apnl 6.2001 • J u s t o u t 41
M USIC
nside a small practice room at Port
land Opera’s offices, soprano Diane
Syrcle is rehearsing for her upcom
ing recital. Her voice is emotional
ly evocative and appealing, and she
seems very exposed, as all singers are
as they put their very hreath and tal
ent on the line. After just a few min
utes listening, it’s clear how articulate
a singer she is.
Syrcle is also director of education
and outreach for Portland Opera and
obviously wears many hats. Back in
her office, the conversation moves
seamlessly from her love of music to
teaching, spirituality, politics and her
startling coming-out story.
She grew up in Clovis, N.M., “not
a hotbed of cultural activity,” she con
firms. Because her father was in the
military, Syrcle attended high school
in Germany— although she’s quick to
add she didn’t live the typical army
brat’s life, constantly on the move.
Syrcle was raised in the Pente
costal Church by deeply religious par
ents. “W hen 1 came out, 1 became a
very disenfranchised Christian and
went through demon counseling to he
healed.” She was told that as a homo
sexual, “The only thing that could be
wrong is a demon has entered you and
we’re going to pray for your healing.”
Searching for som ething to fulfill Diane Syrcle sings about life and love
her spiritually, she dabbled in Buddhism,
filled. A bout that time she met her partner,
Susan Leo.
Catholicism , channeling and other New
Age ideas that she’d been taught were occult
A lthough she and her parents had arrived
practices. A t 21, she says, “I came to that
at what amounted to a truce, she says the
real crisis point where I said, ‘I don’t feel like
shit really hit the fan when she and Leo
1 believe anything, and so I’m going to kill
decided to get married. “W hen I sent her the
fabric for my wedding dress, she went into a
myself.’ ”
m other meltdown,” Syrcle explains. Her
An accident she had while trying to accom
m other then proceeded to send her a letter
plish that goal actually saved her life. Syrcle
stating, “I pray every day for your misery.”
believes it was “divine intervention” that jolted
her awareness and allowed her to “slow down
N o surprise, Syrcle says it was “the most
and listen.”
painful day of my life.”
Spending three years teaching in Texas, she
Unhappily, she severed ties to her parents
until a week before the wedding, when she
says she perfected the craft of the double life:
received a remarkable card from her mother
being totally closeted at work and completely
acknowledging that she needed to try. "Thank
out in her personal life.
God
for Hallmark,” Syrcle remarks.
During this time she saw a therapist, some
She is very involved in Bridgeport Commu
thing she highly recommends for everyone.
nity Church, where her partner is the pastor.
“It’s the best thing I ever did because I put
She serves as choir director, plays host to
into perspective, ‘W hat are my needs, and
socials as the “preacher’s wife," manages the
who am IV ’’
ladies softball team and is a member of the
church council.
yrcle came to Oregon as a resident artist
Noting her difficult balancing act, being
at Portland Opera in the 1995-96 sea
married to the pastor of the church she’s so
son. Arriving here, she says she went
active in, Syrcle explains she’s had to compart
into a “w hat’s next crisis.” She was singing
mentalize her life. "Susan is my spouse, hut she
professionally hut didn’t necessarily feel ful
Full Syrcle
From army brat to preacher’s wife,
soprano finds fulfillment
©
PVUW M / ß u * l
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tual home and the foundation of my communi
ty life, hut for spiritual direction, I look else
where when 1 need it.” For that, she calls her
Presbyterian friend in San Francisco who mar
ried them.
Both singing and teaching have engaged
Syrcle. "When I was in college, 1 knew very
distinctly that my calling was to teach and to
be an educator; exploring singing as a career
option just happened.” She enjoys the circular
energy and response she gets from teaching and
conducting, adding that she found professional
singing "lonely and isolating.”
“For me, when I’m performing, the energy is
going out hut is not coming hack to me. There
are places in the music world where you are
totally vulnerable and totally decimated.”
Now, she sings mostly for pleasure and
enjoys the perfect balance between teaching
and singing. She still performs with the opera
occasionally, most recently in Dialogues of the
Carmelites.
Syrcle seems just as passionate about poli
tics and personal ethics. “It is a responsibility
that we have, those of us who choose to he out,
and that’s not a choice for everybody.”
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She also believes that the C lin
ton years led to complacency, prob
ably because we thought he was our
friend, hut that much of the
progress during the past four years
was achieved because of the media
and Hollywood. “It gives those of
us 30 and younger an opportunity
to step up and be activists, in posi
tive and constructive ways, to take
risks and say, ‘Look, I am part of
the third wave.’ ”
Then she adds, “There’s a respon
sibility for me, when the rubber
meets the road, to say, ‘These are my
rights, and I expect that wherever I
live, work, spend my money, that it’s
my right as a citizen, just as it’s my
right as a woman, and that you can’t
separate those two things.’ ”
yrcle’s next recital benefits both
v*. Portland Opera’s International
H Vocal Arts Institute, for which
she is staff administrator, and Bridge
port Community Church. She will
sing classical pieces including four
songs by Bellini plus five cabaret
pieces by Kurt Weill and a selection
from Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte. Syrcle
will he accompanied by Carol Lucas,
Portland Opera chorus master.
The centerpiece of the program
will be an eight-part German song
cycle by Schumann roughly translated as “The
Life and Love of a Woman.” Although struc
tured around a woman’s cycle of love and death
with a man, it’s obvious Syrcle’s take on this is
that it’s much more universal— and personal.
She recalls an earlier performance of the
song when the emotion of it really hit home:
“For me, the most beautiful moment was look
ing down at my hand and Imking at my wed
ding ring and seeing my partner— we were in a
very intimate space— and thinking, ‘OK, not
lookin’ at the ring anymore.’ ”
Syrcle says recitals almost have become a
thing of the past, and she’s hopeful they’ll
make a comeback because she enjoys the possi
bilities and variety they provide. Given the
scope of her interests and talent, that’s certain
ly in character. jH
teams up with pianist Carol Lucas
for an Afternoon Musicale 4 p m . April 7 at First
Congregational Church, 1126 S.W. Park Ave.
Tickets are $10 and available from 503-321-5260.
D lA N E S y r c l e
Portlander R i c h B r a y writes part time, loves
Wagner and thinks readers everywhere should be
glad he didn’t take up singing.
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