Fenno Heath Enters Into Heaven

Dear Heath and YGC family—

 

It occurred to me today how truly fitting this week was, Fenno’s passage from life so much like the eternal endings of any number of the works we sang with him. On Tuesday, Peggy had indicated maybe he had another day or two. But time has always known how to stand still for Fenno. Think of those final phrases in Woolsey, the ending of Fern Hill “Like…. the…. sea…..” or Shenandoah “Across the wide….. Mi….ssou….ri………” Four beats turn into eight, sixteen, an eternity, holding on holding on. The singers, the audience, bathing together, exulting in that last wash of sound, fading into both nothingness and everythingness, until only pure breath, air, silence, joy and something perhaps divine remain. Such was the experience this week, as Fenno held on for days while we connected, reconnected, reminisced, laughed, cried, and loved.  Yes, perhaps fading, but this was Fenno time, when a moment can become more than a moment.  At last, he would lower his arm, with a nod, a slight grin, that twinkle in his eye. He would then raise his arms back up to us, palms up, pump them up and down three, four times in a virtual salute and embrace, and only then turn round to welcome and accept the cheers of the audience, the love of the world.

 

Thank you, Heath and extended YGC family, for this special blog, a great place to celebrate and pay tribute.

 

Matt Ringel

YGC ’88-91

Fenno and Sirikit

'twas reported to me: Fenno to Queen Sirikit, in parting: "See you later, Queen". A real democrat, that Fenno. None of this bowing and scraping, your majesty crap for him. So many Americans get so reverential toward royalty, and in my experience, Communist officials, so whispered and respectful suddenly. Not Fenno. Music, and only music is worth revering. He undoubtedly was more interested in whether she could sing than any political matter.

Warren

Just in time

Fenno, Carol and extended family,

I was lucky enough to make  it to Yale just in time to sing with the YGC in Fenno's last year. I still own and wear a sweatshirt with Fenno's picture on it.  I still listen to YGC TAPES (and a few CDs).  My best friends from college are still people I met in the YGC.  My children sing constantly- poor souls, I think they are trying to drown my singing out.

Thank you.

love, Janet

Left nearly speechless

Dearest Fenno:
 
As you may recall, I am not a person of few words, and yet I am left nearly speechless (nearly!!) as I think of how to express my deep gratitude to you for all you have given to me and to my generation of Yale singers.   But there is one memory that stands out for me – my first concert for Parents Weekend, October 1983.  I had joined the Glee Club late, with extreme gratitude after being left off the original selection list, but with extreme trepidation, because I had most likely been left off the list due to my pitiful (read, non-existent) sight-reading ability.  I then found out, to my utter shock and humiliation, that the Glee Club sang both mixed and memorized.  But Fenno, that was my salvation – I ended up learning to hear the alto line even if I couldn't "see" it in the music (it helped to have Rachel Monfredo Gee, and later Karen Sherman, Liz Miller and the other fabulous altos to buoy me up!).  And I had to watch you rather than bury my face in the music, which was a most galvanizing experience, as you managed to conduct with every part of your body (s ee the comments of Deborah Miles Czech), especially your luminous eyes. 
 
That October evening, I faced yet another Glee Club challenge – on stage at Woolsey Hall, I was placed in the front row (and, as I recall, in that horrible black polyester gown!), and I thought, that's it, I'm a goner.  But with the billowing sound of the chorus behind me, the altos strong and clear, and nothing (save the piano) between me and your indescribable conducting, channeling our energy and sending it back to us, guiding us and bringing us together, I found myself transported, and I remain transported every time I hear our music, sing it at reunions, or simply recall it, as I am doing right now, in my home in New York City.
 
'Nuf said.  With all my love to you, and to your wonderful family.
 
