This is the 30th year Dr. Thomas Jenrette has held the baton as ETSU’s director of choral activities. Since 1979 he has done much more than conduct some of the most beautiful choral works ever written for the human voice by the greatest composers (he often points out that every major composer wrote at least one important work for choir).
Jenrette has touched the lives of thousands of students and lifted the expectations of their own musicianship, personal standards and their profession. Jenrette has set a goal of perfection in his career and has passed that desire down to the future through his students, many who have become high school choir, civic choral and church choir directors and singers.
I had the honor of joining the choir in 1980-85 and was selected for his first Chamber Choir. I also sang with the Chorale last year when I returned to finish my degree. He has not compromised his standards one iota. He has no problem spending five or 10 minutes on a section of music that is imperfect or over the correct pronunciation of a word either in English, Latin, French, Italian or German (or even in Hungarian once). And he will do the same the next day and the next over and over until it is right every time.
Trust me on this. As a dropped pebble forms rings across a still pond, so has Jenrette’s influence spread in the community through lives of the future doctors, lawyers, nurses, business people and others who took chorale simply for the love of music.
He expects the most from every single student whether they are vocal majors or not. His dedication to his craft and unwavering standards cause us strive for better within our selves. During the semester he will often talk to the students (many who are living away from home for the first time) about personal responsibility, dedication and sacrifice, not only for the sake of a chorale performance, but also in their chosen professions.
For many this is the first time they’ve been held to a higher level of performance which requires a deeper level of commitment on their part. He expects a great deal more from his students and they work hard to give it to him. Nothing is more rewarding than pleasing Jenrette with your best performance. If he is pleased, the audience will have been enthralled.
Through his many ensembles, the Jazz Singers and however many BucsWorth he has entertained and genuinely delighted audiences year after year. He has assembled outreach programs to the local high school choral programs and has conducted a joint concert with the Milligan College Choir.
He has taken his choirs around the United States and the world to promote ETSU. This spring Jenrette will take the ETSU Chorale to Spain and France. In order to raise funds I urge everyone to buy a ticket to the upcoming fall program and Christmas concert.
You always get more than you pay for. He wouldn’t have it any other way. And to this year’s and future Chorale members, this word of advice: “Hearts on Fire, Minds on Ice.