BY LARRY RAPPOPORT
Correspondent
PHOTOSBYERIC SUCAR staff Above: With the support of several mentors, Jack Burdy has developed techniques to compensate for his blindness and to sing complex musical selections. Left: Carolyn Moore worked with Burdy and accompanied him at a recent concert. Perhaps it’s appropriate that singer Jack Burdy’s first solo recital in almost 20 years took place in a house of worship. His performance was nothing short of inspirational.
Burdy sang complicated songs written by the likes of Stephen Sondheim and Stephen Schwartz recently at Rumson Presbyterian Church. His pitch was flawless; his timing perfect. The baritone never missed a beat.
It was easy to forget that Jack Burdy is blind.
After Burdy finished his recital recently titled “An Evening of American Song,” the audience erupted in a standing ovation. Several members of the audience were moved to tears. All the while, Burdy looked quite comfortable in the spotlight. And for good reason: he’s been inspiring fellow singers and listeners alike for years.
Becoming a singer wasn’t easy for Burdy. But that’s exactly what he’s done for more than 37 years, whether as a solo performer or with chorale groups such as the Shrewsbury Chorale and Concordia Chorale.
Burdy, a Rumson resident, got his start as a singer with the help of a talented and passionate conductor at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School. The conductor looked past Burdy’s disability and served as his mentor.
“He was the first model I had for working with a conductor,” Burdy said. “I learned things as I went along.”
Burdy also began to appreciate one of the major obstacles he would need to overcome as a blind singer. Sighted singers have a difficult enough time learning lengthy classical works in many different languages while looking at musical scores. He wouldn’t be so lucky.
To learn the tone, rhythm and lyrics of any piece, he would have to commit it to memory.
“It was just something that I had to develop if I wanted to sing with sighted people,” said Burdy. “It’s never easy, but you get used to doing it.”
Recently, he has partnered with pianist Carolyn Moore, director of the Community Chorus at Ocean County Community College and music teacher with over 30 years of experience. She worked closely with Burdy in developing his most recent solo effort and accompanied him on piano.
“Jack has the most prodigious memory of any singer I have ever worked with,” Moore said. “He learns very quickly.” She also is quick to point out that Burdy has “perfect pitch,” quite unusual for any singer.
Learning the rhythm, lyrics and nuances of each song is an intricate process. Burdy spends hours practicing to master each stage.
First, Moore will record the words of a song onto a tape so Burdy can memorize them. Next, she will record his melody with the words, which he again memorizes. Finally, she records the accompanying piano music, noting exactly where Burdy needs to come in with the lyrics. For instance: “When I play this B flat, that will be your cue to start this verse.”
“It’s a feat even a sighted singer would have trouble with,” said Moore. “He’s had to depend on his ears and his memory.”
It’s a skill Burdy has become so good at that he’s been able to tackle pieces of increasing complexity.
“The Lee Hoiby pieces that he performed this evening are extremely difficult,” said Phillip Moore, a musical composer and friend of Burdy’s who attended the church recital.
But learning lengthy lyrics and complex rhythms hasn’t been Burdy’s only barrier to singing success. Each conductor has a different tempo, rhythm and style. Learning to work well with each is a real challenge for any singer. But how about a person who cannot even see the conductor’s lead?
“I have to be even more watchful than [sighted singers] are,” Burdy said, describing his ability to understand exactly what the conductor is asking of him.
Fellow chorale singers agree. Shari Friedman, who used to sing with Burdy and made a trip down from Boston especially for his solo recital, said, “He’s very inspiring. What he’s been able to accomplish boggles my mind. He has a sixth sense to know what the conductor wants. He never misses a cue.”
Indeed, it seems that Burdy has developed a knack for picking up on the nuances of the conductor he is working with. He’s gotten so good at it that conductors routinely report he “watches better than anyone else.”
“It’s something I have to do to keep up,” Burdy said. “If I don’t know what the conductor wants, I’m out of the loop.”
By continuing to improve as a soloist and chorale singer, Burdy hopes to stay in the loop of the music scene for years to come.
When he’s not on stage, Burdy also plans to continue to be the primary caregiver for his father, who became ill a few years ago.
One of the final songs that Moore and Burdy chose for the recital is one composed by Stephen Schwartz called “Dreamscape.” Burdy sings, “My fear is all I’ve got to lose. Life is nothing but a dreamscape.
“And the dream is mine to choose.”
On a music industry Web site, Schwartz is quoted as saying the song is “basically about overcoming the fear of doing new things, of being vulnerable, of being honest.”