Stephanie Golob'87
Back Row Alto 

Time And Change

Dear Fenno,

Funny, I was just thinking of you today.  And the memory is always sweet, like the music we all shared.  The times I have spent in your company I remember as magical times.  And it was surely magic the way you got extraordinary performances out of us.  You had the thing that all great conductors have.  You simply willed it and we had no choice but to comply.  "He led them forth like sheep."  I always surprised myself under your direction, but it was always your generous nature never to show surprise at what we did, but simply to accept it as inevitable -- a wonderful gift.  Singing was the center of my life at Yale and, Fenno, you were at the center of singing. Your iconic presence just can't be separated from my thoughts of Yale.  To greet you and Carol after a long absence was like coming home.  I too have always been flabbergasted at your prodigious memory for names and faces.  You had the capacity to make evryone feel important and seeing you always left me with a warm glow.  I will remember you for your incredible energy, bouncing on the balls of your feet, your old-fashioned elegance and grace, your great generosity of spirit and your warm and ever-tolerant smile.  There will be singing when Fenno Heath Enters Heaven.

With love a respect,

Ed Dickens, '74

Regards,

Ed

C. Edward Dickens
Director of International Affairs
Mantford Ventures, LLC
202-640-2658

A HUGE difference

Dear Fenno,

 

You were a godsend and *such* a kind mentor to me in my years of graduate conducting study at Yale.  I felt very blessed to get into the conducting grad program, but was also very overwhelmed by the "Ivy-ness" of it all.  Your warmth, kindness, love of choral
singing, and mentoring made a HUGE difference both in my time at Yale and in my music-making since then.  The joys and friendships formed in Hendrie Hall were led by your vision for community ... of singing and working together.  Of working hard, of caring about the score, and of caring about each other.  I am so very, very thankful for the opportunity you gave me to lead the Freshman Chorus and to start the Summer Chorus. There are some pieces that I will always remember your critiques of or insights on ... to do Randall Thompson's Alleluia faster than he noted, and to make the final chorus of Mendelssohn's Elijah slower and more majestic!

You were always so very, VERY positive and encouraging.  You even took time and had such patience to teach me how to arrange pieces!  And your encouragement going into all of the graduate recitals was such a heartfelt blessing.  And your scores, oh, your scores ... they are a treasure!  The spirituals and folk songs ... I love "The Lamb" ... your yearly "Fenno piece" as we'd call it ... you were the first-ever "living composer" for me, and doing your scores WITH you was a revelation.  I promise to continue to honor you by programming your scores, Fenno, and by continuing to commission composers.  I only hope and pray that I can pass along to my singers and students the same joy of choral singing that you instilled in me. I am blessed to have been your student and will always be very, very proud to say that you were my teacher, mentor and professor.  I love you, Fenno!

With much love, thanks and blessings,
Marian
------------
Dr. Marian Dolan - (DMA '94, MMA '89, MM '88)
Artistic Director, The Choir Project
Naples, FL  USA

"This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely,
more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before" - Leonard Bernstein

Those were rich times

Dearest Heaths,

I remember clearly those afternoons on Everit Street when I would come over for piano lessons with Sarah (1983-89?). Usually Carol and Fenno would be somewhere about the house, and I wondered what Fenno thought of my botched Bach or stumbly jazz renditions on his baby grand. Little did I know that a few years later I would be singing with Fenno during one of his last years as head of the YGC. Those were rich times, and full of joy, as we learned to sing loudly, sing softly, and express emotions through the dynamics Fenno encouraged in us.

Whenever I hear the football medley, Shenandoah (I now live near the Shenandoah Valley in Charlottesville, VA), or Biebl's Ave Maria, I am transported back to those glorious Glee Club moments.

Wonderful to know Fenno is surrounded by family and in good hands with Hospice. Thank you for keeping us connected during his last days on this journey.

love to you all,
Jody Esselstyn '93

Brahms Requiem

Peggy:

Please give my love to your mom and family.  I am glad that you are all able to be there together.

Thank you for letting all of us know about Fenno.  After looking at the blog I went and pulled out my Brahms Requiem score.  When we rehearsed that in 1980 there was a part that Fenno particularly enjoyed.  He enthused about wouldn't it be great to die while conducting this piece at this particular measure.  I made a note in my score - Fenno's measure (movement VI, measure  177)- and everytime I have sung this piece since then I have thought of him.  He certainly shared his joy of music and we all benefited from his teaching.

