CHORALES’ WAGES FOUND IN JOY OF SINGING

Mary Lyons remembers her first audition with the Pacific Chorale 10 years ago as a humbling experience.

“I went in thinking I was pretty good but quickly discovered I was out of my league,” said the Newport Beach housewife and former high school teacher. “When I didn’t make it, I went home and cried for two hours. I practiced, sang with a choir and took vocal lessons for a year until I was good enough.

“Then I came back and made it the next year. I was overjoyed; it was that important to me.”

But what made joining the 140-person group so attractive? Surely not the pay: about 90% of the singers are volunteers who don’t make a penny. And not the glory: there is little individual stardom and lots of hard work.

According to soprano Lyons, being involved with a chorale is “a daily education in music and singing.”

“It’s the people you meet, and it’s even the therapy that comes from it all,” she said.

Echoing Lyons’ sentiments is David Baczewski, 29, of Costa Mesa, who was accepted in the Pacific Chorale as a tenor three years ago: “You really have to be in a chorale to know how great it is; it’s like nothing else I’ve been involved with.”

Both the Pacific Chorale, as well as the county’s other major group, the 120-member Orange County Master Chorale, are gearing up for Monday night’s gala opening of the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, when about half their members will join the Los Angeles Philharmonic in “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Zubin Mehta directing.

The rigorous preparation for the concert underlines the extraordinary commitment of chorale members. The groups usually attend at least one three-hour rehearsal each week, with most choristers practicing at home every night. And the weeks before a performance--especially this one, conducted by Mehta and heralding the Center’s arrival--are intensive.

“There’s no doubt that everything is very heightened right now,” said Anthea Kjerulff, 49, a Placentia resident and Master Chorale soprano for eight years. “We are really trying to impress, and being involved with Mehta is, of course, an added incentive. But being with the chorale and mastering the pieces always require a lot.”

Members of both groups say learning the sometimes intricate song passages during rehearsals, taking singing classes or simply practicing at the home piano takes as much as 10 hours a week. For the time spent, including performances, few singers receive payment; some, however, earn a stipend that tops out at about $100 a week.

Most choristers are not professional singers and have other full-time careers ranging from homemaking to science to academia. Paul Bent, a bass with the Master Chorale since 1981, is an investment banker in Costa Mesa. Martha Wetzel, who has sung alto with the Pacific Chorale for eight years, is a cancer researcher at UC Irvine. James Dunning, a Pacific Chorale bass for more than 15 years, is director of admissions at UCI.

“But don’t say this is just a hobby,” said Lyons, 48. “We may have families and jobs, but there aren’t many of us that would call it that; it’s more than that.”

Baczewski agreed. Like many others, he says the “wonderful therapy” that comes from the chorale makes it almost as important as his daily work. Singing relieves the stress he encounters as an electrical engineer specializing in computers, Baczewski said.

“There are definitely pressures with the chorale, but it’s a different kind of pressure” than work, he said. “The creativity involved lets me forget my job. I can come out of a rehearsal just so high that I can’t even get to sleep. The feeling is wonderful, and I can’t get that in too many other places.”

Bent, 42, of Long Beach, pointed out that the singing helps keep his banking job in perspective. “In business, you carry around a lot of baggage with you, and this allows me to escape from it for a while; you get to realize that there are other things equally as important.”

Choristers also describe an elevated sense of consciousness during and after a rehearsal or performance. Like many artists, they say they enjoy the liberating, even intoxicating benefits associated with creativity.

Wetzel, 43, of Irvine, put it this way: “I don’t know why people have to take drugs. All they’d have to do is join a chorale and they’d get very high.”

Kjerulff said: “After a show, my husband can’t get me home, I’m that jazzed. It takes me quite a while to unwind, but it’s just so nice.”

The choral groups, choristers say, provide a social environment where members can meet people who share the same passion. Lifelong friendships are often forged.

But belonging to a chorale can be stressful--especially when faced with the inevitable audition process.

The competition is fierce, as every year 200 people audition for each chorale, including the current members, who must re-audition annually. This ensures that up-and-coming singers are given a chance. Dunning, 50, and other chorale members pointed out that young singers are constantly improving, which makes it hard for the older, more established choristers to keep their spots, especially when their voices begin to slip.

“There’s no doubt that the instrument (the voice) deteriorates, just as there is no doubt the musicianship (of new singers) is always getting better,” he said. “All this makes it very hard to take things easy; we have to keep up and keep our voices in good shape because there is always someone out there ready to take your place.”