Thomas Studebaker

With his roots firmly planted in Eureka, Thomas Studebaker has used the lessons learned from his musical family and his Woodford County community to sing in concert halls and opera houses around the world.

Five Points Washington will become one of those stages when he performs with the Peoria Area Civic Chorale for “Celebrating 35 Years of Music” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6.

The chorale, under the direction of Dr. Joseph D. Henry. The Peoria Area Civic Chorale Youth Chorus will also take the stage nightly and join the adult singers for John Rutter’s “For the Beauty of the Earth.”

Special to the performance on Friday, May 5, will be a festival chorus of 75 fourth-graders from eight area schools. The performance on Saturday, May 6, will conclude with a 35th anniversary cake reception sponsored by Lexus of Peoria.

Studebaker, known for powerful heldentenor (heroic tenor) roles such as Siegmund in Wagner’s “Die Walküre,” will sing “The Lord’s Prayer” with the Peoria Area Civic Chorale. In two other sets, he will perform “Ich trage meine Minne” and “Zueignung” by Richard Strauss, and two of Aaron Copland’s “Old American Songs” – “Zion’s Walls” and “Long Time Ago.”

Central Illinois audiences will have another opportunity to hear him sing when he returns as the tenor soloist for Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9,” which is being presented by the Heartland Festival Orchestra on Sept. 9.

The Peoria Area Civic Chorale will provide the core group of singers for that performance, also scheduled for Five Points Washington.

Studebaker said Beethoven’s Ninth is one of his favorite works and as a soloist he loves being able to sit in front of the orchestra and chorus.

“The sound just pours through you,” he said. “It is the most exciting, wonderful feeling in the world. It’s not something you can explain. You have to experience it.”

Music’s power to move people became evident to Studebaker at a very young age. His parents, Paul and Shirley Studebaker, were music teachers in Eureka public schools. In addition, Paul Studebaker taught private voice and was the choir director at Morton United Methodist Church, while Shirley Studebaker taught private piano lessons and was choir director at Glen Oak Christian Church in Peoria.

“I was always involved in something,” said Tom Studebaker, who went to church with his mother until the seventh grade. After that, he went with his father and sang in his choir.

He credits his father with providing the vocal foundation and crucial support early on that allowed him to enjoy the career he has had.

Because his father was also a “gentleman farmer,” Studebaker and his two brothers were raised on a farm on the edge of Eureka, surrounded by Arabian horses, Shetland Sheepdogs, chickens, ducks, geese and goats.

“I really had a storybook childhood. I’ve never taken that for granted,” Studebaker said. “I’ve been very, very fortunate.”

He earned a degree in vocal performance from Illinois State University and a master’s degree in opera at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has studied with Marlena Kleinman Malas at Julliard in New York City since 1988.

Originally a baritone, Studebaker made his debut as a tenor in 1995 at the 20th Anniversary Gala of the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He joined the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program in the 1996-97 season, and performed several roles with that company.

“I had a lot of really good people in my corner who helped make sure I did the right things and was in the right place at the right time to do what I had to do,” he said. “They were smart and knew about young voices.”

Studebaker said it’s his turn to do the same. He has been teaching for several years and is completing his first year as artist faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He has two vocal performance classes and a voice studio of about 13 students.

“I like working with them and I like seeing the progress,” he said. “I like seeing the light go on when they understand something. Then I like going to see them in the operas and recitals and seeing them grow. It’s really a great job.

This summer Studebaker will be mentoring young singers on a larger stage. He has been asked to join the faculty for the Varna International Opera Academy, which is offered in collaboration with the Stara Zagora State Opera of Bulgaria.

The program includes an interactive sing-along medley of popular songs from the early 1900s, such as “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” The chorale will also present Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run,” Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” and Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

HOW TO GET TICKETS

Tickets for “Celebrating 35 Years of Music” are $20 for adults and $8 for students through college. They are available by calling (309) 693-6725, visiting www.peoriacivicchorale.org, or at the door.

• Eureka native returns with Peoria Civic Chorale–