Music News
Because we don’t currently have the benefit of enjoying each other’s company in person, I’m pleased to introduce you to a new newsletter feature. Each month, we’ll be learning more about the musicians in our midst, with Perry Babcock at the helm doing the organizing. Interested in being featured? Let me know and I’ll make sure Perry gets the word so he can contact you. In the meantime, please enjoy learning more about Perry and his musical background! – Kaarin (kaarin@puuc.org)
Musician Spotlight: Perry Babcock
My mother and father were both very good classical musicians. They both were charter members of the Charlotte Symphony, which is where they met. So I started piano lessons in the first grade and kept taking them until I was a junior in high school. In grammar school I took lessons from the wife of the director of the Charlotte Symphony, so I had some very good training there. My father was choir director at our church so I sang in the choir then. I was in both band and orchestra in high school, playing the trumpet and the string bass. I like most all kinds of music but prefer classical.
I went to Davidson college after high school. At the time, the Davidson college Men’s Chorus had a very big reputation so I had to get into that. That was a great experience. I left Davidson after a year and a half and finished higher education at what was then Charlotte College.
After graduating I moved to New York. Lincoln Center was not far from where I lived so I took in a lot of operas there. There is nothing like the Met! I lived in Los Angeles for a while but did not do much with music there.
I eventually came back to Charlotte and got back into choirs where I was going to church – first at Unity of Charlotte and then at PUUC. My vocal skills have really grown while at PUUC. I am really proud of the way our music program has grown under Dr. Carl and Kaarin.
I feel that it is a real blessing to be able to share my musical skills. Being part of a larger group in our choir is very rewarding. Kaarin is very well trained in the field and does a great job of pulling everything together! It has been a strain on everyone trying to cope with the coronavirus and not performing publicly, but that won’t last forever. In the meantime, we will make due with vocals and videos.
– Perry Babcock