Love,
Anne Frey Ten Eyck

You're a Luminary

Please let Fenno know he and all of you are in my thoughts and prayers.

I am deeply grateful for Fenno's influence during my college years at Yale.  He refined my ability to listen to others.  He was endlessly entertaining, affectionate, and fun, and inspired a quest for excellence in all of us. He was so generous in tutoring me (and many others) in arranging.  The YGC's European tour in 1977 is among my very best college memories.

Fenno, you're a luminary.  Thank you!

Love,
Laurie Hollander YGC '79

New York Times crossword puzzle- Fri. Dec. 5

34 Across: "Pleasure plus."

The answer, of course? GLEE.

How appropriate!

-- Karen Sherman '88, Back Row Alto

"Time held me, green and dying, though I sang in my chains like the sea"

I was lucky enough to be one of several graduate students who participated in the Glee Club during my law school years at Yale. I have participated in many musical activities before and since, but my musical experiences with Fenno at Yale were the most meaningful of my life, and I have carried them with me for the 26 years since I graduated. The musical experience at Yale, embodied by Fenno, involves a unique mix of technical excellence, intellectual thought and the sheer joy of making music.

I would echo the comments of Sarah Hiestand - Fenno's setting of Fern Hill is my favorite piece of all time. I was fortunate to sing a men's choral arrangement of the piece in 1980 and the SATB arrangement in the 1980-81 YGC repertoire. It still plays in my head, and I can still hear Fenno describing his analysis of the last line, "Time held me, green and dying, though I sang in my chains like the sea". His setting of that line was perfect, and I think of it now in dealing with Fenno's passing.

Does anyone know of a recording of Fern Hill? For several years, I have asked Sean and others in the YGC office, and no one has been able to locate one. It would mean a lot to me - I would be happy to pay the cost of making a copy.

Deepest sympathies to the Heath family, and to the entire YGC family.

Marty Rosenbaum
'82 Law

From Fred Pittman

Dear All,

My friendship with Fenno began with "graduation" from the Yale Freshman Glee Club to the Yale Glee Club the year he filled in for Barty who was on sabbatical prior to his last year as YGC Director. Fenno and Barty decided that I should receive a First Tenor vocal scholarship which allowed me for the first time to get serious about training my voice. Working with Fenno in rehearsals and at concerts introduced me to the world of musical professionalism that changed the way I approached singing and has been a strong influence on all I have done with music since. Then there was Barty's last year as director followed by two additional wonderful years with Fenno, including the 1954 summer European tour that changed my life forever.

In subsequent years Fenno brought the Yale Glee to Charleston, SC twice they performed beautifully at our best venue for choral music, the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul where I do most of my singing as a member of the Cathedral Choir led by Sam Sheffer with William Gudger at our outstanding organ. Sam and Bill helped me to organize a trip to Yale for the Charleston Renaissance Ensemble. This group of most talented singers, led at the time by Sam Sheffer, gave a concert for Elizabethan Club members who were gathered together to celebrate the occasion of one of the early Elizabethan Club's Maynard Mack Lectures. And during this visit to Yale the Renaissance Ensemble sang for Fenno and a members of the YGC assembled in Hendrie Hall for the event.

And then there were the YGC reunions and concerts in New Haven. Fenno kept us all on our toes and the concerts in Woolsey Hall were great fun and a tribute to Fenno's ability to get us all to sing like we did in our twenties.

Fenno, you have brought much joy to your grateful singers and to many, many audiences here and abroad. Thank you, Dear Friend.

God Bless,

Fred Pittman
Yale Class of 1955

From Debra Rosler Vernon

Dear Fenno,

The memories of YGC and Battell Chapel Choir are my fondest memories of Yale. Even though it was incredibly difficult to roll out of bed each Sunday morning to sing in the choir I was always so happy that I did it! To think how much music we learned for the church service is really amazing, new pieces each week! You really believed in us.

