Legendary Crane Professor Emeritus Brock McElheran Passes Away

Brock McElheran, 90, who established an international reputation as a choral conductor and taught thousands of choral and instrumental conductors during a 40-year career, died Sept. 23, 2008, at his home in Potsdam. He was a professor emeritus and senior fellow at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. He was a significant figure to hundreds of Crane students and faculty. Here are selected comments from alumni and friends regarding the ways he touched their lives.

Elizabeth Panzer Shulman ’48

He will be remembered for the fine teacher he was, for his boundless energy and great sense of humor.

Joan Hughes Albern ’53

Brock McElheran was an “institution” at Potsdam. His conducting techniques held me in good stead my whole career. His type of leadership and dedication are hard to find these days.

Hank Levy ’55

I will always remember him as someone very special in my life. As he was to so many others, a great teacher, conductor and a friend, he made our lives much richer in so many ways. He had a sense of honesty through his dedication to the music he conducted and when he had to replace Ms. Hosmer for any reason, or even Robert Shaw, he carried on the high standard of performance we all expected.

Dale Zurbrick ’68

I commemorate, with the passing of Brock McElheran, the selflessness of a great humanitarian as well as our mentor/conductor. Since he packed me into his car and drove me home to Buffalo, NY, when my dad died in March of 1968, then turned around, drove back and taught his Monday classes the next day, I know what it means to truly care for someone. Hundreds and hundreds of graduates of Potsdam have been touched by his expertise, attention to detail, and his fastidious research. How fortunate we are to have come under his influence, which we passed on to our students each and every day.

Peter Mahigian ’73

A friend of mine was walking to the bus station as Brock was walking to campus for class. The friend was in Brock's class so he was, of course, asked where he was going. The friend said that his father had died and he had to take the bus home to Syracuse for the funeral. Brock said stay right there, and he got his car and drove him to Syracuse. He said nobody should have to take a 4-hour bus ride to his father's funeral. The man had more feeling than anyone that I know.

... and who can ever forget his "lecture" on “peelable” layers of clothing while conducting in a changing temperature situation?

Charlene Johnson Dumas ’76

The number of lives that he touched is overwhelming. Know that his music lives on.

Marion “Mimi” Delano Holtz ’76

I'll never forget Mr. Mac's demonstration of rubato...

Joshua Worby ’77

My sister, Rachael Worby ’71, and I stand with the entire Crane family in mourning the passing of Brock McElheran. We sung under Maestro McElheran in the Crane Chorus, and both of us studied conducting with him. Our memories are strong and fond, and given our respective careers, his impact is clear. 

Lisa Vroman ’79

If I have any confidence as a professional musician, it started in Potsdam singing under Brock McElheran. I still feel the awe I experienced singing the Berlioz Requiem in the midst of the 50+ other sopranos, equally in awe. My sister, Susan Cavanagh ’77 (Crane Chorus President, Julia Crane Award), still teaches her students many McElheran-isms. My favorite, and one I contemplate before going out on stage anytime, anywhere is “Keep your heart on fire, but your brain on ice.” Thank You, Brock. 

Renée Fleming ’81

Brock McElheran gave me my very first opportunity as a freshman at The Crane School of Music, setting me on an undeniable path towards a performance career when I sang solos in the Bach B minor Mass. His dedication to his students and to music was infectious, and his integrity helped to shape my values as a musician. That very first experience remains strongly embedded in my memory as if it was yesterday, and I am forever indebted to him for making me believe that I could embark on this journey.

Deborah West McFadden ’81

While at Crane, I had the opportunity to be in the Crane Chorus under the direction of Professor McElheran. As an instrumental major, I was amazed and inspired by his ability to teach and direct so many voices with such precision and musicality. Singing under his direction at the Olympic Games was a highlight in my life.

Matthew Savage ’83

I had the amazing pleasure of singing in the 1980 Olympic Closing Ceremony Chorus. I have such warm memories of the great rehearsals with Brock. His firm, but sincere and often hilarious rehearsal technique made a deep impact on me, and I will always share a great respect for him.

Vicki Vissar Day ’87

My first memory of Brock was performing the Messiah as well back in 1983 for the university president. I remember him being such a "stickler" with the counting and it was my real first experience as a freshman violinist getting a solid education in baroque music and playing. He did jump off the stage and ran around like a crazy man. (I never had the opportunity to sing in his groups since I had my choral experience in Cal Gage's Concert Choir. But the Crane Chorus and Orchestra experience was awesome! Too bad it isn't the same.) Brock took me under his wing in my senior year and gave me the confidence to try an audition in conducting at Northwestern Univ. Not that it turned out positive, but just to believe in a 20 year old that this may be something to try in her life truly sticks with me. I too remember conducting Beethoven’s Second Symphony, by memory. I would see him often at Community Performance Series concerts, he,
Janie and Sally Skrym sitting in the audience. He will be sadly missed and remembered to all of us.

David Hayden ’88

I sang under Brock in ’80 as a freshman in high school for a performance of Alexander Nevsky. It was eye opening, to say the least, to work with him as a 14-year-old tenor. It really set the tone for my musical development through high school and then into college. New York City in the fall of ’86 with the New York Philharmonic is a week of memories that I hope I never lose.

