5
Wednesday,
April 8, 1998
A vocal chameleon: Denbeste does it all
JOEL P. SHEMPERT
Feature Editor
LeaAnne DenBeste stands talking
with Monica Huggett, violinist and di
rector for the Portland Baroque Or
chestra, asking her if she would be will
ing sometime to write her a recommen
dation. Huggett cheerfully agrees, and
the two exchange thank yous and
goodbyes. The foyer empties, and
DenBeste turns and asks, with a sly
smile, “Is it odd for you to see your
teacher asking someone else for a rec
ommendation?”
DenBeste has just completed a se
ries of concerts as solo soprano with
the Portland Baroque Orchestra and
Ken Pierce Baroque Dance Company.
It has been a full Sunday afternoon, and
now the beautifully adorned singer
prowls the Trinity Episcopal Church
halls in her concert gown, seeking the
dancers’ autographs. As star soprano
at the completion of a smashing per
formance, it is a wonder people are not
seeking her autograph, yet she is
clearly the dancers’ and orchestra’s
biggest fan.
Denbeste, who has taught voice at
Clackamas since 1989, has just com
pleted a series of concerts with the
aforementioned Portland Baroque Or
chestra. Singing airs and recitatives in
Italian, English and French from
Handel’s Alcina, Purcell’s The Fairy
Queen, Clerambault’s Le Soleil,
vainueur des nuages, and Lully’s Les
festes de VAmour et de Bacchus ac
companied by orchestra and inter
spersed with vivid and lively dance
sequences, DenBeste truly shows her
range as a singer.
“This is a really unique and unusual
opportunity for me,” said DenBeste
earlier last week, anticipating the con
certs. “They [Portland Baroque Or
chestra have featured an unusual num
ber of singers this year. . .They don’t
use vocal soloists that often, and when
they do use them they use them for ‘bit
parts,”’ that is, small solos within a
larger choral program. Therefore be
ing the sole singer backed by an orches
tra for nearly two hours of music and
dance is a shining moment not likely
to be repeated in DenBeste’s career.
But wait, you ask—is not her career
that of a voice teacher? This may all
seem confusing at first, but that is sim
ply the result of the many hats
DenBeste wears. Soloist, choral singer,
music instructor—all these titles and
more have been applied to her, and all
are equally true. LeaAnne Denbeste is
a difficult lady to pigeonhole.
“I’m a chameleon,” she remarks with
mirthful voice, “because I sing in so
many different-sized ensembles.”
DenBeste currently sings in the 40-
member Oregon Repertory Singers, 20-
24 member Choral Cross-Ties, 12-16
member Capella Romana ensembles,
and the Cantabile and and Schola
Senexis quartets, as well as the
Sospirando duet which is backed by
two instrumentalists. Add to that her
diverse offering of solo work and
you’ve got a musician who sings in just
about every vocal setting imaginable.
There is, however, one exception. “I
don’t do opera,” DenBeste admits.
“It’s not that I hate it; actually I love it.
I just don’t have a big enough voice.”
This is probably just as well—oth
erwise DenBeste’s plate, between her
singing career and her instruction in
Group Voice and private lessons here
at Clackamas, might get just a bit too
full.
“People should realize that it’s not a
simple life,” says DenBeste. “Even
though I’m singing a concert tonight
[Friday], I’m rehearsing stuff for one
month from now.”
Even so, she was able to concentrate
enough to deliver a stellar performance
in the “Danse Baroque” concert, show
ing off both her vocal and stylistic
range. “Breath control to die for,” re
marked Clackamas Theory Teacher
Judy Hylton, also in attendance at
Sunday’s concert.
This should come as no surprise as
DenBeste is well known around the
Clackamas Music Department as a
master of imparting such control to her
students. Those who have studied un
der her or worked with her in Clacka
mas Chamber Singers’ rehearsal may
well wonder if there’s anything she
doesn’t know.
There is perhaps one thing.
“What would it take to involve more
people in singing at the college?”
DenDeste asks. “I know that many
people at this college are singing on
their own. This is my main evangeli
cal point—it would make it so much
easier for them if they had a little
knowledge.”
DenBeste is concerned that people
with little training might feel too intjmi-
JOEL P. SHEMPERT / Clackamas Print
Though star soprano LeaAnne DenBeste sings
professionally on a variety of levels, she still finds
time to hone the voices of Clackamas students.
dated to take a voice class. She wants
to reassure students that “I have taught
voice lessons to people as diverse as
punk and rock bands—I even taught a
rap singer once—to an older man who
wanted just to improve his voice.”
DenBeste is interested in a vocal pro
grams that would work with amateur
singers wherever it is of use to them, such
as singing country, pop or contemporary
Christian songs. She hopes to receive
feedback from interested students.
It might seem odd that such a busy
musician would want yet another respon
sibility to fit into her busy schedule, but
if anything is obvious about LeaAnne
DenBeste, it is not only that she is a
master juggler with her career, but that
she places a high priority on student suc
cess.
It would
make it so
much easier
for [singers]
if they hada
little
knowledge.
99
LeaAnne
Denbeste
Voice
Instructor
Welding certification hopefully first of many
ROBERT SCHOENBERG
Staff Writer
Clackamas student Eric Severson this month demonstrated
his welding abilities to quailify for an American Welding
Society certification awarded to welders who meet a na
tionwide skill standard.
Severson qualified by cutting and welding a pair of car
bon steel plates together, a test piece called a coupon, and
after finishing a set of coupons, they were mechanically
tested by Braun Testing and Certification Laboratory on
Swan Island in Portland. Each coupon was bent backward
along the length and width to see if the weld would come
apart.
"Basically, we bend it into the shape of a U," said weld
ing instructor John Shaw.
Shaw said he has two more students nearing skill levels
needed to test for certification. The welding class has about
42 students, he added.
This was Severson's first attempt at meeting the national
standards of the AWS. He bought a welding machine last
year but did not know how to use it, so he took Shaw's
class on welding to learn how.
The AWS certificate is a sign of mastery at a level of
skill needed to work in the industry. Severson performed
his test using a gas metal arc welder.
Severson hopes to use his new welding skills at the com
pany he works for, a heating, ventilation and air-condi
tioning service company.
Severson wants to continue his education here at Clacka
mas, eventually getting a degree in business administra
tion.
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LETTRE JOURNEY BEGIN.
•
Wednesday, April 8, 1998