Jan Impey an Inspiration for Community Chorus

Reflections from Bill Wuehrmann & Pam McNeil

Jan Impey has directed the Community Chorus in Tryon for the past ten years. This year's Christmas concert marks her final performance as director before she takes time for some of life's other adventures. I took a few moments to visit with former choir member Bill Wuehrmann and pianist Pam McNeil to find out more about what her years of work have brought to the chorus.

Bill, how did you meet Jan?

Bill: Through Barbara Halliday, before she moved here she visited Barbara several times. My first impression of her was as a gifted musician and pianist with a wonderful personality. Jan is the source of and can recognize and appreciate good humor.

How were you involved in the Community Chorus?

Bill: I was treasurer and sang in the choir for about fourteen years. When Jan arrived ten years ago she was an obvious fit with a long successful career as choral director of an Arlington-Heights High School in the Chicago suburbs as well as a Presbyterian church there.

What was Jan like to work with?

Bill: She expects a lot of people and motivates them to perform their best. Her judgment is superb in selecting music and she has extraordinary musical talent and showmanship.

Pam: In looking back over 10 years of Chorus programs with Jan at the helm, I am amazed by not only the amount of repertoire learned, but the musical lessons I and the chorus have learned as well. Yes, there have been the usual "sit up straight, drop your jaw, WATCH ME" admonitions of any choral director, but Jan's gifts go much deeper. She knows the potential limitations of an amateur group, yet she demands a professional level of the group – and admits that she does, and most of the time we achieve it. She asks for sounds that we didn't know could be made, dynamics that we didn't think possible, and sudden musical mood changes that require an agile brain and voice (which we don't always achieve – but we try!).

What are some of your favorite memories working with Jan?

Bill: I enjoyed sitting and watching her improvise jazz on the piano. She can just keep you spellbound. With her knowledge and understanding of chords the music flows effortlessly. She's a tough task master, but reasonable. You can't help but enjoy following her. Onstage she is totally unflappable. If we miscue she'll just calmly stop and let us start again right. She's a "Real Lady," gentle and wonderful with a sense of humor. Her energy and enthusiasm make her a joy to be around. She's very bright and wise as well, you can't "not like" Jan. She's as good an improvisational pianist as any I've ever heard and she's simply fun to be with.

Pam: She is a fantastic jazz pianist; I would call her Tryon's answer to NPR's Marian McPartland. I watch her play, which she usually does with the chorus, and I am amazed. How does she hear all those sounds in her head? And I have no answer – it's just another one of this multi-talented lady's gifts, which she has so unselfishly shared with us these past ten years.

What is your favorite music you have performed under her direction?

Bill: My personal preference was the selections from Les Misérables. Jan is equally good directing the sacred as well as secular music though.

What was the most challenging music?

Bill: There was a Christmas piece that was particularly difficult to sing. Both the tempos/cadences and melody were somewhat discordant to my ears. Many "Sectional Rehearsals" were required to prepare that one.

She also has a knack for mixing and making medleys out of pieces that vary from soothing to exciting. She's an outstanding director.

What have you learned as a singer?

Bill: "WATCH THE DIRECTOR." She has a shirt that says "She who shall be obeyed" and she means it. She can make the most out of both new and experienced singers. In the early days she also showed us her determination and endurance directing us while in great pain before and shortly after bi-lateral hip replacements.

What did she bring to the Community Chorus?

Bill: She brought consistency and a continual level of expertise. Her leadership was the longest term of top quality, uninterrupted direction for the chorus.

Pam: She knows the heart and soul of both the music and the performers, and she cares about both of them with a passion. She knows her singers and cares about each one of them; the singers know it, and respond in kind. For an example: she wears a shirt which says "She Who Must Be Obeyed", which pretty much says it all. But even while you're obeying, you can see the smile on her face, or the sparkle on her eyes, and feel a sense of pride when you hear that "YES-S-S-S-S-S! THAT's it!" And you know you've gotten what she was going for, which was to make YOU, the performer, sound the best you possibly can.

And that is the charm of working with Jan; she's not afraid to share her humanity with you. She has her foibles, and will be the first to laugh at her own mistakes; she's also not afraid to show her heart, or share a concern with the chorus. Even at the end of a trying rehearsal, she can still say, "God bless you – and please come back next week!" – and you know she means it. She cares, and it's contagious – so you care, too.

What was it like adjusting to her direction?

Bill: It was very mainstream, crystal clear without any odd idiosyncrasies or affectations. She was looking for sound above all else and focus on phrasing and breath control.

What are some words to remember from her direction?

Bill: "The tip of the tongue, the tips of the teeth" and "Spit it out!" in reference to enunciation. Above all "Watch me, I don't want to see the tops of your heads" and "Get your faces out of the music."

Anything else you'd like to say about Jan as a director?

Bill: I've stopped singing with the chorus due to my hearing, but without question my life is richer having known Jan as a person and as a musician. There are not enough superlatives to adequately describe her. The song "Maria" from Sound of Music comes to mind, but there's not even a phrase from that that fits, because there's no "problem" with her, there just aren't words to describe a person like her.

Pam: I consider myself honored and privileged to have worked with this warm, funny, "nothing engraved in stone" lady for these years of music-making, and I know that whatever the next segment of life holds for her, it will be filled with the music, joy and love that is uniquely Jan.

As former treasurer, Bill can you explain how Jan's work with the Community Chorus ties into her community service with the Rotary club?

Bill: The Community Chorus mission is three fold: 1. Provide an opportunity to sing under capable leadership, 2. Provide a pleasant listening experience, and 3. Raise money for the Rotary Scholarship Fund. The scholarships are four years for degree seeking students who have demonstrated the ability to handle the college work and have shown good citizenship. The Rotary motto is "Service above Self" and the selection leans heavily on personal qualities. There are also two other scholarships for vocational students. Jan's music creates the program to draw the audience to fund the scholarship. During her tenure nearly $200,000 was raised toward the fund.

I also spoke with Art Brown who also wanted to share that Jan Impey has been named a Rotary Honorary Member for her work with the Community Chorus, volunteer work at the library and ten years of work with the education committee of the Community Foundation. She is also a 2007 Paul Harris Fellow for Rotary International and the local Rotary club has made a contribution for international work in her name.