John Anthony Lopez ’88

We sat in the recording studio for Liberty Weekend, laying down track after track, each as precise as the first... the sound tech mistakenly leaves sound on as he rewinds one, and we hear the song whip by at high speed, backwards... Brock, with a devilish gleam in his eye, rewinds the entire ensemble in the room the same way...

Molly Sprague Kurent ’89

My most memorable time with Brock was when I was auditioning for the Statue of Liberty/Centennial Chorus and had lost my voice! Brock was very kind but firm and said I could still audition but needed to WHISTLE the Star Spangled Banner...Talk about pressure. Best audition I ever had. It taught me to always give people a chance and if necessary a second chance. Thank you Brock!

Glenn Roberts ’89

I remember Brock's humor. I remember the way he would light up when you passed him in the hall and said "Hi, Brock!" I remember being slightly afraid of him at first, then having that turn to respect and admiration. I remember him conducting Messiah from memory at his retirement concert. The last time I saw him conduct, he conducted the Halleluia Chorus. He was helped out on stage, and my wife had to help me stand because I was so overcome by seeing this giant man again. There are so many things musically that I do in regular course due to him. He has passed, but he is still with us in all that anyone who had him carries in their heart.

Jill Nelson Roberts ’90

One of my most vivid memories of Brock is from the summer I worked at the Homestead Dairy store in Potsdam. He and Janie would come in every once in a while and order the same thing: "One chocolate milkshake, please. Extra thick. Two straws." They would sit in one of the booths and quietly enjoy their treat and each other. It was very touching.

Katherine Kopec Burton ’91

I had the good fortune to be a part of the choir that celebrated the Crane School of Music’s centennial in November 1986. It was a “coming home” type of performance as we were performing at Lincoln Center in New York city, a train ride from my family and friends. This performance was a huge effort in coordination; two hundred choiristers, the New York Philharmonic, Sherill Milnes as a soloist and under the baton of Maestro Zubin Mehta.

Upon returning to the hotel from a day of rehearsal, I was getting ready to go to dinner when Brock found me and informed me that a call had been received from my parents and that I needed to call home. This was before cell phones, so I stood in the lobby of the hotel calling my parents with the assumption that they were confirming the performance that they were to attend. Instead, I was told that my grandfather had died. Arrangements were being made. I was a mess, crying in the lobby. Brock had reached his dear wife Jane and comforted me. Jane took the phone, found out about the arrangements as Brock tried his best to calm me down. He found the great guy that I had been seeing at the time and sent us off for a walk. When we returned a little while later, Brock put his hand on my shoulder, expressed his condolences, told me not to worry about rehearsals and handed me an envelope.

In the envelope was the train information I needed to get home and more than enough cash for cab and train fare. When I returned, I tried to pay the money back to Brock who refused and just reminded me to be ready for concert call on time, suddenly the maestro again.

Fifty percent of all music teachers in the state of New York and 20 percent of all music teachers nationwide earned their degrees at The Crane School of Music. Brock McElheran taught at The Crane School of Music for 41 years. I can’t begin to estimate the number of lives and careers that he touched.

Me? I decided that Music education was not for me, but I have continued to sing in all manner of choirs throughout the years. Never have I worked under the baton of anyone else like Maestro Brock McElheran and I suspect that I never will.

Charlie Leech ’91

On one of my very last days at Crane before graduating, I was talking with a friend about our futures in music. We were in the Crane Commons and the school seemed mostly empty. Brock "magically" appeared and sat down with us and joined into our conversation giving us sage advice. This was special enough, but he gave each of us specific advice that was close to what we had in our hearts. When he left us, we were awed and looked at each other in silence and finally had to laugh at our good fortune and his poignant words. Brock showed us in Crane Chorus rehearsals how to have fun as a conductor, yet have COMPLETE control and respect from the group. I feel so blessed to have worked with him.

Michael Muller ’91

I remember Messiah (his last for Crane Chorus), but also his last spring festival, which included Copland's Lincoln Portrait, Elgar's Spirit of England, with Renée Fleming guest soloing, and then Shostakovich's Song of The Forests (done in English). I remember how sincere he was about arranging that particular program, promoting war and peace. He took those works very personal. On a more humorous note, I remember going to his old office when it was "up front," some time close to the concert, to ask him a question. We ended up talking about his growing up in Canada and how he would listen to Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Radio in his youth. He starts looking through his mail and for some reason he was sent this punk rock album as a promotional of some sort. He looks at it, says "They always send me this stuff." Looks at me, says, "You want it?" and puts it right in my hand. I still have it as a memory of Brock.

John Saint Amour ’94

I remember his wife helping him from the wings of the stage to the podium, he took the baton and conducted a command performance. He was masterful and the performance was brilliant. Then after the applause, his wife returned to the podium and helped him off the stage. It was an absolutely astounding experience.

Ryan Flatt ’02

I will always remember the Christmas Convocation, and the silence he brought to hundreds of insane music majors who just spent ten minutes running around Hosmer to sing The 12 Days of Christmas. Silent Night gave me chills and tears every year.