I was in the YGC rehearsal room for many hours of my Yale experience, all positive and fun. The music you chose for us to sing was equally uplifting. The glee club tours were filled with adventure, like the time we got stranded in the Carolinas because of a snow storm, and slept the night in a gymnasium. We awoke to a breakfast of grits, a first for this New England girl. I am so deeply saddened by your loss. But I know your spirit will live on at Yale.

We are all blessed to have known you.

With love,
Debra Rosler Vernon '89

From Peter Bonoff

Dear Fenno,
Thank you so much for sharing your genius and gifts with so many of us on a very personal level, as well as for so many music lovers and singers around the world.
Your life has been an inspiration, and millions have admired you.
Those of us who know your smile and enthusiasm will always remember the joy of singing and listening to your music.
Those of us who were "amateurs" (in the best sense of the term)were honored and privileged to have sung under your direction are likely to have considered the peak experience of our musical lives.
Professionals and colleagues at Yale and elsewhere who learned from you have acknowledged their debt of gratitude to you in superlatives.
Some of us were even fortunate enough to have experienced the joy of singing a capella in the SLOT Whiff gatherings which Fenno joined as recently as October in Battell at the Allison Henning memorial and on June 12, 2007 in the rotunda at Woolsey Hall. (I have my photos and video clips of both and can share them privately with the family if you wish.)
We miss you!
Avatar, maestro and friend, may your blessed soul rest in peace,
Peter F. Bonoff

From Don Edwards

Dear Members of the Heath family and Fenno’s extended family:

Like most American boys, I grew up in a culture that taught me it wasn’t cool to sing. Of course, that culture had not encountered the force of nature that was Fenno Heath. I thought I’d gone to heaven when I arrived at Yale in 1960 and discovered that the glee club director was as big a deal on campus as the football coach! I’ve never felt as important in my life as the night I first donned white tie and tails for a YGC concert. But Fenno made you feel important every time you sang.

My favorite memory is of the first Glee Club Anniversary concert. Several hundred alumni choristers assembled on the Woolsey stage for the opening rehearsal. Fenno mounted the podium and started the first song. Immediately, he cut us off and made us start over. This was a reunion, but Fenno – the consummate musician - wasn’t going to lower his expectations. We all stood straighter and felt the pride come back. I hope the choirs of angels are getting their act together.

Like others who have written, I still hear Fenno’s compositions and arrangements in my head. And as I read the wonderful messages on the blog, I hear part after part building to another triumphant “Fenno ending.”

Don Edwards ‘64

President emeritus

The American Boychoir School

Thank you, Fenno, for all you've done for Yale and elsewhere around the world.

Dear Fenno,
Thank you so much for sharing your genius and gifts with so many of us
on a very personal level, as well as for so many music lovers and
singers around the world.
Your life has been an inspiration, and millions have admired you.
Those of us who know your smile and enthusiasm will always remember
the joy of singing and listening to your music.
Those of us who were "amateurs" (in the best sense of the term)were
honored and privileged to have sung under your direction are likely to
have considered the peak experience of our musical lives.
Professionals and colleagues at Yale and elsewhere who learned from
you have acknowledged their debt of gratitude to you in superlatives.
Some of us were even fortunate enough to have experienced the joy of
singing a capella in the SLOT Whiff gatherings which Fenno joined as
recently as October in Battell at the Allison Henning memorial and on
June 12, 2007 in the rotunda at Woolsey Hall. (I have my photos and
video clips of both and can share them privately with the family if
you wish.)
We miss you!
Carol, family and other friends, please accept my profound condolences.
Avatar, maestro and friend, may your blessed soul rest in peace,
Peter F. Bonoff

Fenno was the Best

I was fortunate to go to some wonderful schools with world-class teachers. Of them all, Fenno was the best.



A. Stephens Clay

From Tom

A very long time ago, I was in one of Fenno's first Yale Glee Clubs. In some forgotten place we had a concert; the first half, the "heavy" half, was over, and we were in the second, the college songs. After one song, we members looked down surreptitiously at the programs we had secreted, and so did Fenno: but he mis-read, and thought a different song was due. We took our pitches from the pitchpipes, as did he; fortunately the same chord, only a half-step off. We took a breath at his direction, and came in, together, with precision, at his direction -- singing not what we all expected, but what he was directing. We looked at each other in amazement, and finished. And Fenno never knew until much later, when we told him.

