Stacy Horn

I haven’t blogged in two days! Since when has something like that happened? I’ve had a cold, and tomorrow I’m going in for more oral surgery, so I haven’t been in the best of moods. Well, I’m going for a swim but I will be back later to blog the Golden Globes.

Like everyone else, I’ve been reading various articles about the recent suicide of computer genius/activist/hacker Aaron Swartz. This one by Lawrence Lessig is the one that got me. But then it led me on a sad side trip and the story of extensive sexual abuse that took place over decades at the American Boychoir School. That made me think of Chet Allen.

Chet Allen was the boy soprano who was chosen to sing Amahl in Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, which was written for television and broadcast on December 24, 1951. Allen suffered from depression his whole life and he finally killed himself when he was 45. I immediately wondered if Chet Allen was a member of the American Boychoir School, and could his depression have roots in sexual abuse as a child? I remember reading how he appeared troubled even at 12 when he won the part of Amahl, which should have been a wondrously happy time for him. I checked Wikipedia:

“At the time he was selected as Amahl, Allen was a soprano member of Columbus Boychoir, founded in Columbus, Ohio. The music boarding school relocated in 1950 to Princeton, New Jersey, and in 1980 was renamed the American Boychoir School.”

Oh god. Is it possible? Except according to the lawsuit Lessig brought forth, the abuse started in the 1970s. Were any of the people from the 1970s there in the 1950s? Well, that will possibly be a sad research project for someone. Anyway, my sad side trip just seemed to underscore the distorted sense of justice we have in this country.

In any case, if I decide swimming is not a bad idea, hopefully I will be back later feeling energized and more myself. (That will all go to hell tomorrow of course, following oral surgery!)

The whole time I was taking this picture I was asking him, “That’s comfortable? Really? That’s the story you’re going with?” He was resting there, just like that.

At the moment, Bleeck and I are on the couch, and that’s Finney in the kitchen. I’ve got the movie Truman on in the background, but I’m not really watching it (not a comment on the movie, which I enjoyed).

Finney’s got a look like, “Wo ho there, am I missing something? You don’t have food up there, do you?”

Bleeck has his perpetually confused look. It must be the semi-crossed eyes.

And my face is saying, “Should I have pizza for dinner or … pizza?”

I feel awful! I’m going to go curl up on the couch. Hopefully with a cat. So this is going to be a very short post. I strongly recommend reading this gut-wrenching description of what life is like for women in Delhi. Seriously, it’s not that long. Take the time to understand what life is like for people who live very far away.

I took this picture of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Weirdly, I’d been at the Municipal Archives all morning, going through lists of his papers and correspondence and then on the way home I took a different route and came upon a statue of him. I took it as a sign.

Clearly he’s calling out to the Health Gods of the universe: Make Stacy better. NOW!

First, if you are not familiar with Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir, watch this. It’s a great talk and a moving introduction to a unique singing experience.

Whitacre recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for Virtual Choir 4 and he was tweeting up a storm about it the other night. I suspect he’s getting nervous that they aren’t gaining on that final amount just a little faster. The general wisdom is that there is often a last minute surge. I certainly plan to donate and haven’t gotten around to it yet, so I’m guessing there are lots of people like me.

I’ve spent the last two years studying the science of singing and all the physical and emotional benefits from a life that includes music, and I am not exaggerating when I say that given what I now know I consider singing almost as important as eating well, and as important as exercise except it’s fun.

I know a lot of people think they can’t sing but a lot of people are wrong. Also, for the record, I found a study that discovered that you get many of the benefits (if not all) even if you’re not particularly good at singing (or playing an instrument). I am firmly in that category and it doesn’t take away from my pleasure one bit.

The virtual choir is important because they are making it easier and easier to participate no matter where you are, and for those who want it, they are now going to offer a lot of instruction and guidance for singing better. So please consider donating and by all means, absolutely consider participating.

This is a picture I took of Eric Whitacre conducting his music at Lincoln Center last year.

I took the picture below yesterday morning while driving to New Jersey with some choral friends to sing at the memorial service for one of our members. His name was Greg Niclas and he died on Christmas morning after a brief and sudden illness. He was only 33. Greg sang at our holiday concert and he sang when we caroled in front of Grace Church on December 18th. Oh God, I just saw that he wrote this on his Facebook page that very night:

“I can proudly cross drunken caroling in the east village off of my bucket list. In related news i have no bucket list, but drunken caroling is super fun!!”

I’m sure that took place later in the evening! He also wrote this to our conductor after our last performances:

“I wanted to send a quick note to say that this concert was definitely at the top of my ‘most enjoyable singing experiences’. For me, music is more about the moments than the overall and this lineup contained so many beautiful instances in several different pieces. At two(!) points yesterday, I too got choked up and subsequently made minor flubs due to a loss of focus (apologies for that). The fact that it was still able to get to me during the final performance after we’ve been singing these pieces for months is basically why I enjoy singing in general, and the Choral Society specifically.”

A few weeks later I was singing and choking up at his memorial. I don’t have a lot to say about it. Death is bad. Death of young people (33 is young to me) and children is horrible. I’ve been at a lot of memorial services, who hasn’t once you get to a certain age, and the memorial services of young people are always the most packed. But of all the well-attended memorials I’ve gone to, aside from celebrities, the memorial for Greg beat them all. His friends and family filled every seat in a large church, they stood in every available inch in the aisles on either side of the pews, the lobby in front of the sanctuary, and finally the area in front of the church itself.

The stories they told about him, and the memorials I’ve read online, made it very clear why there were so many people there. He was an incredible, breathtaking human being and I offer my deepest condolences to all who knew him.