USU tenor-professor turns enjoys his turn facing the audience in 'Requiem'

By Brooke Nelson

April 30, 2005 | At Abravanel Hall a couple of Sundays ago, music students of Utah State University found professor Cory Evans in an unusual position.

Typically, Evans can be found facing a choir, helping students understand the meaning of a text or explaining the musical expression intended by a composer.

But that evening, Evans sat in a black tuxedo, chair facing the audience, waiting for his tenor solo. With more than 100 choir and orchestra members behind him, Evans was a key performer in USU's presentation of Mozart's Requiem in Salt Lake City.

Having performed the piece in Italy, Evans was familiar with the music, and knew it was the perfect opportunity for the music department to "flex our USU muscles" downtown.

"Sitting in Venice I really gained an appreciation for the universal appeal of this piece," he said.

Last spring he approached other faculty members with the idea of having the USU choirs and orchestra combine to perform the piece.

The department applied for grant money, enabling them to bring prestigious alumni such as Metropolitan Opera member Tamara Mumford as soloists.

Evans said hundreds of hours were put into the production.

"It was very successful," he said. "We almost packed Abravanel Hall with an advertising budget of $200."

Directing all three of USU's choirs, Evans said his favorite part of teaching is being a part of the process that productions such as the Requiem require.

"I like envisioning the process -- going from a concept to seeing students become excited and grab on to that vision, and then all arrive in the same place," he said.

This will mark Evans' third year as an educator at Utah State, but Evans was also here in the late '90s as a student.

"This is a dream come true," he said. "When my wife and I were both students here, we would say how cool it would be to come back as a choir director."

Vocally, USU faculty are as good as you can find anywhere, he said.

With tight budgets there is a cohesiveness among faculty at USU that is rare at other universities because teamwork, out of necessity, has replaced competition.

The program has also attracted good students, he said.

"The undergraduates here are as good as anything I've heard," he said. "Their morals, their ethics, their work habits -- they've been raised well. They are focused on the things they need to do without much prodding."

Currently pursuing a doctorate at Arizona State University, Evans said the offer work at USU came while on tour in New Mexico. The director of the music department tracked down the cell phone number of a friend he was with and offered him the job.

Evans said he'll never forget that trip.

"I was in the car and I get this phone call with Dr. [Bruce] Saperston on the other end who said, 'How would you like to work here?'"

Evans said he and his wife, Jennie, jumped on the chance to come back to Logan.

"We love Cache Valley because it's a place you will always feel important and like you are making a contribution," he said. "We're close to big cities but can enjoy the beauty of the valley."

While Evans didn't need much convincing to come back to Logan, sometimes recruiting students to Cache Valley can be difficult, particularly since BYU-Idaho became a four-year institution, he said.

"Students are certainly committed to leave home," he said. "We don't have the scholarship money that other schools have. Students have a lot of good choices to choose from in the state, especially musically speaking."

However, Utah State can offer students benefits other schools can't, he said.

"They can immediately be a presence in the department," he said. "We have freshman tenors with lead roles in our opera. Students can come in and immediately make a splash."

While budgets might be tight, and scholarship money lower than desired, Evans said the administration is still extremely supportive of the music department.

"There is a wonderful relationship there," he said. At the Requiem, Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Dean Gary Kiger was in attendance wearing a black choir T-shirt, Evans said.

More than vocal ability, Evans said he looks for personality and passion when auditioning students. They don't necessarily have to have the best voice, he said, because that can be trained.

"We try to talk to them in the few minutes we have and see how they're dressed and how they carry themselves — their demeanor" he said.

Experiences that have shaped students to be responsible are also important, he said.

"I look to see if they have really had to climb," he said.

Evans said serving an LDS mission in Dallas, Texas, was key a key "climbing" experience in his life, developing discipline as well as influencing his decision to pursue music when he returned home.

"I saw music open doors," he said. Literally.

People who would not let the young missionaries inside their homes with a religious message, would invite them inside to play the piano or sing songs about Jesus, he said.

"It was a way to lift others," he said. "It didn't necessarily convert anyone but it certainly helped bring Christian values into people's lives.

"I found it was a way to break down barriers -- music is a universal way to relate."

Students of Evans are well aware of his belief in the emotional and spiritual aspect of music.

"His directing brings that out a lot in us," said member of USU Women's Choir, Calah Seese. "He is so expressive and musical in his directing style. He helps us connect with the artist."

Lindsey Clark, a senior in choral education and student conductor for one of Evans' choirs, said attention to the technical allows expression of the emotional.

"He is very detail-oriented. He believes crossing the 't's' and dotting the 'i's' will create the mood. You must have everything in place," she said.

But music technicalities are not the only learning objectives Evans has.

"There's more to life than music," he said. "Students should come in expecting to have a rippin' time and work their bums off. It's an important part of life -- but only a part of it."

And bringing other life experiences into a performance is what can make music so effective, he said.

Whether it be rock climbing or a love for history, students can allow other areas of life into their voices. For Evans, his top priority is family.

Jennie, his wife of 10 years, is a violist and "is the real musician in the family," he said.

Evans also has two daughters. The oldest, Ellie, at two and a half, is already showing signs of musical aptitude.

"At Christmas we counted 42 Christmas carols she could sing," he said proudly. "And not well- known ones either; stuff like 'We Three Kings.'"

Music is not just a part of Evans immediate family. Growing up, he said, it was the way his mom kept him and his sisters together.

"My mom made me sing since I was 2. She went through three divorces and found music was a way to keep us close as a family."

From standing around the piano and experimenting with three-part harmony, Evans said he entered junior high and high school and found "music could be fun" and offered him social opportunities.

Watching his directors, Evans knew it was something he could do just as well, and in some cases better. As a diabetic, the job security teaching, rather than performing, also offered was also a big factor in his decision to pursue choral education.

According to his bio printed in the Requiem concert program, Evans has directed choirs in Florida, Arizona and Utah. In addition to his responsibilities at USU, Evans also directs the Northern Utah Choral Society. He still likes to solo, he said, but there is so much more reward in teaching.

"To me, I can make a bigger difference by teaching them of this art form we love so much, rather than just providing it for them as a performer," he said. "I want students to be lifted by anything that we do -- from warm-ups to the concert hall, it should be an experience that leaves them better."

Students who come in to a class with Evans don't need to be music theory experts, he said; that knowledge will come. What's important is a "desire to be good."

"He is so kind," Clark said. "He is willing to drop everything and show me three or four different ideas. He realizes conducting is an individual thing. He just provides the tools for the tool box."

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