Never before or since have I experienced such total rapport between one person and a group. It was a lesson, and an example, not to be duplicated.

He leaves us all far richer.

Tom Kepler, 1955

From Sam Weisman '69

To the Heath Family:

It may be that I have not seen Fenno more than once since I graduated from Yale in the turbulent year of 1969. However, my memories of the time I spent with him, and the influence he had on me are wonderfully vivid.

Not only did I sing in the Yale Glee Club and the SOB's, but I was a Music History major, and took conducting from Fenno. In addition, my scholarship job for two years was working in the Glee Club office. Weirdly, I ended up becoming a director of movies,television, and theatre, after a ten year career as an actor. There is never a day that I work in my craft that I don't exercise muscles that were first conditioned on the second floor of Hendrie Hall, in that wonderful rehearsal room. Singing in a group, with the rigor, discipline, concentration, and the spirit of cooperation engendered by Fenno, is an incredible life lesson; especially for life on a film set. The world would be a better place if everyone had the experience of being part of a group like the ones that Fenno magically created year after year. From the Football Medley, to "Mother of Men," to "Frostiana," to "In That Great Gettin' Up Mornin'," the music and the voices still ring in my ears. And if I close my eyes, I still see the elegance, grace, and spirit of the man who led us in song. 

Thank you, Fenno.

All my love----

Sam Weisman '69

Yale Freshman Glee Club, Yale Apollo Glee Club, Battell Chapel Choir, Yale Glee Club Madrigal Singers

Society Of Orpheus and Bacchus

From Matt

So sad to hear of Fenno's passing. Though I never sang in the group while he was director (I first joined in 2004), I am so glad to have spent some time with him. In the spring of 2007 I interviewed him for a paper about the Glee Club; I think that interview was the most enjoyable research I did during my entire time at Yale! During the interview, he exemplified the YGC spirit. Here I was, a pesky undergrad asking about decisions he made about the group, and he treated me with that fellow ygc-er warmth I've come to know and love. It was wonderful hearing about his experiences (I didn't know he knew Carl Sandburg!), and fascinating to discuss the topic of my paper: the transition to a co-ed choir.

I also always enjoyed looking up during a YGC concert in New Haven and coming across Fenno in the audience. Whereas a lot of retired conductors would cause a mild ruckus on par with the appearance of a celebrity, Fenno simply came to hear the group. I finally took the initiative to hunt him down, so to speak, afterwards to say "hi" and thank him for coming. It always meant a lot to me that he came to our concerts, even when he might have not be feeling all that well.

Even more than his attendance at our concerts, his appearance at a rehearsal for the commencement concert of 2007 stands out in my (and I'm sure many other YGCers', memory). We asked Fenno up to the stage to conduct "'Neath the Elms." It was, of course, very fun, and we all happily recall him dropping his hand to show he needed more from the basses, more manly a tone; needless to say, they did so.


This is such sad news, but I hope it can also be a celebration of Fenno. It sounds like people are sending lots of memories, which I'm sure will be wonderful.

-Matt Dell, MC '08

From Ken

Friends -

I sang with Fenno at Yale from 1967 - 1971, a period that included the introduction of women to Yale, which Fenno embraced immediately, to the horror of some Alumni of the time, who feared that this would devastate the Yale Glee Club, one of the world-wide icons of male choral singing.

With unbridled enthusiasm, really with more than even some of the male Glee Club members displayed right away, Fenno welcomed women and integrated them fully into the traditions and beauty of our sound - and into the social community that made the Glee Club such a wonderful mainstay of our time at Yale.

To me, this prescience was typical of how Fenno approached everything, and is one of the lovely memories I keep with me.
Ken Sanden, '71

From Jeff Douma

Tonight, as we do each year in early December, the Glee Club sang at the Yale
Club of NYC (and sang Christmas carols in Grand Central Station).

