byexposing the music, but other
(23:24):
is, is seeking them out.
Rosanita (23:26):
How do you find them specifically?
I mean, especially since you'retalking spirituals and is it
finding ones who that are beingnewly composed or arranged, or
is it looking back in history,trying to find older ones that
kind of got lost maybe, or?
Sharon (23:44):
One of the associations that supports African American
composers, arrangers, andperformers is the National
Association of Negro Musicians.
And that is a place where peoplegather, just like any other
professional conference, toexplore the materials.
And there are experts out therein the African American
(24:05):
spiritual and other areas.
Music written by AfricanAmericans.
So for the spiritual, it'ssurrounding yourself with people
who have an interest in that andwho have gone back to study the
slave tunes and how theydeveloped and how they turned
into choral works through thebisque jubilee singers.
(24:26):
You know, so there is a historythat Dr.
Patterson himself has studied.
And that is a network of peopleout there who are studying that
music.
So some of the pieces, forexample, Dr.
Patterson has arranged himself,and there were composers who
were doing this.
And of course, because ofeconomic situations and access
(24:47):
and other resource needs, Theydid like hidden.
I think they're becoming muchmore unearthed and that's,
that's one of the excitingthings about being in the corral
that we really want to pullthose forth.
Because the reality is thatspirituals are a truly unique
American form of music.
(25:09):
That came out of such aremarkable in a negative sense
experience.
And, you know, we believe thatthe music that the enslaved
Africans produce with theirlimitations, they weren't
allowed to bring their culture.
They weren't allowed to bringtheir language, really help them
survive.
(25:30):
And in some cases escape thatenslavement.
So it really, you know, deservesa place in history.
One of the visionary goals isthat, at some point, this music
will be part of the classicalcanon, just like We would find
any other composer, you know, sothat what we say is that we're
(25:54):
not just, we're not juststudying dead white guys in
music that we're studyingmusicians from all backgrounds,
because some of it will end upas standards.
Standard pieces of music.
It's fun to be part of a groupof people who want to do that.
Rosanita (26:11):
It sounds amazing to me and really uplifting because
not just with the camaraderie,but also learning more about
your own history.
Right.
And that aspect of the culturethat there were people who were
composing, even when we didn'tknow that some people were
writing things down.
(26:31):
Right.
That through the oral tradition,then came writing it down, and
it's there, it's just having tofind it and so for the people
who are finding it I'm like alittle jealous because I'm like,
Oh, that must be.
Janet (26:46):
And I remember some of my early days, especially with the
chorale being simultaneouslyproud and really angry because I
had studied music, you know, andI don't think when I was in
college in the late seventiesthat I'm sure the music existed
(27:07):
and I'm sure some people knewit, but it was not the way that
people got to be faculty membersin college, maybe in the HBCUs.
Of course, there's a little bitmore of that, but yeah, uh,
definitely pride and curiosityand you know, I think that the
anger also helps to motivate,you know, the sharing because
(27:32):
you know, I love every kind ofmusic music coming from my
people has a different kind of ahold and that this unique genre
of music fills a niche in music.
As a whole, there are not manythings that are like spirituals
that exist.
Dr.
Patterson is a scholar inAfrican American art songs and
(27:57):
art songs that we learned aboutwere by Schubert and Brahms and
they're beautiful and the Frenchcomposers, but that literature
exists out of American culture.
And, um, one of his books is theAnthology of African American
Art Songs.
Um, that's a collection that'snow being studied more and more.
Um, University of Michigan, Ithink, was one of the first
(28:18):
places that has a course onthat.
Rosanita (28:21):
What exactly is an art song?
Janet (28:25):
Okay, so they might take my music degree away, but an art
song is a solo piece of musicthat really incorporates word
painting.
So it takes the language ofoften poets or visionaries and
Puts it to music in the way thatpaints the image.
(28:50):
So Langston Hughes is used awhole lot.
One of the one is, I too dreamAmerica.
And that's becoming standard,one of the arts songs.
So it's I too sing America, I'mthe darker brother.
So it's from that poem and themusic follows that.
The rhythm is I too singAmerica.
(29:12):
I am the darker brother and thenit flows.
I'm not that comfortable singingwith you, but you know, but the
music, one of our songs is, butI love and, but I love and I eat
well.
It's very modern.
(29:33):
You know, so the, the musicreally paints the picture of the
poetry.
And that's what an art song is.
Also another characteristic ofan art song is that the
accompaniment is more a wholepiece of music versus simply
accompanying the singer or theinstrumentalist.
It stands on its own in manycases as a composition or
(29:56):
arrangement.
Rosanita (29:57):
Okay.
Janet (29:59):
But especially for the art songs, this collection that
everybody uses now comes with aCD of artists singing the
different pieces.
And there are so definitelyexamples on YouTube of this
music.
And some of the people who sangwith Dr.
Patterson in the studio and sangwhat they Our Own Thing Chorale
and went on to get theiradvanced degrees or doctorate
(30:21):
degrees and are performingstarted through the
instructional program, it's sucha rich history.
Rosanita (30:27):
Well, unfortunately, we came to the end of today's
episode.
I really enjoyed the first partof our conversation with Sharon
Vautner and Janet V.
Haynes from Willis.
Patterson's Our Own ThingChorale.
Their dedication to fostering aspace where voices come together
to celebrate heritage,diversity, and the power of
(30:48):
african-American music is trulyinspiring.
Be sure to come back next weekfor part two of our interview,
where we'll continue to explorethe rich history and impact of
the chorale.
Don't miss it.
Until then keep celebrating themusic that unites us all.
This is Rosanita signing off.
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