Vocal extravaganzas mark retirement of LAH resident, SJSU choral director Charlene Archibeque
By Bruce Barton, Town Crier Staff Writer
 Joe Hu/Town Crier Charlene Archibeque takes a bow after conducting San Jose State University Concert Choir in a performance Friday evening at the SJSU Concert Hall. Archibeque is retiring after 35 years as a music professor and SJSU choral director. |
Charlene Archibeque doesn’t come across as someone ready to retire - even after 35 years as a music professor and the leader of the choral program at San Jose State University.
In fact, retirement is the last word on one’s mind after meeting this vibrant 20-year Los Altos Hills resident. Equal parts superb musician and supreme teacher, Archibeque continues to inspire and be inspired through her deep love of music. For those familiar with the world of choral music, Archibeque is a giant, an internationally acclaimed conductor who has led her 32-member Choraliers choir through decades of international tours, numerous awards and rave reviews.
Throughout her career, Archibeque has set the bar high for herself and her students, challenging them to go beyond what they thought possible. Because of this, many Archibeque pupils have gone on to successful careers in music and remain grateful to their mentor.
Current and former students gathered Friday and Saturday for four events that served as big-time salutes to the longtime choral director. Archibeque said students came from as far away as Australia and at least 10 different states to join in the musical tributes.
“It’s really exciting to see some people I haven’t seen in 30 years,” Archibeque said the week prior to the events. “A man came to the door. I said - ‘Don Schneider,’” a Choralier’s alum from 1976.
The first of the salutes came Friday at an “artist showcase” featuring former concert choir and Choraliers members who now sing professionally. The showcase included Opera San Jose lead vocalists Lori Decter, soprano; Joseph Wright, bass-baritone; Sandra Rubalcava, mezzo; and David Cox, director/baritone. Then 250 reunited former students from all phases of Archibeque’s 35-year career sang Archibeque’s praises during an “On Wings of Song” concert this past Saturday at the California Theatre Center in San Jose. A reception and retirement banquet followed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
“I wrote to a few students, ‘I’m going to retire next year. What should I do?’” Archibeque said of the events’ origins.” ‘What kind of celebration do you want to have?’ They said we want to have a concert under your direction. We need to have a mixer. I wanted to have famous ex-students come back and perform.” Naturally, Archibeque played a major role in coordinating the events.
‘Life-changing’
Joy Sherman, currently the choral director at Seattle University and the emcee of the banquet that followed last Saturday’s concert, called Archibeque “a gifted person with vision” and “a formative influence in my life.” The two attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, where Archibeque received her doctorate in choral conducting and history.
Sherman recalled “a life-changing point for me” when conducting a high school choir approximately 25 years ago. Archibeque, thoroughly honest and not one to sugarcoat criticisms, “talked to me about what wasn’t working. I made some changes after that.”
Sherman remains amazed by Archibeque’s “willingness to give. She’s a real teacher. She really wants her students to do well.”
“In many ways she has been the instrument of change for my life,” said Kristina Overcashier, currently teaching music at Pinewood School. “I can’t imagine where I would be without her guidance and support. I feel incredibly fortunate to have studied with the foremost female conductor in the world.”
Overcashier contacted Archibeque in November 2001 after choosing to pursue a career in choral conducting. In a few weeks, Archibeque had her in San Jose from Southern California, rehearsing for the Choraliers’ Christmas season. Following that was a February 2002 convention in Hawaii. “Talk about overwhelmed! But she has a way of doing that - instilling confidence in people for seemingly impossible situations.” Overcashier went on to serve as soprano section leader for the Choraliers, then business manager and assistant conductor.
Josh Palkki met Archibeque in 1998 when he was part of the 250-member Michigan High School All-State Choir, which Archibeque was conducting. “I’d never experienced such high-level and intense music making,” he said. “I remember her coming up to me, looking me in the eye and saying, ‘You’re a sophomore, aren’t you?’ with a smile. I was hooked - she fascinated me and inspired me greatly.”
The experience not only prompted Palkki to pursue choral music as a career, but also to follow Archibeque to San Jose State in 2001-2002 as part of a national student exchange. He continued to sing under her direction as a member of the Choraliers. He was on the planning committee for the “On Wings of Song” weekend and plans to tour with Archibeque this summer for a final Choraliers international tour. Archibeque plans to retire the elite ensemble with her.
“She’s a true original,” Palkki said. “She knows what she wants and always goes after it 150 percent. She’s keen, wise and constantly perceptive. She’s guided me to be a better person and a better choral conductor. Any time I teach or conduct a choir, I will take Dr. A’s wisdom with me … which is the greatest gift I could ever ask for.”
“I truly love this woman!” said Erin Osborne, currently with the Choraliers as a singer and business manager, and a graduating senior at San Jose State. She also will travel with the Choraliers for a final competition tour this summer in Italy. “When I think of someone who has influenced me, pushed me and helped me become the person that I am today, I definitely think of her. She has challenged me, trusted me and cared for me. Though I feel particularly fortunate to have worked with her so closely, this is the way she is with all of her students. She sincerely cares for each of us. I love music more because of her and appreciate the choral art.”
