Choir director puts down his baton
By Kat Schneider and Julie Rausch
| Retirement concert Harrison Boughton’s choirs – Madrigal Singers, A Capella Choir and a mass choir of former students – will participate in a free public concert in honor of his retirement this spring from WSU. At WSU since 1961, Boughton holds the longest continuous full-time teaching record among the current faculty. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex. A "roast" will immediately follow the one-hour concert. A reception will follow in the Metroplex gym. |
When Harrison "Bud" Boughton arrived to teach vocal music at the University of Wichita in 1961, there were sprouts of grass here and there, far fewer trees and no splashes of wonderfully landscaped tulips, daffodils or azaleas to greet him in the mornings. But it was a very exciting time, he says.
"In 1964, when the university came into the state system, things changed drastically," says Boughton. "We saw a spontaneous increase of students and added a lot of new faculty. Everybody worked hard to meet the challenges, and the university really took off. I’ve watched it grow through many years, and the university continues to improve."
Perhaps that’s why Boughton chose to stay at WSU despite other attractive offers over the years.
"Wichita State has a very strong School of Music with an excellent national reputation as well as a history of very strong students and faculty," Boughton says. "Wichita has been a good place to raise a family and a good place to live and work."
Boughton says he’s proud of the many graduates the school has added to the teaching fields and performing areas.
"I’ve been very involved my whole career in recruiting students," Boughton says. In fact, he spent three days recruiting in the Kansas City area during WSU’s recent spring break.
"I’ve felt recruiting is a necessary part of my job. Most of the time when I’m not here, I’m working with ensembles in the schools where my former students are teaching. I taught choral music in the public schools before teaching here, and I’m a strong advocate for music in the public schools. I really believe in the teaching profession and that it’s an excellent vocation for our students."
One recruiting coup that particularly stands out occurred the second year Boughton taught at WSU.
He went to hear one of his students sing at Central City Opera Company in Central City, Colo. She told Boughton there was a bass baritone who also was singing there during the summer that he just had to hear. After the opera performance, Boughton and several others went to the Teller House, a popular hangout, where people would sing solos.
Samuel Ramey got up and sang "Old Man River," Boughton recalls.
"After he sang, I got him over to our table and offered him a scholarship, which I had no authority to do," he says, with a smile.
When he got back to WSU, Boughton told the dean Walter Duerksen about Ramey and his scholarship offer, and the dean pitched in $100 more than what Boughton had offered.
Boughton also arranged for a job at his church for Ramey. When Boughton called Ramey to formally offer the music scholarship and church job, Ramey accepted for the fall 1962 semester.
"He sang in all my groups, and he also sang in my church choir for five years," Boughton said. "Most people would agree that Ramey is the best bass baritone in the world."
Over those years, Boughton has forged an inspiring legacy. He served 22 years as chair of the voice/choral program. His groups appeared at numerous state, regional and national music conventions and toured extensively nine times in Europe and South America.
"I’ve been extremely blessed. I have worked with thousands of students since 1961 who have gone on to teach, perform or appreciate choral music, and I hope that I’ve played some part in enriching their lives artistically, socially and spiritually."
In 1985, Boughton received the Harry Robert Wilson Award in recognition of his contributions to choral music in Kansas; in 1995, his alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa, presented him the Alumni
Award for Professional Achievement; in 1996, he received the WSU President’s Award for Extraordinary Faculty Achievement; and in 1998, his Madrigal Singers took second place at the Festival for Academic Choirs in Pardubice, Czech Republic.
Boughton’s greatest responsibility – and greatest joy – has been directing three of WSU’s five major choral groups: the A Cappella Choir, the University Singers and the Madrigal Singers. In fact, he’s taking the University Singers and Madrigal Singers to Europe one last time this summer.
The most noticeable feature of his office in Duerksen Fine Arts Center aside from the sprawling grand piano is the collection of photos on walls and bulletin boards of choral groups that have toured nationally and abroad under Boughton’s joyful direction.
A yellowed newspaper clipping pinned up in Boughton’s office features a photograph of a much younger Karla Burns practicing with Boughton at the piano, and it confirms their early meeting of minds and voices. The international star reminisces, "I owe him so much. He was instrumental in my going to Europe for the first time, and now I have lived there!"
She explains that in 1973, while she was in his office one day, the University Singers’ upcoming tour of Europe was mentioned. "I said something like, ‘How wonderful that’s going to be,’ and he asked me if I would like to go, and of course I said ‘Yes!’ and the next day I was called to the dean’s office and told that a private donor was willing to pay my way! That tour was a wonderful experience, and it made me realize that I could look beyond Wichita for opportunities. He was the one who made it happen."
Bill Thomson, professor and chair of the School of Music, says, "His rapport with students is a joy to behold. He welcomes the abilities of all students who want to sing, even if their career paths are in other fields, because he believes that singing just for the sheer pleasure of singing is a wonderful thing."
A card tacked up in Boughton’s office corroborates that perception: "The depths of one’s soul/Is known only to God./He who sings/Reveals that soul to Mankind."
Part of this article was reprinted from the alumni magazine, "The Shocker."
