“Anything that has a nice open vowel, just lean in on it,” Normandy High School choir director Duane Foster told students as they rehearsed for Opera Theatre St. Louis’ Spring Fling Concert at The Missouri History Museum as part of OTSL’s 40th Anniversary festivities.
Internationally renowned opera star Denyce Graves stood among students from Normandy High and Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, listening intently to Foster’s direction as they rehearsed Evelyn Simpson-Curenton’s spiritual, “Git on Board.”
“Mr. Duane, you’ll let me know the logistics and in terms of the charisma you want to add,” Graves said.
“Mr. Duane” would get used to Graves asking questions over the hour-long rehearsal. She was never pushy or demanding, just determined to make sure she was on the same page with Foster and the students.
Meanwhile, “Mr. Duane” demanded the best of the students.
“I really want you to differentiate that D flat from D natural,” Foster told the sopranos – following up with the sound he expected them to produce. “Go for it.”
“Right on, Mr. Duane, right on,” Graves said.
She previously worked with Normandy High and OTSL as a featured performer in “#WithNormandy: A Concert for Peace & Unity” held in September as a response to the August 9 shooting death of Michael Brown Jr. – who graduated from Normandy High just a few months before his death sparked international outrage and unrest.
Foster spoke of how “Git On Board,” could refer the Underground Railroad and risking one’s own freedom to make sure others had an opportunity to escape slavery.
“When you are singing this,” she said, “I want to make sure that your spirit is so positive that people really feel that there is room on the train – that you are open for more people and that they are welcome to join you on that train.”
Graves provided an illustration from personal experience.
“I was doing a recital to raise funds to be able to sing over in Europe, and an older black gentleman came up and asked me why I didn’t have any spirituals in my recital,” Graves said. “I told him I usually do, but I don’t this time. He said, ‘If we don’t sing these songs, who will? You have a responsibility to sing these songs and tell the story.’”
When Graves last left St. Louis, unrest was at its height. As she returns, her hometown of Baltimore is in the aftershock period of unrest following the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of police.
“Whenever there is any sort of unrest or injustice because somebody somewhere feels devalued, Tim O’Leary of Opera Theatre of St. Louis recognizes that and is proactive on working to be inclusive,” Graves said. “I’m very moved by his being proactive in really wanting to extend the reach. We all know that music has the ability to express that which is inexpressible.”
Graves said that the work she is doing with OTSL in Normandy reflects her most important responsibility as an opera star.
“This is what talent, position and all of these things are about – being able to use it in a way that serves humanity for the greater good for all people,” Graves said.
“My hope is that my talent be used in a way that is a blessing – and to be a healing force. As that passes through me, it makes me a better human being. I feel like it cleans my heart. I’m here on my knees with great service and appreciation.”