Katie Taylor ’04

Brock was amazing and inspiring! I remember him coming to a Crane Chorus rehearsal my senior year and speaking to us – he was such an amazing man! When I was "in training" (aka trying to lose enough weight to fit into my wedding gown), I was going to the pool to do laps three times a week. He was always there swimming and waved and smiled from the water! "Slow and steady," he'd say! Used to make me smile to see him! God just gained another angel! :-) Rest in Peace, Brock...

Jamie Szafran ’08

I have two favorite memories of Brock, both of them tied together.
The Crane Convocation every year was almost a spiritual event for me. It was a reminder of what it was to be a Cranie and that we really are all in it together, in the "Crane family," as cheezie as it sounds. Of course, the most profound moment was always Silent Night. One Crane body, all together, departing in silence. It always gave me chills.

This past year, when Brock couldn't come to Convocation, I remember how the oldbies gasped and even the newbies seemed to get that something was horribly wrong. We got a massive group of students to go sing at his house (nearly getting lost getting there, but y'know), and then after we had sung outside, he asked us...ALL... to come in. I remember the look on his face and the tears in the eyes of everyone in the room. As we left, they counted us, and we numbered 80... about 1/6 of the Crane population.

THAT's how much he influenced us, even those of us who never had him as a professor.

Caitlín Ní Cheallaigh

I remember doing Messiah my first year as well. I remember him jumping from the floor to the stage in one leap at the rehearsal hall. I remember preparing for the Liberty Chorus. I remember being in Manhattan with Collegiate Singers and my voice cracked during warm up...he said...what was that...I said...my voice cracked...he said...well, don't do that. So dead pan, everyone fell out. I remember working as his assistant while he wrote his book V Bombs and Weathermaps (a great read if you are a WWII buff...completely Brock's humor in the face of adversity all the way). I remember he would grab me by the hand and walk over to the dining hall near across campus, charm the ladies, buy me "the best egg salad sandwich" and tell me that he still weighed 125 lbs, his fighting weight in college! I remember sitting with him and Janie in the living room and telling them about an insanely harrowing trip to Ireland for my grandmother's funeral. I remember Brock laughing so hard that he ran and got a tape recorder and made me recount it. I remember him telling me that he still played it for friends last year when I was at my 20th reunion. My 5-year-old daughter was with me, and I have a picture of the two of them together. I remember I had a solo with Collegiate Singers and the car wouldn't start and it was snowing to beat the band, and he came to my apartment to get me. I remember trying to conduct the Beethoven Second from memory for the final...ha ha ha ha ha. I will miss Brock. The world was a brighter place with him in it.

Geoffrey Hobin

I have three distinct and oft-recalled memories of Brock:
1) Regarding the sin of coughing during a concert: A lecture on NOT coughing, but if you must, cough into your arm and muffle it for **** sake. I can see him standing on the podium in Hosmer, and hearing a particularly rude cough, turning to glare over his shoulder at the offender, without dropping a beat.
2) Brock's brilliant method of tuning a 200-plus voice chorus: Split 'em in half, a half step apart and get them to cross in the minutest of increments. Still one of the best ear sharpening exercises I've ever done.
3) This is a paraphrase dredged from a 30-year-old memory. "Caruso once said you have to squeeze your cheeks." Brock demonstrated with his hands to either side of his face. How I laughed.
May you conduct a celestial choir, Brock. Would we all experience the privilege and joy of singing in that angelic ensemble.

Don Hopkinson

My very first day, at Crane Chorus, newbie freshman, rehearsing Messiah. I raised my hand and asked, "Mr. McElheran, I hear some folks calling you 'Professor', some are calling you 'Mr. McElheran' and others calling you 'Brock'. What do you prefer?" Without skipping a beat, with that big grin, he replied "Young man, at my age, I'm glad if someone calls me at all!" He scratched at his back with his baton. I have called him Brock since that day, and sang in both of his choirs, Crane Chorus and Chamber Singers; what an incredible man!

Carl Johengen

As a young faculty member at Crane between 1999-2003, I was impressed that Brock was immensely supportive of me; he was always in attendance when I sang on faculty programs, etc. Knowing his amazing legacy and reputation, I was always a little extra nervous with him in the audience, but he would come backstage and be so generous in his praise. What an outstanding teacher, and human being.

Robert Loewen

When I came to teach at Crane in 1995, Brock and Janie welcomed me with open arms. Brock was always supportive of my students, in fact, all the students at Crane. I was always amazed that it seemed this was a man who had forgotten more that most of us would ever know. When I first sang with the Crane Chorus, he said in his inimitably dry way to Dr. Gordon, "You're going to like this singer - he can count!” No small affirmation from someone with great ears, and a terrific sense of rhythm. Sitting beside him in Carmina Burana rehearsal and hearing him say, "Do you have your score with you? Turn to pg __, 3rd system 4th m., that's supposed to be F#."

Memorial contributions may be made to the N. Brock McElheran Scholarship Fund, Potsdam College Foundation, Inc., 44 Pierrepont Ave, Potsdam, NY 13676.