Arts-Supporting Couple Honored with First ‘Bella Voce’ Award for Arts Service
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September 29, 2007, Chapel Hill, NC: Triangle performing arts supporters Charles and Shirley Weiss have been presented the inaugural Bella Voce Service to the Arts Award by Classical Voice of North Carolina (CVNC), an online performing arts journal for classical music, dance and theatre. The couple was honored at a reception and concert on Saturday, Sept. 29 at Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill, where they are residents.
CVNC, based in the Triangle, created the Bella Voce Award to honor those with the kind of “beautiful voice” that is often in the background of performances. The award recognizes the contributions that grow from the love and resources of those in the audience and behind the scenes.
“Shirley and Charles Weiss are the kinds of audience members all performing arts groups would love to have filling their seats. They are avid attendees who love the performances, and they truly understand the difference that audience members can make toward sustaining arts groups,” said John Lambert, founder and executive editor of CVNC. “Since 1977 the Weisses have generously supported 64 classical music groups or programs — from a high school orchestra to multiple university programs to major professional groups.” Many of the groups they support are in the Triangle area, but some are out of state, connected to the places they had liked to visit, such as Santa Fe, NM.
Throughout their years of philanthropy, these retired UNC-Chapel Hill professors have found that small, frequent contributions can mean as much to sustaining the arts as large, one-time donations. Many of their gifts started with just adding a little extra beyond the ticket price. They’ve often given to groups quarterly so they could spread out the amount. Their giving often starts when they sense the enthusiasm of the performers at a given event.
Charles and Shirley are children of the Depression who have always been careful about their spending, but they also learned early about giving back to others and their community. In the 1970s, after both of their careers were well underway, they began not only attending classical music and other performing arts events but contributing to them regularly. They also have given generously of their time and energy to arts organizations. They are founding members of the CVNC Board of Directors, and, in fact, were in the small group of people who, in 2001, saw the need for an online journal to cover arts when such coverage was dwindling nationwide. CVNC is the second such journal in the U.S., having been inspired by San Francisco Classical Voice (SFCV.org). They have been enthusiastic organizers of concerts and other cultural events at Carol Woods, where they’ve lived since August 2003.
Dr. Shirley F. Weiss is Professor Emerita in the Department of City and Regional Planning, and Dr. Charles M. Weiss is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Biology in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of the School of Public Health, both at UNC-Chapel Hill. They’ve also applied their philanthropy to many educational projects. Perhaps the one of which they’re most proud is the Weiss Urban Livability Program at UNC-Chapel Hill. It supports and nurtures graduate students in an interdisciplinary exploration of the issues essential to improving the quality of life in contemporary communities. Past fellows have looked at livability issues as wide-ranging as the arts, neighborhood livability, religion and child and maternal health.
“We can’t imagine anyone more deserving to be our first honorees for this award from CVNC,” said Jenny Spiker, chair of the six-year-old nonprofit’s board of directors. “CVNC is a voice for people who fully appreciate the personal and community value of the arts. We want to make sure that such ‘beautiful voices’ in our community continue to be heard and recognized.”
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Judith E. Freeman, Long-time Director of Choral Activities at Broughton High School, Feted by Former Students
by Terry Rhodes, Walt Ferrell, & John W. Lambert
October 3, 2007, Raleigh, NC: Some of the folks who assembled in the Broughton High School cafeteria looked pretty much like they did when they were students there. Now, most are into teaching, preaching, or otherwise serving society in one way or another. Several are professors, others are ministers. One built a reputation as one of the finest city managers in our country. Another launched a successful opera company. But on this occasion, the focus was on none of these people as individuals. Instead, the person of the hour was Judith E. Freeman, whose service at Broughton extended from 1957 through 1979, and whose teaching, encouragement, discipline, and above all love for the art of music inspired all present and countless others, too, who were not able to attend this little gathering that, in song and reminiscences, saluted the great lady on the occasion of her 90th birthday.
Truth to tell, some truths were told. Few can have known that she was ever the slightest bit insecure, but early on, she acknowledged, she’d called on and had been helped and encouraged by the distinguished choral director and scholar Lara Hoggard, who would end his career at UNC, and by Raleigh’s leading voice teacher, Geraldine Cate. By the early ’60s, Freeman was confident enough to offer the first of a series of musicals, each wrought with a different theatre director at the school. She weathered integration, striving valiantly to ensure that the arts rose above any perceived differences. She and her young charges represented Broughton within the community, performing at countless civic clubs, shopping centers, and the like. She toured with her ensemble and chorus members, too, regularly visiting Greensboro for All-State events. Those experiences ultimately garnered enough support to take a chorus to Europe, surely the imprimatur of success for any American performing group. She and many of the attendees, too, spoke of these and other memories, helping refresh the glowing portrait of a great teacher and choral director whose work touched lives in ways she can hardly have known at the time or predicted. Just being accepted into Mrs. Freeman’s choral programs was the highlight of the early lives of many of us. It was clear during the course of the evening that singing with her was indeed the highlight of the whole lives of some of us.
During the evening there was singing, some lightly “led” by Mrs. Freeman. “Happy Birthday,” “The Happy Wanderer,” Mozart’s “Ave verum corpus” (yes, the attendees were indeed brave!), Thompson’s “The Road Less Traveled,” “Lida Rose” (from The Music Man),”Moon River,” and of course the school’s “Alma Mater” found the congregants in varying states of vocal readiness – none can have forgotten the standards of excellence and the spirit and camaraderie of those years in second period and “on the road” with Mrs. F., our dear Judy.
At the end, after sheet cake that had never before tasted so sweet, she waved her arms gently as all joined in, once again, for Peter C. Lutkin’s “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” At its conclusion, there can have been few if any dry eyes in the room.
Happy birthday, Mrs. Freeman!
(The tribute to Judith E. Freeman was coordinated by her son, Jerry, and emceed by Terry Rhodes, Celeste Capps Allen, and Robin Rhodes Dailey.)
