Maryville College Community Chorus conductor Alan Eleazer plans for one final spring concert before retirement
For Alan Eleazer, adjunct instructor of music and voice at Maryville College and director of the Maryville College Community Chorus, life is about relationships.
Those relationships, and how they apply to so much more than just connections with other people, are heavy on his mind as he approaches the final concert of his tenure as the ensemble’s director, scheduled for April 12 at the Clayton Center for the Arts.
“I love the young people I’ve worked with and the relationships I’ve had with them, and in my mental musings, I’ve thought about how my life has always been about relationships — between people, between notes, between pieces of music,” Eleazer said. “When it comes to the students and the people who have sung with me, those relationships will last a lifetime.”
His impending retirement, he added, played heavily into the planning for the MC Community Chorus’ spring performance, which will be built around composer John Rutter’s “Requiem.”
“I’ve always been intrigued by it, and I’ve done it several times in my last 30 years, and to me, it’s a beautiful piece of music,” he said. “It was inspired by Fauré’s ‘Requiem,’ and there’s no big hurrah ending, because it’s about eternal peace and light — kind of like the way we leave the world, or leave a position that’s been a part of my life for many years now.”
Eleazer came to the College as conductor of the MC Community Chorus in 2009, but his relationship with Stacey Wilner, the College’s director of choral activities, dates back to the late 1980s, he said. He’s been an active part of the East Tennessee fine arts scene, having served as a professional musician, conductor and educator for more than three decades after earning his Bachelor’s in Music Education and Master’s of Choral Conducting and Sacred Music from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
In addition to directing the Maryville College Community Chorus, a group of more than 50 singers dedicated to the performance of choral music from across genres that frequently collaborates with other community and College ensembles, he directs the Lads (an all men’s choral ensemble at MC) and serves as director of music and adult ministries at Broadway United Methodist Church in Maryville.
“I gave my church a five-year notice of my retirement, and that was five years ago!” he said. “I love what I do, and I love what I’ve done, and I think I could probably do it the rest of my life, but I’m also ready for a change. My wife (Vicki) and I are very interested in traveling, and doing it while we’re young enough to enjoy it.”
Still, he added, it will be a bittersweet parting, given those relationships that have meant so much to him over the years, he said.
“I’ve had students who were as close to me as my own children, and several colleagues as well,” he said. “I try not to get too emotional, because my relationship with Maryville College is a wonderful one that I cherish and will continue to cherish. I’ll always be a Maryville College fan, and I’ll always be here to support the music program.”
While the bulk of the program will consist of the full seven movements of Rutter’s “Requiem,” two other Rutter pieces will be performed as well: “For the Beauty of the Earth,” a sacred choral composition that’s a setting of the hymn of the same name by Folliott S. Pierpoint, and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You,” another sacred choral work that serves as a benediction.
“We’ll be using a string quartet, as well as a couple of solo instruments, for the performance,” Eleazer said. “It should be a wonderful music event, and I can’t wait to share it.”
The Maryville College Community Chorus spring concert takes place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in the Harold and Jean Lambert Recital Hall of the Clayton Center for the Arts. Admission is $5. For more information, call the Clayton Center box office at 865-981-8590.