Teaching philosophies
For Archibeque, it isn’t enough for singers to simply sound nice. She wants them to be in complete control, not only mastering their diction but understanding the meaning behind every sound, every lyric. She absorbs pieces as if she visited the souls of long-dead composers, understanding to the greatest detail on how their works should be properly interpreted.
“Her feeling emotes in every cue and beat that she gives us,” Osborne said.
Archibeque said her conducting success has a lot to do with her gestures, which involve good breath support and precision. “I have my singers breathe a lot,” she said, noting that she has seen some conductors’ gestures get in the way of the singers.
“Other conductors are concerned only with sound,” she said. “It’s important to understand the text and message of a song.”
She talked of the various colors of vowels and flavoring required for various pieces. “If you’re doing a Spanish song with rhythm, it should have that rhythm. There’s an essence and flavor of each piece that must come through.”
Archibeque ponders the words to describe how she feels when she hears great music.
“Music makes you happy - it elevates you,” she said. “When you listen to a great symphony, when you listen to Mahler, you’re elevated to another realm. It puts you in touch with your own inner core. … (Music) gave me a desire to achieve at the highest level I could. It meant sharing music with others.
“I’ve combined teaching with music - between the two, it’s made for an awesome career. I found I really liked directing choirs - it became a passion. I used to forget to pick up my paycheck.”
Early love
Archibeque’s love of music came early, seeded in childhood growing up in the small town of Mount Sterling, Ohio. “There wasn’t much to do except play music,” she said. She remembers her grandmother playing “Three Little Fishes,” and the singing and whistling of other family members filled the household. She started piano in the second grade. She even played drums in the high school marching band. She accompanied the school choir on piano. “I was into everything orchestra,” she said.
She gravitated toward choral work primarily due to the sexist standards of the 1950s and 1960s: Men taught the instrumental, women the choral. But to say Archibeque made the best of it understates the case.
Archibeque attended Oberlin Conservatory and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She started teaching in public schools in San Diego, where she served as director of vocal music at the junior high level. She joined San Jose State in 1970 as director of choral activities the year after getting her doctorate at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The Choraliers
Archibeque taught the concert choir, men’s and women’s glee clubs and chamber singers. But it was with the Choraliers that her impact was felt worldwide. The ensemble of elite singers - comprising undergraduate and graduate students as well as community members - has traveled all over the world, reaping prizes and praise wherever it goes. With Archibeque conducting, the group has performed at a high level, tackling challenging material of all periods, in several different languages. The choir is consistently invited to perform at national conventions, most recently in February for the Los Angeles National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association.
Known as one of the finest university choirs nationally, the Choraliers have made plenty of musical waves abroad. Archibeque recalled a 1999 tour in Aachen, Germany, a city on the border of Holland and Germany with audiences known for their sophisticated appreciation of choral music. “They take pride in being known as the most musically refined audience in Europe,” Archibeque said. The Choraliers’ appearance there was standing-room-only. “When we started to sing, they would applaud and applaud and applaud,” she said. “We did three or four encores.”
Italian audiences also appreciate good choirs, Archibeque said. “One priest said we opened the gates of heaven,” after hearing a performance, Archibeque marveled.
The Choraliers’ 16 international concert tours have resulted in first prizes at seven competitions, ranging from “Choir of the World” at Llangollen International Eisteddfod in Wales to the Mexico City International Festival. The group picked up six trophies at the 1996 Concorso Internazionale di Canto Corale C.A. Seghizzi in Gorizia, Italy, including first place in the folk division. The group has raised funding for the tours through grants, donations from “Friends of Choraliers” concerts and sales of the group’s seven compact disc recordings.
“I will miss the Choraliers,” Archibeque said. “We made beautiful music.”
Archibeque recognized
The honors have also flowed forth for Archibeque herself. These range from being named outstanding San Jose State professor in 1984-85 to university president’s scholar in 1992-93, the Palo Alto Career Action Center’s Woman of Vision Award in 1989 and Woman’s Fund San Jose Woman of Achievement Award in 1998.
In addition, Archibeque has worked with the San Jose Symphony for 30 years, preparing choirs for concerts collaborating with maestros George Cleave and Leonid Grin, and has worked with the San Francisco Symphony.
With Vernon Read, she initiated annual scholarship concerts at St. Joseph Cathedral in San Jose and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for San Jose State music majors. She also has arranged and composed choral works with Santa Barbara Music Publishing.
Archibeque considers her biggest legacy is in training other musicians who are now leading successful careers in music. In addition to opera stars, “a lot of my people are church choir directors, directing children’s choirs and (teaching at) music schools.”
So why retire? Archibeque said five years ago she signed up for a faculty early retirement program that sounded like a good idea at the time. She is in the final year of that program.
However, Archibeque is retiring only from San Jose State. She plans to do some guest conducting, workshops and visiting professorships.
“I have this feeling something new is going to open up,” she said.
