Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Christopher Perry.
Eric, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in a small farm town in Central New York State where music and theatre were surprisingly celebrated as much as our high school basketball team. Yes, I did grow up in a musical family.
I learned how to harmonize with my father – I would join him in renditions of Simon and Garfunkel tunes; he would play guitar and sing lead and I would cover all the high Garfunkel-y stuff. My sister, also a lovely singer, is a licensed music therapist in the Rochester area.
My mother would never admit it but has a really pleasant singing voice as well. Music always played a critical role at home. My first serious vocal music teacher, Thea Fenton Wheeler, held exceedingly high standards, had impeccable taste in the repertoire, and always sought utmost professionalism from all of her students regardless of their natural ability.
I knew as a teenager I wanted to be a professional musician and music educator, and at the expense of my other coursework, I thrived being constantly challenged and pushed to perfection “with the realization I would never achieve it” by her.
This kind of ‘tough love’ in music was foreshadowed what I would experience as an undergraduate at Fredonia State University in Western New York. There I met Gerald Thomas Gray, my first serious voice teacher, college choral conductor, life mentor, and a second father figure. I could write a book about our relationship.
In short, it was through Gerald that I was introduced to Bach, Boston, and the best in all things without compromise. After my graduate studies at Arizona State University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a short teaching stint near Melbourne, Australia, I followed Gerald’s advice and moved to Boston in the fall of 2012.
I dove into the music scene head first, ready to fully commit to a life in music and willing to participate in any way I could. I started my professional teaching career at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and worked with brilliant high school musicians in a liberal arts context who had endless curiosity and passion for musical projects.
I began my own musical journey with Emmanuel Music as a substitute in their Sunday Bach Cantata series – an organization Gerald was deeply associated with [as a college student, I idolized Emmanuel from a distance; his reverence of Emmanuel’s founder, Craig Smith, and the multitude of stories he accrued his days in Boston was like folklore to his students].
A ton of random, interesting things too. While stoked to live my dreams of being a working professional musician in a major American arts hub with long-established ensembles, it wasn’t long before projects of my own popped up. I was led to the ground floor of a new male vocal chamber ensemble that was being explored with other freelancers in town.
With a moderate skill set in arts entrepreneurship, I agreed to help a colleague with some administrative work for his own passion project, the Nahant Music Festival, a burgeoning music festival on the North Shore which I served as Executive Director for two years. I premiered art song cycles written for me by students at Andover as composition projects.
I never really knew where things were going, and in many ways, I still don’t. I almost always say yes, just to enjoy the ride through new adventures for as long as I can ride it. The curiosity of it all is just wonderful.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Teddie’s crunchy peanut butter in Everett. Unsalted. I will let the readers fill in the blanks. Or make lunch.
Whichever comes first, really. Oh, and I still haven’t fully grieved Gerald’s death; he passed away in October 2017 due to pancreatic cancer. It has been a tough season, back and forth between hilarious remembrances and profound sadness.
Please tell us about Renaissance Men.
Formed in 2014 in a practice room in New England Conservatory, Renaissance Men has really grown in size and scope over the course of four years. While there are many different tenor/bass ensembles in Boston, and each truly amazing (Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, Boston Saengerfest Men’s Chorus, the Apollo Club), “RenMen” is different – it is the only professional vocal chamber ensemble that employs smaller forces of men’s modal voices (no countertenors) in New England.
Our roster is sixteen deep but our personnel varies from concert to concert – most of our touring performances feature six musicians, while our mainstage productions may host eight to ten. We do it all – we pride ourselves on a vast array of repertoire in our concert curations. From 1965 Billboard’s Top 100 with live instruments that we all play to Thomas Tallis’s “Lamentations of Jeremiah,” from newly commissioned works to unearthed octavos or operas for male voices by historically celebrated composers. There is no kind of music we wouldn’t explore.
The performance element is also really special – our musicians have boundless energy and so much love for the art and for each other. That vibe is super infectious… it just beams in our live concerts. We are uniquely our own, all with very unique people and unique voices. And our sound, our music making, it’s so… RenMen. Our debut record, “RenMen Laments,” supported by over one hundred devoted fans, or “RenFriends” as we like to call them, will be released on Navona Records in February 2019.
Next month we make our national mainstage debut at the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Men’s National Music Fraternity National Convention in New Orleans this July. My dream is we will get to make this our full-time job and to join the list of only two fully professional male vocal chamber ensembles in the nation. That said, our small-town type of community togetherness we’ve built over the years is what I am most proud of.
We all have different professional lives outside of our ensemble’s work, which is refreshing and makes for a really interesting rehearsal dynamic. What a journey we’ve all been on… quite a different place compared to our temporary tattoos days of our first concerts. Actually, I think we still have a ton if you want some! I guess they are pretty cool.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Aside from those I’ve already mentioned in this interview (particularly my loving family, thank you thank you), Fredonia State University’s network of musicians has been a major lifeline for me, particularly Will Prapestis, another RenMen founder as well as my dearest friend and closest collaborator.
The other founders of Renaissance Men, including the tireless and ever-patient Anthony Burkes Garza (General Manager), Peter C. Shilling (Business Manager), and tenor Alexander Nishibun, also deserve a tremendous amount of credit as they all play equal parts, if not more, in the growth and sustainability of our organization.
Our inimitable composer-in-residence, Daniel E. Gawthrop, has been a major component of our ensemble’s DNA. Shannon Rose McAuliffe, Holly Cameron, Amelia LeClair, Dana Whiteside, Donald Wilkinson, Ryan Turner, David Hoose, Pat Krol, David Snead, Jennifer Hughes, Michael Scanlon, Doug Anderson, Jay Mobley, Elizabeth Eschen, and anyone else who has been a part our journey since the beginning.
To the Boston City Singers, especially Dan Ryan, director of the Fellas male vocal ensemble, with whom we have shared many performance educational experiences with. And, with heartfelt, special thanks to Timothy and Jane Gillette.
And to my colleagues Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where I now serve as the Director of Choirs and Head of Vocal Activities. Oh, and to the thousands of other people, I surely have missed in this interview. Nobody does this alone.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.renmenmusic.com www.ecpmusic.com
- Email: ecp@ecpmusic.com
- Instagram: @renmenmusic
- Facebook: facebook.com/renmenmusic
- Twitter: @renmenmusic
Image Credit:
Emily Bryn Photography, Pamela Reed
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
