Departments
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Week of 5 September 1997 |
Vol. I, No. 2 |
Feature Article
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Lifting every voice BMC's Vernon Truell pays backby Jim Graves "Oh, I love singing!" says Vernon Truell. Pronounced in serenely resonant bass tones, the exclamation comes through as, well, harmonious. Which it should. From his childhood in Savannah, Ga., the founding director of the all-volunteer Boston Medical Center Choir has been deeply engaged with music. When growing up, says Truell, who serves as MED's chief pathology assistant, "I can't remember a period when my siblings and I didn't sing at home and in school and church."
Later, he performed across the South with a group called the Simmons Singers. "Naturally, I kept singing after I arrived in Boston in the mid-60s," he says. "I don't think I'd feel right if I couldn't sing and share songs with others." A deacon (and not surprisingly, a choir member) at the People's Baptist Church on Camden St. in Boston, Truell says that "God enables me to work. This is a gift, and I try to show gratitude by performing my job cheerfully and also by lifting up people with song. We're all going to leave this world someday, and we need to reach out to others while we're here. Different people can do this in different ways. My way is music." It was, then, a spiritual commitment that led him to establish choirs, first at Deaconess Hospital, where he began working in 1965 while studying mortuary science, and later at the Medical Center, after joining the pathology department in 1969. BMC's all-volunteer choir, which has been active since 1970, has become both a popular tradition and an important support program for patients and staff at the Medical Center. For instance, the group's Independence Day program this year featured numbers ranging from "My Country 'tis of Thee" and "America the Beautiful" to "Amazing Grace" to "God Bless America." "As usual, everyone was looking forward to the performance, and as usual it was rousing," says Barbara Catching, MED's employee-relations director. Each year the ensemble's performances start in mid-January with a medley of spirituals and "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (known as the black national anthem), honoring both Martin Luther King, Jr., and black achievers at the Medical Center. In early December the group carols at the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree in Worcester Square. During the winter holiday, another performance takes place in the BMC Atrium Lobby. In between, the ensemble spreads holiday cheer by paying musical visits to all the hospital's nursing units. The group is nothing if not versatile. During BMC's gala for employees at the Westin Hotel in June, the choir sang a medley of golden oldies such as "Getting to Know You," "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," "Edelweiss," and "Hello, Dolly." "The crowd loved it," says Valerie Navy-Daniels, BMC community-relations director, "especially when Vernon gave solo renditions of the choruses of 'Hello, Dolly.' But then, the choir never fails to cheer everyone who hears it. "But as for Vernon," she continues, "directing the choir isn't the only way he gives of himself. For example, when student groups tour the hospital, he's always generous in furnishing them with useful information. He seems to have a special knack for engaging the interest of young people." The choir often performs a cap-pella but is sometimes accompanied, usually by Truell, who plays the piano, as he says, "strictly by ear." The members, who usually number between 15 and 20, come from all areas of BMC, he says. Their practices take place during extended lunch breaks and sometimes after work. "These are dedicated people," he says. "It's humbling to work with them. "I think the most important thing the choir does," he adds, "is to let patients know that they're not forgotten. When you see sick people's eyes fill with tears because they know you care for them and love them, you know you're doing something important." |
