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What cancer can’t do: Stop someone from singing

Posted on | February 3, 2010 | 2,329 views |

By Adam King

Steve Scott won’t let just anybody sing in his choir. His criteria for admittance include strength of will and a passion for life.

The 24 men and women vocalists, who meet every Monday night in Weigel Hall, are all cancer survivors from central Ohio who are in treatment or remission, but they aren’t willing to give up the things they love. That’s why Scott, a graduate student in the School of Music and choir director at his church, dubbed the group the Victory Choir.

“This population has the occasion to feel down and we want to provide for them an opportunity regardless of ability, so our theme is whatever comes out of your mouth is already successful. You’re sharing your voice, getting in a group and that’s victorious,” Scott said. “We’ll fine tune singing issues. I’m teaching them vocal techniques and how to improve their singing muscles and breathing techniques. We’re doing all these things to better the mind and the heart. The real success comes from just being a part of it. It’s not the outcome; it’s the process that we love.”

Originally the Victory Choir was merely a group of cancer survivors that met at the Fawcett Center in a casual singalong group, a JamesCare for Life program that was the idea of project leader Anne Harding. She had grown up singing in a choir, and she loved how it gave her confidence, helped her develop an inner voice and gave her the feeling of being a part of something bigger — all aspects she knew would likely translate well for those coping with a life-threatening disease.

“Music in itself is relaxing,” Harding said. “It’s a positive distraction and it helps you get away from the rest of the world.”

The participants loved the group so much, they began asking about improving their music skills and saying how nice it might be to perform together. To do that, Harding knew she’d need the expertise of and collaboration with the School of Music, which led her to Scott. He grew up singing in a family barbershop quartet in St. George, Utah, and always knew he’d make singing his profession. Currently he’s studying for his master’s in vocal pedagogy and choral conducting with a specialty in singing health.

“Music can help you be a better human,” he said. “It has a way of touching divine heritage or potential within ourselves and it can speak to us in ways regular words can’t. It’s also associated with memories, like when you first heard a song or the first time you had a dance; you know exactly where you were and who you were with.”

Scott and Harding have been pleased with the choir’s progress even though it has only been meeting since Jan. 11.

The members range in age from 22 to 82, and there are no restrictions on talent. One member does have a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance, but the others range from those with varied music backgrounds to participants who are completely new to singing in a choral group and are using the chorus to regain their strength and momentum.

The 82-year-old member is a former cast member in an out-of-state production of Guys and Dolls, and Harding recalls a conversation with her after a recent surgery.

“She said to me, ‘I won’t be able to sing with my voice, but I can still sing with my heart,’” Harding said. “It’s something they carry with them through the week and what they look forward to. They leave practice energized and uplifted, which is the whole point.”

The energy also comes from Scott’s music choices. In taking the director’s role, Scott insisted on songs with “quality text,” meaningful songs that aren’t too sentimental or patronizing, he said. So the Victory Choir has been practicing such tunes as “Shall Not Live in Vain” by Emily Dickinson, “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, “How Can I Keep from Singing” by Chris Tomlin and Harry Dixon Loes’ gospel number “This Little Light of Mine.”

“We’re trying to show a diverse repertoire,” Scott said. “I think they also take pride that we’re practicing at the School of Music. We have a classroom at Weigel Hall, and a pianist, Kristin Schoeff, who does a lot of volunteering for the MusicCare program through JamesCare for Life, where musicians go into a patient’s room to play upon request. She’s an integral part of our group, and she has a lot of experience with this population and cares that these individuals get this opportunity.”

Scott — who Harding calls the perfect fit as director with his blend of humor and education — said he is leaving it up to the choir members whether or not they will decide to perform, and whether that performance will be public or just for family and friends.

“As they become more of a community and take on more autonomy, they will open up to the public more is my guess,” Scott said. “It’s the process of self discovery they enjoy most; finding themselves in the music. Connecting themselves to the text through the music is the other way. That’s something I know I enjoy. And if they can walk back into the rehearsal singing what they learned the week before, I know I’ve done a good job.”

If you are a cancer survivor interested in joining the Victory Choir, contact JamesCare for Life at 293-6428.

Continuing a life’s passion

by Adam King

Betty Aiken loves listening to one of her fellow singers in the Victory Choir, “a young, pretty girl with a gorgeous voice,” she says.

“If I can get my voice to sound anything like that, I’ll be so thrilled,” said Aiken, a 2004 survivor of breast cancer who at 82 is not slowing down one bit, which is why she loves the JamesCare for Life programming. She’s had not only the opportunity to sing, but to paint and sculpt clay.

“I know the most important thing from what I’ve read and seen on TV is it’s important to be positive when you have cancer,” Aiken said. “So I think these series of different programs for survivors in JamesCare are terrific. It helps you focus on positive things and what you can do to develop your talents or whatever you have to feel good about. If you’re positive, you heal more, and of course they also say stress causes people’s bodies to be more susceptible to diseases.”

It was a frightening day when Aiken found out that, like her mother before her, she had developed breast cancer.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen, and you think, ‘I hope I can do the right things and survive this,’” Aiken said.

Unlike her mother who died from the disease, Aiken caught it early enough. But she is aware it can come back at any time, and she checks herself before every shower.

The threat of cancer’s return, though, is never a worry for Aiken even though her caution is routine.

“I don’t think about it because I’m an artist, because I’m busy painting or doing calligraphy and I’m active in my church,” she said.

And singing — which really never was her forte, Aiken admits. She used to be one of those behind-the-scenes people at the community theater group in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph’s, Mich., doing makeup or painting scenery. One of her friends convinced her to try out for the group’s 1963 production of the musical Guys and Dolls.

“I told her I’m not really a singer, but she said you can act and you can play a dumb broad,” Aiken said with a laugh. But because Aiken couldn’t read music, she listened to the album over and over to learn to sing the songs correctly. She landed the part of Adelaide, but it was due more to her acting ability than singing, Aiken said.

Still, she fell in love with performing and had been doing it until she moved to Columbus in 1991. She did pick up a love for public poetry readings, but when singing became a JamesCare for Life program, she jumped at the chance to reinvigorate her passion.

“I did this to learn something, especially reading music, and hopefully my voice will get stronger,” Aiken said. “I’m learning so much. I didn’t know a lot about the breathing exercises to strengthen yourself. So I know I’m going to make myself stronger. When you sing you can feel it in your body and you feel good and you forget about many of your problems.”

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