On Nov. 11, more than 100 SUNY Potsdam alumni traveled back to campus for a special memorial concert to honor Dr. Rebecca Reames (1953-2017) and Dr. Heather Eyerly (1970-2017)—two beloved Crane School of Music professors who passed away earlier this year.
After hearing about their passing, Andrea Wanner ’09, Kyle Pogemiller ’09 and Kate Gigliotti ’09—good friends and former students of both Reames and Eyerly—organized the concert, by reaching out to Crane alumni from around the country. “These two women gave a lot to their students and people wanted to give something back. We wanted to do something substantial to honor them and remember them,” said Gigliotti.
Dr. Reames joined SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music in 1996, and for the past 21 years she taught courses in music education and conducting, as well as conducting choirs such as the Phoenix Club, an all-treble chorus and the oldest choral group on campus. Dr. Eyerly joined The Crane School of Music in 2003, and she taught courses in music education, conducted choral ensembles such as the Hosmer Choir, and founded the Children’s Chorus of Crane. “You can’t come through the music program here as a vocalist not having encountered either of these great teachers,” said Pogemiller.
120 alumni traveled from as far away as Florida and Texas to be part of the special performance. After arriving at Crane Saturday morning, they congregated in a large rehearsal room where they sang in unison under the baton of visiting conductor, Dr. Kevin Fenton, a professor at Florida State University and a dear friend of Dr. Reames. They rehearsed specially selected songs, such as “Shenandoah,” “Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty,” and “Wana Baraka,” a Swahili song specifically chosen by Fenton because of its connection to Dr. Reames. The song “Sleep” was chosen by alumnus Andy Duffer ’14 also in honor of Reames.
The Florida State professor first met Reames in 1990 while attending a summer music institute at the Eastman School of Music. He said that he was sitting alone eating breakfast when Reames walked up to him, asked him if he was there for the institute, and then invited him to join her for breakfast—a welcoming beginning to a lifelong connection.
As their friendship grew, he encouraged her to join him at FSU to pursue her doctorate degree in music. “We studied together at Florida State University. She was a dear friend of mine through that…My kids have known Becky since they were born. She’s been a big, big part of their lives. They call her Aunt Beck Beck. She’s just been a part of the family in every way,” said Fenton.
As Fenton stood at the front of the rehearsal hall, he saw his friend in many of the faces in the crowd. “To be here, and to see her live in her students, is a real honor for me…There’s a couple of kids who remind me of Becky—their personalities, their spirit and their welcoming attitude,” Fenton said.
Now back in the halls of The Crane School of Music, these Crane alumni had a perfect opportunity to reflect back on how Reames and Eyerly influenced their lives.
After getting his degree in music education from SUNY Potsdam eight years ago, Pogemiller is now a music teacher at a middle school in Rhinebeck, N.Y. “We spent so much time with these amazing women. So much of what we do as teachers in the classroom is influenced by what we learned here from them,” Pogemiller said.
Their teaching style has stuck with him to this day. “Dr. Eyerly did her doctoral research on the effect of centered-breathing on choral performance. She used to turn off the lights and tell everyone to breathe in, and she did this guided breathing exercise: ‘Breathe in this moment, it’s the only moment,’ to just center us for a performance…It’s something that I do with my students before we have our musical, to bring that energy back,” he said.
Pogemiller also said that Dr. Eyerly was influential during his last year at the College. “My final semester here at Crane I got to spend hours in Dr. Eyerly’s office, learning how to conduct from her and be a choir teacher. She just had such a joy for what she did here professionally at Crane and such a love for music. That’s something that she definitely passed on to her students,” he said.
When Johnna Bernard ’17, a music business major at Crane, was still in high school she met Dr. Eyerly at an Area All-State music conference. Dr. Eyerly conducted Bernard’s choir, and her decision to attend Crane was largely based on that encounter. “I saw her and I knew that she was on the faculty at Crane and she was the most passionate choral director I’ve ever worked with,” Bernard recalled.
Bernard, who is wrapping up her last semester at SUNY Potsdam and who was in both Reames’ and Eyerly’s choirs, also joined the alumni choir on stage for the performance. “The music was beautiful. It really embodied both of them and their spirits,” Bernard said.
In addition to the alumni choir, the Crane Concert Choir, The Phoenix Club, The Hosmer Choir, The Crane Chorus, the A-Sharp Arrangement, and a faculty quartet also performed on stage during the memorial concert for an audience that included Dr. Reames’ sister, Ronda. “We learned about it very shortly after her death, that there would be a memorial concert. The music is breathtakingly beautiful. I know Becky is here today and I know she’s reveling in this. I mean, it’s glorious, it’s absolutely beautiful. It’s just lovely. It’s like the angels are singing, so I know she’s got a huge smile,” Ronda Reames said.
Wanner said that returning to campus to sing with her former classmates felt like coming home. “I think we all needed that time together to share memories, shed some tears and pay tribute, the best way we knew how—through music. It was surreal but incredible to be back onstage in Hosmer with so many friends and alumni. It’s an experience I’ll never forget. I’m so grateful to everyone who supported this concert and made it possible for us to honor two beloved teachers and mentors,” said Wanner.
“Singing at home again in Hosmer was the greatest gift we could have given them,” Pogemiller said after the concert. “The tears flowed freely, but the smiles were brighter than ever; and they were there in the music, where they will always be,” he said.