Dr. Lyndon Woodside
March 23, 1935 — Aug. 23, 2005
I sat in stunned silence as I heard the news of the passing of Dr. Lyndon Woodside, the brilliant choral director whose work had such a great impact in the New York City area. CS Editor CJ Williamson referred to Dr. Woodside as “the dean of oratorio singing.” (See Letters to the Editor, February 2004)
Dr. Woodside’s New York City conducting work included 40 years as choral director at the Birch Wathen Lenox School (from which he had just retired in June), 38 years as music director of the Park Avenue Methodist Church, 38 years as music director of the Westchester Choral Society, 32 years as music director for the Oratorio Society of New York, and 30 years at Temple Emanu-El in Yonkers.
In 1973, 10 years after his graduation from The Juilliard School, Dr. Woodside took on the post of choral director for the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. He continued OSNY’s annual tradition of performing Handel’s Messiah, but he approached the work every year with fresh insight and zest. Dr. Woodside’s productions were never just a holiday classic performed for mostly traditional or sentimental reasons. His Messiah performances delighted audiences with different nuances of tempo and dynamics, and wonderful soloists. He never brought us just the “same old, same old,” and at the same time was neither pretentious nor outrageously innovative. In 1976, Dr. Woodside won a Grammy award for his participation in the Carnegie Hall 85th anniversary concert (recorded by CBS Masterworks, now Sony-BMG Masterworks).
Four years after taking over as choral director, Dr. Woodside fostered OSNY’s prestigious solo competition, offering talented young singers an opportunity to demonstrate their skills in the art of oratorio singing, as well as providing the possibility of a solo engagement at Carnegie Hall. Twenty-eight years later, the competition remains a mainstay, drawing singers from all over the globe, some of whom have later risen to fame.
Interesting programming was one of Dr. Woodside’s hallmarks. He would include adventurous works that were far from typical for such a large chorus. Examples include such diverse music as Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces, Brahms’ Nanie, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. With Lyndon Woodside at the helm, the group has been in great demand and has traveled extensively, sometimes under the sponsorship of foreign governments, to locales including China, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Poland, Russia, and Spain.
Lyndon Woodside’s uncanny ability to mold and shape choral sound, like a jeweler polishes a gemstone, brought out different musical facets, so that the audience could hear crystal-clear consonants and clean cutoffs—something many conductors strive to attain with at best limited success. Admittedly, the raw materials with which he worked his craft were of the highest quality; he chose each chorus member carefully and personally. In his hands, those singers produced a vibrant, rich quality of sound and a clarity of expression of text that made him stand out as a conductor.
Dr. Woodside had a great attitude toward his work and his singers. He expected them to work hard. If they disappointed him, he said so, but he also nurtured and praised them. He incorporated just the right amount of humor to allow singers to enjoy a bit of a break from the serious musical work environment. He told fascinating stories about composers, singers, instrumentalists, and conductors he had learned about or encountered over the years. He could weave these stories into the rehearsals at the perfect moments, giving the singers a colorful tapestry of enlightening information, instead of just a boring music history lesson or a dull anecdote.
I had occasion to wait outside the Turtle Bay Music School for my sister, who sang with Dr. Woodside, and I remember the chorus laughing with him about some little-known anecdote or listening intently to his “insider’s” view of things at a recent vocal competition he had judged. I was lucky to experience something similar at last year’s Classical Singer Convention, where I had the wonderful chance to sing in Dr. Woodside’s master class. I saw at first hand how he brought out the best in the singers with whom he worked.
What a shame to have lost, within months, two great contributors to the vocal music scene: Carla Wood (CJ) and Lyndon Woodside. Each of them leaves an empty space in the hearts of the classical singing community the world over.