Your father was at the forefront of everyone's mind, from the current students
to the many alumni who were present. He is so beloved by so many.

During the concert, we dedicated our performance of 'Through Eden,' this year's
winner of the Fenno Heath Award, to your father.

Our love to Carol and to all of the Heaths.

With love and gratitude,

Jeff

Mikiki and Poppy-aka Carol and Fenno, by granddaughter, Eliza

Fern Hill

Dear Sarah Sedgwick Heath:
Fenno's composition of the Fern Hill is the most meaningful piece of music I've ever encountered. He took Dylan Thomas' sentiment and brought the college-age singer to an understanding of the whole path of life. I will always cherish Fenno and his magnificent earthy approach to song. My deepest sympathy to the family and to all of us YGC folks for this loss. Sincerely Sarah Hiestand 81

blog post

Hi,

I'm sure I can't say anything as eloquent and heartfelt as the prior
posters, but I do feel compelled to write. Although I had a very
meaningful experience at Yale, few things have left me with as
powerful and positive memories as my time with Fenno and the Ugly Club
(that's what my family always thought I was saying).

Thank you Fenno and thank you Heaths for sharing him with us.

Michael Littman, '88
(Publicity Officer '87, Historian '88, Bass to this very day)

From Sue Quimby Young, Fenno's Niece

I read with great sadness of my Uncle Fenno passing
yesterday. My daughter and I have been amazed by all the
letters and stories. I have learned so much about his life
that i was unaware of. What wonderful memories! While we
were most certainly not the Yale Glee Club, he did write a
few songs that his nieces and nephews sang together while
up in New Hampshire......a round about making maple syrup
called "Hot Syrup" (that went great with my grandmother's
DONUTS!!) and my favorite..."My Grandfather Had A Skunk
Under His Barn". What a sense of humor!! These songs are
so very firmly planted in my and my brothers' heads. I
sing them at times to my classes of 2 year olds at
Dartmouth Childcare. His children's music will continue to
be spread!

Susan Quimby Young, Fenno's Niece

Composer, Conductor, Teacher

Composer, conductor, teacher (with the greatest of teacher's gifts, as others have noted, the ability to know every one of us as individuals and recall us decades later without the slightest hesitation), colleague, friend, husband and father-- there's also Fenno the arranger. At a Whiff reunion some years back, three alums took the stage to announce that in the car on the way, they had found that Fenno's arrangement of "September Song" worked even with one part missing. They proceeded to knock us all out by showing how very true that was. By way of explanation, their spokesman observed, "Well, it's Fenno". No more needed to be said.
Now the heavenly choirs are pulling up their socks, clearing their throats, and getting ready to sing as they've never sung before. Fenno and family, I hope you are feeling the love and the gratitude just pouring in.

Lewis Girdler, '61

There Will Never Be Another Fenno

Dear Fenno and Carol,

You are all in our thoughts and hopes in the days ahead, as we think about a wonderfully lived and fully accomplished life and a truly fine human being.

Fenno, you have enriched my musical existence for well over 50 years. From the Liebeslieder waltzes in the Apollo glee club in 1949, to the day in 1950 when you and some close-harmony singers invaded the Saybrook dining hall, to singing Cascade in Washington four years ago, and right up to to this moment. Dozens of Yale Glee Club concerts in New Haven and on the road. The unforgettable rehearsals and performances of The Birds in 1952. A Glee Club concert you led in Paris in the 1970s. Then there are songs and arrangements, like Liza, that you may not have thought about for years. So many great moments. It was my great luck and privilege to have sung with and learned from you.

But those are personal feelings. Much more important is what you have done for music at Yale and for Yale itself, and the testimony is everywhere. With due respect to others, there will never be another Fenno.

