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Mar. 15--During a recent rehearsal, maestro Grant Cooper exhorted the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra chorus to feel an internal pulse so the singers wouldn't drag the tempo. He said that soprano Vicki Smith's internal rhythm kept her on time, even though she couldn't see him or the music.
What? Couldn't see him? Heads swiveled in Smith's direction as chorus members murmured to each other that they didn't know a blind person was singing with them. Smith was initially dismayed to be singled out.
"At first I thought, 'Oh, no. Why did you do that?" Smith said. "But then I thought that people would realize I'm just as normal as they are."
Not exactly. Smith, 55, puts in some serious extra rehearsal time to memorize the 204-page "Elijah" choral score the chorus is singing with the orchestra Friday and Saturday at the Clay Center. She carries a tape recorder to every rehearsal and listens to it repeatedly at her Dunbar home until she memorizes her part and related instructions from chorus director Joe Janish.
She holds a notebook containing the lyrics in Braille, but the musical notes and dynamics are all in her head. Janish offered to find a copy of Felix Mendelssohn's "Elijah" written in the Braille musical system, but Smith declined because the book would be so bulky. Each printed page equals two to three pages in Braille, she explained.
"I told him I'd need a cart to carry my music," she said. "I'm so used to doing it this way. I know that I'm going to have to do is a little more work. So what? If I want to do it badly enough, I will."
Other singers watch the director closely for cues and cut-offs. Smith listens intently to singers around her so she blends with the chorus and ends when they do.
Smith, who was born blind, joined the audition-only chorus in January at the urging of a friend who was familiar with Smith's voice and musical ability. Before that first rehearsal, Smith introduced herself to Janish and said she would like to observe the rehearsal.
Janish seated Smith next to his wife, Julie Janish, who he explained was a strong soprano. Smith warmed up with the group, and then listened as Janish led them through several choruses. When she recognized the opening strains of "He, Watching Over Israel," a piece she had sung before, she chimed right in.
During the rehearsal's break, Janish asked his wife about Smith's tone, pitch and diction.
"I considered it a great compliment when Julie said it was as good as hers," Smith said.
Smith formally auditioned for Janish after the rehearsal. She said she was delighted when he offered her a spot because she had contacted directors of other groups who were not willing to work with her disability.
Janish teaches the chorus a piece of music, and then Cooper usually fine-tunes it in the final weeks before a symphony/chorus performance. Smith said she was gratified that Cooper had not realized that she blind was when she first introduced herself to him after one of his rehearsals.
"He really had no idea that I didn't see," she said. "He asked me how I was doing this. He was very interested."
Born and raised in Charleston until her sixth grade school year, Smith attended the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Romney for her middle and high school years. While there, she sang with the school's chorus and played clarinet in the band. Directors of both groups adapted their musical teaching methods for the students' special needs, relying on the students to memorize their parts.
"When it was time for a performance, our choir director would stand up in front of us to direct, but, of course, none of us could see him," she said. "I think it just made it look good."
Smith also took piano lessons, starting when she was 5 years old. She switched to classical organ when she was 17. Today, she said she would like to play clarinet again, but she lacks both an instrument and a group to play with.
Smith doesn't like to be told that she can't do something. Now retired, she struggled during her career with the IRS in Parkersburg and her 24 years with Verizon in Charleston to prove to sometimes-skeptical managers that she could do a job. When the company updated equipment, Smith searched for prototypes so she could continue her job in the collections department.
Her love of music developed when Smith was 3 years old and joined her aunt and uncle as they sang gospel in local churches. Today, she sings in her choir at St. Timothy Lutheran Church, and has sung solos for several cantatas there. Her first love is gospel and she said she hopes to sing with a gospel group.
Her church choir director is pleased that she is singing with the symphony chorus and said he'll be in the audience for one of the performances this weekend. He warned her that the experience of singing with a large symphony could be overwhelming.
"He told me I would be so surprised at the vastness of the sound the first time I heard it," she said. "He said he will be waiting in the lobby afterwards because he can't wait to see my face."
To contact staff writer Julie Robinson, use e-mail or call 348-1230.
If you go
The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will perform Mendelssohn's "Elijah" at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Clay Center. For ticket information, call 561-3570 or check online at www.wvsymphony.org.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.
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