A New Chapter: Finding My Voice w/ Denise Woods.

A New Chapter: Finding My Voice w/ Denise Woods.

How do I start? Okay, I will start here and do a run back to the start. I had my first session as a client with Denise Woods today,…

…the internationally renowned Vocal Coach and author of The Power of Voice.

I am still in disbelief that I just said that sentence. Where it started up and what brought us here. I have a little story to tell you.

Background.

My first choir.

I had been told I could sing. I did not put much stock in this because my biggest supporter was my Mother. And… she is my Mother. Of course, she thinks I can sing. So I continued on down the path of grabbing an Engineering degree and then being a geek for hire as my day job.

Then as a new NYC area resident, I became a member of Greater Centennial AME Zion Church in Mt. Vernon, NY, with the fantastic Pastor (Now Bishop) W. Darin Moore. After not attending church for ten years since graduating from High School I joined the first Sunday I attended. The second week I was moved to join the choir. I had never been a member of a choir before, but I was compelled to join. Director John Paxton had me doing solos weeks later. Only a week ago Bishop Moore shared with me that, “(John) Paxton told me that you didn’t know how amazing your voice was. It was just a matter of you developing the confidence to release the gift. I’m glad that you’re still singing.”  This was decades ago and that was the first time I heard that. John may not have said that to me out loud but he and our Music Director, the insanely talented Melusina Reeberg, kept pushing me.

John pushed me to sing the Widow’s Duet with Diva Gray, who passed away recently, for a concert she held at the church. Diva was a wonderful person. To prepare me Professor Ramon Reeberg, husband of Melusina, Minister of Music at Mother AME Zion Church and vastly influential former Teacher at LaGuardia High School gave me voice lessons at his house in The Bronx. The part was tenor. Thinking it was beyond my reach I wondered out loud why John chose me since I was “just a bass”… At that moment Ramon spun in my direction from his white baby grand piano and sternly stated, “You are not just a bass!” Startled me if I am honest. And I never said another word about it and set about learning my tenor part over the remaining sessions. He taught me vocal techniques that I still use to this day. I was very pleased to have risen to the occasion. I have John, Melusina, and Ramon to thank.

John pushed me to sing with this choir that needed a bass. Not having learned my lesson I blindly showed up at a rehearsal hall address in Mahattan that was Broadway adjacent. My first thought is that this looks like where they shot Fame, the movie back in the day. Across the hall they were holding tryouts for the NYC production of A Christmas Carol. Sitting, waiting outside the room with my tie, briefcase, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Manager of Pharmacy Computer Services badge there was a regal looking lady sitting next to me. In a voice that sounded like what you would expect an opera singer’s spoken voice would sound like she says…

“And where did you study?”

I was confused and it showed. Why would that matter? So I answered, SUNY Tech… Now we both looked confused.

I walk in and there is a most polished looking fellow at the piano. Later when he started playing all I could think was something like, “Garsh. You sure play purdy sir.” He played so well that I would be mesmerized and often ran the risk of blowing entrances. The pianist? Joseph Joubert. Who is that if you are like I was? Well I found out months later while watching PBS when he was playing for Three Mo’ Tenors. To which I responded, “Narci! Come here! Joseph is on the TV.”, showing all of my upstate NY native bumpkin tendencies. Not only was he playing but he was the orchestrator/musical supervisor and conductor for the PBS special Three Mo’Tenors and production of Three Mo Divas. And that is not nearly all of his resume. For that, I refer you here. He was not the only star in the room. Esther Hinds who had asked John for a bass he could recommend? Oh, she was an accomplished opera singer who performed Antony & Cleopatra for the Lincoln Center….

What?!?!?

I knew none of this when I entered that room. In fact, I shared with Esther years later that when she handed me that heavy book full of classical music and then said, “On three,” I panicked and seriously pondered throwing the book in the air and running for the door. But I did not. And I did my family name proud. Even came back for a second year at Esther’s request. The group was Voices Saintpaulia and the annual performance was a concert to honor an African American performer. I loved it.

John knew what he was doing. If I had known the full story I would have likely been too intimidated to show up. He believed in my abilities more than I did.

Why not a third year and beyond?

Life. My second child was born at this point and rehearsal was a couple of nights a week. I could not do that to my family. I could not ask that of my wife. A wonderful experience. But there were more pressing matters.

Melusina pushed me also. She put me up to singing a solo performance of Deep River at the Stamford Performing Arts Center for a Martin Luther King, Jr. event there. She also pushed me to sing the closing lead on a wonderful piece that started with, “I find no fault in him…”. Indeed.

John and Melusina continually pushed me past what I thought I could do and I thank them for it.

While I regret that I could not make it back to his funeral in NYC I am glad I that got to surprise him with a visit just before he passed away. What a laugh he had. Melusina and Ramon have passed also. I owe them all a debt I could never repay. Wonderful people all.

How Denise and I first crossed paths.

Are you kin folk?

Owing to us both being friends of Joseph Joubert we crossed paths on Facebook and I asked, are you kin of the Sylacauga, Alabama Woods? That simple. Turns out no, but we claimed each other as cousins anyway. Intermittently we commented on each other’s posts. Once again I was a bit slow and eventually realized… Wait. Will Smith is a client? Cousin doing things. Little did I know. Photography was the main connection. She would comment on my photos and that led to her offering me the opportunity to travel to her publisher’s event for the book.

A definite yes. I was amped. Stars would be plenty. And maybe connections would be made. When Denise asked where I would like my photography to go my answer was easy. I would love to be that guy that celebrities, luminaries, and cool folks alike felt comfortable calling when they needed someone to capture their image. But then a pandemic surge shut that down. Denise apologized but there was no need. This was not her doing.

So we continued to stay in touch via FB. Then a few weeks ago I posted a video my daughter recorded of me singing at a Christmas concert.

Denise saw that and reached out. We spoke over the phone and she offered to reach out to an actor and general power house talent I have been following for years on my behalf. Yes, please. Due to life events for this person, nothing came of this, but I completely understand. He had much more pressing things to tend to. But then Denise reached out again and offered up her schedule that I may become a client. Yes, please.

This was beyond anything I would have dared to ask for. So I jumped at the opportunity. Due to much more pressing matters, in the form of the LA wildfires, we started a little later than planned. I insisted we set this aside for as long as she needed to take care of herself, her mother, and any other business she had to tend to. Well, our first session was today, and it was more than I had hoped for.

Once again, like my past mentors, Denise has bigger plans in store for me than I would have imagined for myself. And I am here for all of it.

I am looking forward to finding my voice with Denise’s help and guidance.

All the best to you.

-ELW