John Trattner, 1952

A Truly Memorable Man

Dear Carol and Family,

I have just read through the blog with both sadness and many good memories. I believe that along with Dick Smith '54 I was one of Fenno's first two Bursary Students in the YGC offices, serving there 1952-54. At first Barty was still around and my YGC Songbook is signed by both of them. I also had the privilege of going on the 1954 European Tour at which we came in second among the male choruses at the huge festival in Wales, also visiting Elihu Yale's church. Fenno used to point to that runner-up prize as an example of the supreme importance of paying attention to how a piece of music was supposed to be performed. One of the compulsory pieces was about a Scottish chief; we sang it perfectly but according to the judges too fast - it was supposed to be more like a dirge! There is a photograph in the booklet on that tour showing Fenno being carried on our shoulders.

Your forwarded message was a sad thing to receive, but I hope your sadness is eased a little by all this outpouring of affection with the passing of a truly memorable man.

Ogden D. Miller, Jr. '55

Peace and love

Dear Fenno and family,

I have just been reading the postings on the blog and am overwhelmed. Fenno was such a big part of so many of our lives at Yale, and I just can't imagine the place without him. I am so grateful for the day I got up the courage to go put my name on the audition list at Hendrie Hall - and that I was blessed with such a common name. I might not have made the Glee Club had I not been the third Susan Williams to try out. My time in the Glee Club is one of my fondest memories of Yale. Fenno, you were a mentor and a friend and I will miss you. And yes, we are all sorry about the time a group of us talked our way into some museum in some Midwestern town by promising to sing in front of the I-max screen and you told us we should not advertise ourselves as the Yale Glee Club unless all of us were there. Peace and love.

Susan (Louise) Williams '86

"When We Were Here Together"

Dear Fenno, Carol and family,
I've been tracking Fenno's progress through your e-mails and now the blog. What a good idea the blog is for all of us.

Lately I've been leafing through Fenno's "When We Were Here Together", his delightful recollections of his years as YGC Director. It's stunning how many lives he enriched with singing, and it's amazing how many people are still singing! There's just nothing like it, and Fenno knows that best.

One of the luckiest things that ever happened to me was meeting Fenno when he came to The Loomis School. He, Nate Pierpont and I, along with some other friends started the Pelicans, a singing group that is still going strong. That was in 1943! All these years later, after singing together in the Elm St. Eight, Whiffs, Glee Clubs, we are still pals and singing buddies with the SLOTS. I just feel so privileged to have known him and Carol and the whole family. What a joy!

Lolly and I send our love and best wishes. Thanks for everything.

- Bruce & Lolly Barton

Peace

Et Fenno caro factum est. Et habitavit in nobis.

Fenno lives on in all of us.

Geoff Buchan YGC '91
Dawn Sedgwick Buchan YGC '93

My Most Favorite Choral Conductor

Fenno:

You have always been my most favorite choral conductor, the perfect blend of person, musician and teacher, who always welcomed every singer of any level of ability as a friend. I originally came from the instrumental side of the music world, and when I took your choral conducting class you used to call me the 'band director' until I took your teachings to heart. The Glee Club sound has inspired some of my own work. I only sang in the Glee Club in my Senior year, but the ever expanding Glee Club world (Associates, YAC, etc.) has grown to be the main way I connect to Yale. It has truly been a pleasure.

David Barnett '78

FENNO THANKS FOR THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

I must admit that I lack the appropriate words to describe the overwhelming sense of love and appreciation surrounding Mr. Heath even as he embark on a difficult jorney.The love of his sweetheart Carol, the care of his children Terry,Sarah,Lucy,Peggy and the pride of his grandchildren is admirable. So touching is the multitudes of his admirers all across the world sending their love on the blog which are read to him, As a hospice caregiver who has seen scores of families went through this journey with their loved ones, this experience is one of a kind that not only re-emphasize our true purpose on this earth: to live it better than we found it but also affect the lives of as many people as possible as Fenno appears to have achieved. I pray and hope that I am not the only one who have learn from this experience but I hope we are all challenged in our small ways to try positively to affect other people without looking for what we can receive in return.

CAROL, Terry and The Heath Sisters, you are doing a great job, the4 cheer up even in this seemingly difficult time. I am honored to see this and I believe when the time comes, your father will be welcomed by the HGC- The Heavenly Glee Club

Attah Buatsi