In this heartwarming episode of The ROCC Pod, we delve into the harmonious world of the Cantata Academy Chorale. Join hosts John Gay and Lisa Bibbee as they explore the musical and personal connections that make this ensemble more than just a choir—it's a family. Our special guests, conductor Susan Catanese and board president Maggie Reese, share their stories of love, music, and community that resonate through the group's performances.
Maggie reveals her own love story that blossomed within the choir's ranks, and the conversation takes a thrilling dive into her bucket list adventures, including skydiving. We also get a glimpse into Susan's journey from a piano-playing child to a beloved conductor, and her plans for a harmonious retirement.
The episode crescendos as we discuss the upcoming concert season, with its theme "Tomorrow Comes," reflecting the enduring spirit of the chorale and its members. We learn about the choir's impressive history, including international tours and their connection with the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce.
As the chorale faces a transition with Susan's retirement, we uncover the excitement and anticipation for the future. With auditions on the horizon and a legacy of excellence, the Cantata Academy Chorale is poised to continue its tradition of exceptional choral music.
Whether you're a long-time supporter or new to the wonders of choral music, this episode is a testament to the power of community and the arts in Royal Oak.
Remember to subscribe to The ROCC Pod for more stories that strike a chord in the heart of Royal Oak's vibrant community.
Cantata Academy Chorale Website: https://www.cantataacademy.org/
Maggie: What makes Cantata special is the people. It's not just a place that we go and sing. It's a musical home. It's a family. We get very very close to each other in this group. We don't just come in and sing on Sunday nights and then show up for concerts. We know how to party too. We play well together.
Jon: Welcome back to The ROCC Pod presented for the Royal Oak Michigan Chamber of Commerce. I am Jon Gay from JAG in Detroit Podcasts.
Lisa: I am Lisa Bibbee, your professional realtor with Keller Williams Advantage.
Jon: We are getting into the music today with Cantata Academy Chorale. We have conductor Susan Catanese and president of the board Maggie Reese with us.
Welcome to you both.
Susan: Thank you.
Maggie: Glad to be here.
Jon: So Maggie, I want to start with you because this is fantastic. It's a love story. Is it true you met your husband in the group all these years ago?
Maggie: Yeah, and it's still a love story. I joined the group in 1983. He joined in 84. The family joke is that he liked the view because he stood behind me for a couple years.
And we married in 1989. So we've been married 35 years. Still very happily. And the best part is we get to make music together.
Lisa: Oh, congratulations. That is like the sweetest love story. You had mentioned too, that you are very adventurous. And one of the things you have yet to check off your bucket list was skydiving.
Maggie: Yeah. Oh yeah. I've done a lot of adventuresome things. there's a place I think in Novi that simulates skydiving. I think I'm going to try that. I don't think I'm willing to jump out of the airplane .
Lisa: That's great. It's called iFly, and it's a fantastic way to keep your feet on the ground, so to speak, but be able to experience that flightless feeling.
But I went skydiving recently. And it was amazing. Everybody thinks that it's this high adrenaline, blood rushing kind of experience. And it is up until you jump out of the plane. But as soon as you jump out of the plane, it is the most calm Zen thing. Like time stands still. And you're just looking at the most beautiful view of the world.
Cause you can see for miles. But I was shocked because it's so calming and nobody talks about how calming it is. So if you ever get the chance to jump out of a plane, I would highly suggest it.
Maggie: All right. I'll take your advice on that.
Jon: Follow up question for you, Lisa, at any point while you were free falling, did you have the thought, I can see my house from here?
Lisa: Actually it was down in Florida when I did it. So no, I did not have that thought. Yeah, that would have been amazing. I would have definitely brought another camera. I did have it filmed so I could see all the houses. But I would love to be like, I live right there.
Jon: All right. Let's bring our conductor, Susan, into the conversation. Tell us about how you got involved first playing instruments and then becoming the conductor of the organization here.
Susan: When I was a child, I always wanted to play the piano. So I was really lucky when I was eight. My parents finally invested in a piano and I took lessons my whole life.
And earned a scholarship to undergraduate school as a piano major. And when I finished my bachelor's in vocal music education, I started teaching. And I was a choir director for 34 years in Michigan public schools. And when I retired from that, I heard that Cantata was looking for a new conductor.
And there's a funny story that goes with it. I was very excited because I knew that my friend, Dr. Mike Mitchell from Oakland university had been leading the choir for 10 years. And so I thought, Oh, they're only going to want someone with a doctor, a DMA. And I have a master's from Michigan.
