It was hearing the Maryville College Vesper Choir that sold James Laster ’56 on the school. Upon enrolling, he joined that impressive choir and was musically nurtured by its director, Harry Harter.

“Maryville has played a pivotal role in my life in many ways,” he said. “The encouragement, support and guidance of singing and working with Harry Harter steered my career in music.

“In 1957, the headmaster of Iran’s Community School made a recruiting visit to Maryville that, for me, resulted in a four-year teaching stint in Iran, with extensive travel, performance opportunities and even a dissertation topic!”

In 1958, Jim went on to receive a certificate in organ from Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria, and earn master’s and doctoral degrees in musicology and church music, respectively, from George Peabody College in Nashville.

Teaching positions include George Peabody, the Beirut College for Women, Grove City College (Pa.) and the Shenandoah Conservatory, where he spent 27 years, teaching courses dealing with all phases of choral music. He also directed the Cantus Singers, a women’s choral ensemble, and the Shenandoah Singers, a show choir.

Jim is considered an authority on choral music for women’s voices. A composition of Jim's ("A Madrigal for Spring") was recently selected as one of the "compulsory three pieces" for the women's chorus division of the Schubert International Choral Competition held in Vienna, Nov. 10-13. The three compulsories are: Schubert, Kodaly and Laster!

Many of his compositions have been published (including “O Nata Lux,” a four-piece a cappella arrangement for the MC Concert Choir), and in addition to authoring numerous articles, he has compiled catalogues and discographies of music. He wrote So You’re the New Musical Director, a guide to the duties of a musical director for musical theatre productions, now in a second printing.

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In retirement, he has chosen to express himself, artistically, through acting and directing. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity Association. No stranger to the Wayside Theatre in Middletown, Va., Jim was recently cast as Kinglehoff in the Steve Martin play “The Underpants.” Other credits include the role of Rev. Chasuble in “The Importance of Being Earnest,” and Willie Clark in “The Sunshine Boys.” Musical theatre roles include Colonel Pickering in “My Fair Lady” and Mr. Brownlow in “Oliver.” He was also in the Helen Hayes award-winning production of Tom Stoppard’s “Indian Ink” at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C.

This year, he was on location near Williamsburg, Va., performing the role of Father Jacob in the Danny Wilson-directed film “Darkest Days;” and in the Catskills of New York, where he took on the character of Rufus in “The Animal Kingdom,” an independent film based on Philip Barry's play. He is a featured extra (playing a college professor!) in the upcoming film “Syriana,” starring George Clooney.

Giving credit

In performing a service of choral evensong at Hexham Abbey in England last year, the Millennium Youth Choir sang one of Jim’s compositions. Jim was able to attend the performance, which was broadcast over the BBC World Service. This career highlight, however, was quickly followed by a career sadness.

“The day I returned to the States, I learned that Harry Harter had died,” Jim said. “My first thought was ‘Without that man, this trip would never have happened.’”