Since we’re on a bit of a nostalgia trip at the moment, I thought it opportune to share a throwback to 2019 (remember those days?), when I had just returned from sabbatical to this lovely group of people, some of whom will be sharing the stage with me next week in my Swan Song concert at Laurier. When I look at these fresh young faces, and think of each of them then and now, how far they have all come, the things they have done, how much they have learned and grown, it’s humbling as always.
While I was sabbaticalling away in Europe, my friend and colleague Victor Martens had returned from retirement to do what he loved most: work with young singers, as my sabbatical replacement for that 2018 fall term. Although he was incredibly vibrant and seemingly the picture of health, Victor was nonetheless in his 90’s at this point! Quite shockingly, and to everyone’s great distress, Victor had a sudden health incident, was hospitalized briefly and passed away in November of 2018. The final weeks of class were covered by some willing colleagues, but the students were understandably shaken and some of them were quite consumed with grief. Victor had been inspiring and motivating for so many of them.
We took this photo at the end of the winter term of that year, as a testament to the journey each student had taken and in honour of Victor’s work with them and indeed his powerful legacy as one of the founders of Laurier’s voice program–it felt like a VICTORY. As I work on and prepare next week’s “Kimberly Barber and Friends” concert as a piece of my own legacy, I have cause to remember Victor and his work with these particular students and for so many generations of singers prior to that.
I’ve been consumed with practice, rehearsal schedules and other preparations for this event, and now that I’m in the final week before the actual concert, it is dawning on me just how significant this moment is for me, as I complete my final term of guiding Laurier voice students. What a gift it has been and continues to be to work with students on their voices and themselves, to help them sing with authenticity, to bring their fullest expression of themSELVES into being! As William Finn says in my final solo song, “Anytime”, on the program: “Any time you cry, any time you sing, for anything, I am there each morning, I am there each fall, I am present without warning, and I’m watching it all.” I am always their teacher, their cheerleader, their mentor. Always and forever.