Fenno was one of the greatest influences on my life

Fenno was one of the greatest influences on my life. We were not close personally, but I learned so much from him. I began singing in the Apollo Glee Club and then graduated to the Yale Glee Club in my sophomore year, as I recall. I sang baritone and served under Fenno as rehearsal accompanist. He would come into rehearsal, put an open score on the piano and tell me to play the parts, not the vocal reduction. Thanks to his patience and steadiness, I learned how to do it. And what an exacting director he was! He insisted that we memorize virtually everything, so that, in concert, we would watch him and respond fully to every nuance he sought to draw forth. He insisted on clear and precise diction: I well remember a woman classics major from Radcliffe who said of a concert we did in Boston's Symphony Hall, "I understood every word, especially the Latin." Fenno's spirit was an inspiration to Yale men and women for generations, a true blessing.

M. Andrew Johnston, Yale College 1968