Jon: What is a DMA? Let me stop you there for a second. What is a DMA?
Susan: That's a doctor of musical arts. . It's like a PhD, but it's in music. So it's a doctorate. And so I have a master's from University of Michigan, so I thought maybe that wasn't enough, but I passed the interview and I was ecstatic. And then I said, so how many people are in this choir?
And they started looking around at each other and they're going, is so and so coming back? Is so and so coming back? eight for sure. I was there. I saw that eight. Oh my good lord. What have I done? But by our first concert, which was only a couple of months later, we had 35 people in our performance cause I called every friend I had in the book and all my music teacher friends and we got Cantata back on the map. And now we've just celebrated. Our 60th anniversary, this year is our 63rd season.
Lisa: Wow, congratulations.
Susan: Yeah, it's been growing and growing, and it's just so beautiful and so musical.
I enjoy rehearsals every Sunday night.
Lisa: Well, Susan, real quick, you had mentioned retiring earlier, and Rumor has it you're going to be retiring from this position soon. What are you planning on doing with your life when you do retire?
Susan: I'm starting it out, I'm kicking it off with a two week trip to Hawaii with my whole family.
Lisa: Oh, what island?
Susan: We're starting out in Oahu because my niece is in the Navy. So we're going to visit her there and then just play it by ear for two weeks. It'll be myself, my husband. My granddaughter and my son and my daughter in law.
Jon: Lisa and I could talk an entire podcast about Hawaii. We both love it so much.
But we need to get to Cantata because it is such an amazing organization. Whichever one of you wants to take this question, what does make this group so special and unique?
Maggie: I'm going to nail this one. Being that I've been in the group for 34 years, I've sung under four different directors. I've experienced the changes of singers rotating through.
We still have a couple people who are a part of the original group that started in the 60s. But what makes Cantata special is the people. For some reason, it's not just a place that we go and sing. It's a musical home. It's a family. We get very, close to each other in this group. We don't just come in and sing on Sunday nights and then show up for concerts.
We know how to party too. We play well together. And I've never really seen any instances in the group where people didn't get along or any of that. It's just been a wonderful experience. And I've sung in a number of groups and some groups, you just come in, you do your thing and you leave. But it's never been that way with Cantata. It's a family.
Jon: Maggie, do you attribute that to the group drawing from such a large geographic area, as opposed to just one, maybe one small town that the people who are in the group really have the passion and care to want to be part of this?
Maggie: Yeah, I think that's part of it. And we're not all musicians by day.
We have a lot of different, we have lawyers, we have a masseuse. We have lots of people who do different professions, but what we all share in common is the fact that we love choral singing, and we love good choral singing. Under Susan's direction, we've had amazing choral singing. And the fact that she's retiring, is bumming everybody out.
But I want to make this point. When she applied for the job, we had three applicants. We've opened up this job now again. We've had seven applicants at this point and they're all, for the most part, very high quality. It's a testament to the fact that Susan has been such an amazing director that people want to get their hands on this choir.
Lisa: That's fantastic. Susan, can you tell us a little bit more about what the concert season looks like coming up?
Susan: This spring concert, the title of the performance is Tomorrow Comes, and I selected that because no matter what happens in life or in any personal experience, you wake up the next day and you face the next day.
So whether it's been a trauma in your life, or whether it's something joyful, like moving on to something new. Tomorrow comes. And our closing piece for the performance is Do You Hear the People Sing from Les Miserables. The ending phrase is Tomorrow comes and it's so exciting. Every Sunday when we rehearse it and the choir just nails that last chord and it's just, it fills the rehearsal space.
And it's going to be a really cool way to end the concert and end my tenure and it's exciting.
Jon: I can see the goosebumps. I know our audience can't see you right now, but I can see the goosebumps as you're describing this. What, are the performance dates? When can people come see the show?
Susan: Saturday, April 27th at Royal Oak First United Methodist Church. And then we are also performing Saturday, May 4th in Farmington and Sunday, May 5th in Troy at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.
Jon: Excellent. we're thrilled to have Cantata as a member of the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce. How has your relationship been with the chamber? How has it benefited you since you've been involved? Can you speak to the chamber piece of it a little bit?
Maggie: I was one of the ones that attended a couple of meetings and did the initial intake with the Chamber of Commerce. We've been in Royal Oak when using our rehearsal space at Royal Oak First United Methodist for a number of years now.
