By JOHN CHALIK '67
It wasn't the music - at least not for most of us. Looking over the list of students who sang in the 11 tour choirs, less than 20 percent were music majors. For some, a two-week odyssey over spring break was certainly alluring but, for most, the chief attraction was Don Jenkins, the young, self-assured, dynamic guy who created and led The Colorado College Choir. Once you experienced the thrill of singing with Don, you were hooked.
If it hadn't been for Don, many probably would have quit. His voracious appetite for difficult, obscure and dissonant works made early rehearsals incredibly frustrating. We spent months convinced we would never learn the repertoire. Don, however, wouldn't let us give up. Though we frequently left rehearsals shaking our heads, Don always found a way to make us believe there was a chance we could pull it off. And bit by bit, as fall moved toward winter, moments of joy and exhilaration emerged from despair. A cheer would often erupt following the first successful navigation through a particularly befuddling passage.
Learning the music was only part of the effort. There also was a two-week trip to plan for 60 people. Once a region was selected, a group of choir members would gather at Don and Gwen's home for a series of "typing parties." Hundreds of letters were individually typed and addressed to ministers of churches. "The CC Choir will perform great music in your sanctuary," we offered, "in exchange for an evening meal, lodging in your homes and a modest honorarium." Thus, the actual itinerary for each tour was determined by the random affirmative responses from the churches.
Frequently, part of the concert program included an instrumental ensemble or small orchestra. In 1965, we traveled with a percussion orchestra that included two harps, tympani, xylophone and a vibraphone. The 1966 tour featured a 15-piece wind ensemble and in 1967 we performed Charpentier's "Laetatus Sum" with a 17-piece string orchestra. Imagine the logistics of loading, hauling, setting up and keeping those instruments in tune.
As we returned in January to begin the second semester, panic began to overtake frustration. Rehearsals frequently went into overtime, and extra rehearsals went from exception to rule. Meanwhile, we struggled to fill the gaps in the tour schedule, compromising the logic of the itinerary with those dreaded12-hour days on the bus. Sometimes we'd arrive at the concert site with barely enough time to set up, warm up, eat the dinner our hosts had prepared for us, and get our robes on.
And oh the bus stories that could be told! We thought we knew each other pretty well after hundreds of hours of rehearsal, typing parties, chapel choir, and caroling. Being on our own away from the comforts of campus, the bus produced closeness that can only be described as "family." When someone was ill, one or two members assumed the role of medic; emotional crises occasioned the need for peer therapy; and a variety of games relieved the highway boredom (ask any choir veteran about "pinchy-winchy"). By the final concert, exhaustion reigned and tears flowed as we put everything we had into making the last our best. It was always a quiet bus ride back to Colorado Springs.
It's been more than 25 years since the last tour but the Colorado College Choir of the '60s continues to enjoy a vibrant life. Our first reunion at Homecoming 1983 was so successful that it was repeated in 1989 and 1995. The reunion goal was to renew friendships, have a few rehearsals and perform a short program. Since most of us hadn't sung much since leaving CC, we arrived with minimal expectations. Only a few minutes into our first rehearsal, however, we realized that little had been lost.
Of that experience, Marcia Irving '65 wrote, "Not a group who just happened to share the same years, but a group sharing the same life ... We came to honor the joys of what we'd done and, accidentally, we captured them again. We came to feel the magic within ourselves, to see if it could still come out and it did, guided by those same magical hands!"
John Chalik '67, a college trustee since 1987, is a consultant living in Oakland.
"Directed by Donald P. Jenkins, the 60 undergraduates sang with finesse and assurance, with a mellow, almost silken tone quality, and a near-perfect blend. Mr. Jenkins, looking almost as youthful as his singers, conducted with marvelous flair and sensitivity." - The New York Times
"The Colorado College Choir glittered like polished gold nuggets in its first performance on the New York stage. The sound was young but refined." - United Press International
"The program was one of the most challenging and stimulating lists to be offered by any college choir in my memory." - The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.)