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When he arrives with the group’s
accompanist, Allison Hudson Hilbish, Cuttino cracks a joke that further loosens the crowd,
then opens his music binder and announces the first song of the evening.
Still, the men keep talking and laughing, giving the rehearsal the air of a
locker room. But when Cuttino raises his arms, a pencil serving as his baton, and Hilbish delivers her introduction, the sound that rises
from this 70-voice choir leaves no doubt that these are serious musicians.
“It’s a powerful sound. It’s lusty, forceful,” says Jim
Mooney, assistant musical director and a founding member of
the Mastersingers, which he says is the largest all-male community
chorus between Atlanta and Washington. As the singers progress
through several pieces for their upcoming Christmas concerts, Cuttino stops them to correct their pitch or to ask for
emphasis on specific syllables. He banters with the members and takes some
ribbing as well. When they turn to a song with French lyrics, the evening
takes on a comic tone as Cuttino teaches proper
pronunciation to this group of mostly Southern men. The attempt to erase South Carolina accents
from French elocution is a work in progress. “You have to make rehearsals
fun,” says Cuttino. “I am a very serious musician,
but I learned early on that if you can cloak it in fun, then they learn a lot
quicker.” The choir was founded in 1981 by the late Arpad
Darazs, venerable USC choral director who died in
1986. In their 25th anniversary year, choir members still speak Darazs’ name with reverence. “He was my mentor,” says Cuttino. “I feel like I’m supposed to be here.” Cuttino is the Mastersingers’ sixth director. He attended
the University
of South Carolina and
completed his graduate studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He performed
in Europe, including a concert tour with
Leonard Bernstein, before returning to USC as a faculty member in 1996. He
has been director of the Palmetto Mastersingers since 1998. “Walter is a
phenomenal musician, and we are very lucky to have him,” says Mooney, who
also received a degree in music from USC. Known as South Carolina’s musical ambassadors, the
Mastersingers have performed throughout the world. Some of their most
memorable performances were at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in Rome,
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Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the White House and Carnegie Hall.
Their most recent trips overseas were to Russia
in 2003 and China
in 2006. The members pay their own expenses on these trips. “On the China trip, we were singing in one of the
parks, and when we got there, there was a Chinese choir with about 200
singers singing,” says Thom Jones,
current Mastersingers board president and voice graduate of the Juilliard
School of Music in New York.
“We introduced ourselves to the director, and they sang for us, we sang for
them, and then we sang together.” The group draws enthusiastic audiences
wherever they go. At a performance at the Great Wall of
China, some of the locals approached during the performance and
stood beside the choir. “One Chinese woman came up and turned pages (of
music) for me,” says Jones. Sharing those kinds of experiences and the
special camaraderie that evolves is what draws men of all ages to the group.
From 22 to 86, the Mastersingers are a musical family — with bigger and
bigger plans for their future. Next spring, the group will release a CD a
little different from others they’ve cut. The new one is all beach music, the
focus of their spring concerts. On the CD’s cover is a photo of the men in
their usual tuxedos, but barefoot on a beach at Lake Murray.
It’s fun stuff but the music is the key, says
Mooney. “If you don’t make music, then there is no bonding, there is no glue,
and the music is the glue that holds everything together.”
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