And we're so we're pretty entrenched in the Royal Oak community. It's a wonderful central location. We just was hoping that it could give us more exposure to the Royal Oak community. And we love the idea of the digital sign. That's an amazing tool that we are enjoying that we're going to use again this year.
Just to be more part of the Royal Oak community. We took part in the, the Halloween. We had one of our members out there in costume and advertising our concerts coming up. we just want to have more exposure to Royal Oak.
Jon: I do love the digital billboard. For those that don't know, it's at the corner of 4th and Woodward, right as you go down Royal Oak, and I've actually had people say, Oh my God, I've seen your podcast logo on a billboard.
I'm like, that's right, baby. And it makes me look even bigger than I am because it's through the Royal Oak Chamber.
Lisa: We love all of the arts programs that we have in the area.
Jon: So I guess this would also be more for you, Maggie, with Susan getting ready to retire here shortly. As we move forward with Cantata, how do you see the future of the organization going forward as somebody who's seen it from, way back in the eighties?
Maggie: Sue and I had talked about this, that we were going to try, probably going out together. This is my last year on the board or as president of the board. I will stay on the board, but we have younger people that are going to be I think going to be stepping up into some of the roles now.
Lisa: It sounds like you guys have amazing talent and a lot more people who are wanting to join.
So do you guys have somebody in mind who's going to be taking this group to the next level already picked out?
Susan: We have seven people who have applied and I believe five who are going to be interviewed and who will audition by conducting in front of the choir. And. Then the choir and the board and the committee on the board will be making the final selection.
But this group is so dedicated, so devoted, and so talented that a very fine choral director could get in front of them and ask them to do just about anything and probably get the sound and response that they're looking for. I think there's great future for Cantata. I think in the hands of the right person, they will continue to flourish and blossom and perform all over Metropolitan Detroit and more.
Cantata has a history of over 25 trips to Europe where they say, European tours. 2019 was our last one. So I'm sure that's on the horizon once again for Cantata soon enough. yeah, it is a wonderful organization that bears listening to. Performances are fabulous. They have been greatly attended and should continue to be I'm sure the reputation will speak for itself and will continue.
Jon: Agreed. And we're going to include links to your website in the show notes. And you're talking about a change in leadership coming up. For anybody who wants to get involved and sing and just be part of Cantata. How do they get involved?
Susan: They reach out on our website primarily, or if they know a singer in the group to reach out to the singer. And then we set up an audition.
Maggie: Yes, it is an audition group. So you have to be able to sing to be in this group.
Susan: And read music.
Jon: I'm out.
Lisa: I know. I'm like, I wish I could, but I'm just so grateful that you guys have a bunch of beautiful, amazing singers. Cause I'm not one of them.
Maggie: You can be the audience then.
How's that?
Jon: I can sign up for that.
Lisa: I definitely can play that role.
Jon: I joked that I was a radio DJ for 15 years because I could talk over the beginnings of the songs, but I couldn't sing them.
Lisa: So funny. now it is time for our fishbowl question of the day, where we ask you guys a totally random question.
Jon can you go ahead and pull the fishbowl question?
Jon: Alright, let's take a look here. Alright. I'll ask the same question of both of you. Where is your happy place?
Susan: In my garden.
Lisa: I love that.
Maggie: On the deck at my cottage. It's in Canada.
Lisa: What lake are you on?
Maggie: On Lake Huron.
Lisa: Oh my gosh. I bet that's amazing.
Maggie: Sue has sat on that deck with me. We're both very happy just to sit there with our books and look at the water.
Susan: And read.
Lisa: I think those are the two happiest places on earth. Gardens and yeah, your dock on your lake. So you mentioned that people can reach out to your website. Do you want to let our audience know what the website is and how they can best reach you?
Susan: It's www. cantataacademy. org
Lisa: All right, great. So if you guys are looking to join the Cantata, feel free to reach out to them. My name is Lisa Bibbee and I am a realtor with Keller Williams Advantage. I put the real back in realtor. We want you to love where you live. Questions about buying or selling? Call today.
My website is sold by lisab. com and you can find me on YouTube, Instagram at SoldByLisaB.
Jon: And I am Jon Gay from JAG in Detroit podcast.s I'm the podcast guy. If you like the way this show sounds and have any questions about podcasting or creating a podcast for your entity. You can certainly reach out to me.
Podcasting is going to overtake talk radio in 2024. That's how big it has gotten. Thanks for listening to this episode of The ROCC Pod produced for the Royal Oak, Michigan chamber of commerce. For more information about chamber events or how to get involved, you can visit Royal Oak chamber. com. Thanks everyone.