I could write volumes about what I have learned spending time talking music with Alice Parker. Actually, I hope someday to do just that.
But what struck me most on my most recent visit, when we set aside an hour or two every day for little musical projects, is her abiding musical curiosity. She is, as I write this, seeking new musical ideas and better ways of expressing what she knows about music. She graduated with her composition degree in 1947, and has spent the subsequent seventy-five years making vocal music at the very highest level across the country. She’s not done – she has more to wonder about and more to say.
She is incredibly convicted and clear about what she knows about song and singing – and powerfully convincing in her vision. But that doesn’t stop her experimenting, searching, creating.
I hope I can be so lucky as to have that outlook at 96.