Woog's World / "Alice Lipson passes the baton"

In 1975 -- as one of Hartt College of Music's two Student Educators of the Year -- Alice Lipson was heavily recruited. She accepted a position in Westport, and was assigned to the one level she dreaded: junior high.

"Every junior high I'd visited was chaos," she recalls. But Long Lots was different. Art Bleemer, Joe Koeller and then Dan Sullivan stressed discipline. For 12 years she thrived. In return, students and parents loved her.

In 1988 she took the job she'd always wanted: choral director at Staples High School. Filling the shoes of the legendary George Weigle was not easy. Lipson did not try to be him. She kept all the traditions of the Candlelight Concert and Orphenians, but brought her own style to the high profile position. She added more international music to the repertoire, emphasized individual vocal technique, and -- in place of his stern, male demeanor -- jauntily shook her waist-length braid of blonde hair.

Lipson's hair is grayer now -- 22 years in a demanding job will do that. But it's just as long, and she's as passionate about the Staples music program as ever.

When she conducts this Sunday's Orphenians concert, it will be a double milestone. There will be a special celebration of the a cappella group's 50 years, with a 6 p.m. reception preceding the 7:30 show.

It will also mark Lipson's last such performance at Staples. Later this month she'll hand her baton to a former student, Justin Miller, and retire. He's all grown up now -- last year the Westminster Chorus he founded won the "Choir of the World" Pavarotti Trophy in Wales. It will be an emotional moment for Lipson -- not least because Weigle will be there too, leading the Orphenians and scores of alumni in the traditional penultimate number, "The Lord Bless You and Keep You."

Sacred music has long been an important part of the Staples music program. In an era when other school systems ran away from religious songs, Lipson embraced them. "The roots and traditions of choral music run very strongly through the Catholic church," she notes. "There's a reason: Musicians knew that if they wrote for the church, their works would be performed. These are great choral pieces. I can't imagine denying students access to them."

Lipson always stressed to students that their performances were about the music, not the text. "Singing words like `proclaim the infant Jesus' birth' doesn't mean you espouse it," she says, referring to the haunting "Sing We Noel" processional that since 1940 has been a Candlelight Concert hallmark.

"That's always tough for freshmen. I tell them if they're uncomfortable, they don't have to sing it. It's very rare that they don't. I'm sure some members of the community would prefer not to have such a religious piece -- or the `Hallelujah Chorus' -- in the program. But the beauty of the voices transcends that debate."

Lipson practices what she preaches. She converted to Judaism when she married her husband Mark. He's now the rabbi at Norwalk's Temple Shalom. Her daughter Shira is a cantor; her son-in-law Dan is a rabbi/cantor at the Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale.

Lipson encourages her students to "study all they can to add to their growth." She's introduced Hebrew songs into her concerts -- including Candlelight -- as well as African ones. Those -- complete with rare percussion instruments -- are often the most enthusiastically received of all.

Lipson has seen other changes in her 22 years at Staples. Separate women's and men's choruses are gone. In recent years, the number of incoming freshman singers has declined. There are no more guitar and piano classes.

"As students take more AP (Advanced Placement) classes, their ability to choose electives is limited," she says. "Sometimes they can't take both singing and instrumental courses, like they used to." Yet the number of Staples graduates who continue to study music in college -- even pursue careers as professional musicians -- remains strong.

Lipson's career is filled with memorable moments. For years the Orphenians caroled downtown in December wearing Victorian costumes. (That ended when the woman who provided the costumes moved, and took them with her.)

Lipson organized two trips to Europe, where the Orphenians performed in magnificent cathedrals and city squares.

Particularly memorably, the Orphenians sang at St. Paul's Chapel in New York -- the church where George Washington worshiped, and which housed hundreds of firefighters, police officers and volunteers in the horrible aftermath of 9/11. Later that day, the group caroled at Lincoln Center.

Some of Orphenians' most poignant moments, Lipson says, involved singing at memorial services "for people important to us. When you have a gift -- and you can help people who are hurting -- that's a real honor." She smiles. "It's a mitzvah to share."

Lipson looks forward to welcoming Miller to Staples. She watched him start the Testosterones -- a barbershop group -- while he was her student, then followed his career at Chapman University and beyond with pride.

"When he came here to work with our freshmen, he rolled up his sleeves and tackled any problems he heard," she recalls. "The kids loved him."

It is a testament to Staples -- and the music program -- that five "very strong candidates" auditioned. The final chose lay with the superintendent of schools.

This Sunday's Orphenians concert will celebrate the legacy that Weigle began, and Lipson continued. Interspersed with the familiar program -- including senior solos -- will be guest appearances by graduates Caitlin Collins, Emily Hall, Doug McCormick, and the Peterson family. Parents Brad and Abby, and their children Katie, Sara and Scott, have all been Orphenians.

"When I got this job, George told me about all the extra hours I'd have to put in," Lipson recalls. "I was 36, with a 4-year-old son. It was hard to do, with a young family. I'm grateful for their understanding over all these years."

Now -- besides getting her own voice back, and working with her temple choir -- it's time to give back to her family. Lipson will help her husband with a musical he's written. And a new grandson beckons.

"My daughter and son-in-law are both clergy," she says. "So Grandma is needed all the time."

Dan Woog is a Westport writer. His blog is www.danwoog06880.com; his e-mail is dwoog@optonline.net.