Boy Choir Magazine

I sat before Maestro George Bragg as he granted Boy Choir Magazine his final interview in February of 2007, just a few months before he advanced to the Heavenly choir. In the course of the interview I asked him who he felt was the most talented choirboy he directed during his career. Unhesitantly, he replied it was Donald Collup. I was immediately impressed that Mr. Bragg would say something with such singular conviction honoring one student of the myriads he had directed over many years and through many choirs. And so it was that Boy Choir Magazine asked Donald Collup for an interview to recall his experience with the Texas Boy Choir, with Maestro George Bragg and as a choirboy.

Donald Collup has been named on the Better Land website as one of the great boy sopranos of the 20th century. It considers his post-TBC experience with this review:

“Donald's childhood experience of music served as a springboard into a varied musical career as an adult. After his voice changed at the end of his 15th year, he concentrated on his piano studies, attending Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University as a piano major. He later added voice and eventually decided to pursue a career in singing. The piano did, however, remain in the background throughout his musical life as he served as an accompanist to many singers including mezzo-soprano, Katharine Ciesinski and bass, Paul Plishka. After further studies at the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale University, he gave many recitals in the United States and Europe as well as taking prizes in the international singing competitions of Paris, Hertogenbosch and Toulouse. In addition to concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony and the Orchestre de la Capitole de Toulouse, he also sang roles with the opera companies of Santa Fe, Philadelphia and Baltimore. A life-long dream of singing the role of Pelléas was fulfilled in 1995.”

BCM: Donald, as a man, and looking back on your choirboy experience, what do you think is the single most powerful memory that you bring into adulthood?

DC: The first word that comes to my mind is: world…the world. My experience with the TBC (Texas Boy Choir) revealed to me the rest of the world: Europe; language; music; history; etc. It wasn’t just a musical experience - that was just a part of it. Of course, the music brought pleasure to audiences around the world, but the 26 boys were receiving much more than an audience’s acclaim.

BCM: You were a chorister taught by one of the world’s most accomplished boy choir directors, George Bragg. And, after talking with him personally about you, he seemed to cherish you, and indeed he said that out of all his boys, you were his finest. Can you recall your choirboy memory of George and what made that relationship so special?

DC: He was a man that I, and I’m sure the rest of us, looked up to. His diction was so much more refined than other Texans and this very quickly impressed us young Texans. He was a firm disciplinarian and he earned - not demanded - our respect. He also had a great sardonic sense of humor. We looked up to him in a major way. Any task he gave me or us, I/we fulfilled.

Maybe one of the best things that he did for me during my choirboy years was NOT letting me know I was special. That could have spoiled me some way psychologically. Mine was a natural talent and he guided me the best way he knew how.

BCM: As a boy chorister, at the time did you have any recognition that where you were and what you were doing as a boy would determine the rest of your life as a grown man?

DC: At first, I had dreams of becoming a conductor like Mr. Bragg, but that faded away.

BCM: As a choirboy of exceptional talent, did you as a boy realize that your talent was extraordinary? Did that knowledge change your relationship with the boys around you in the choir?

DC: No, it never did and I never felt different from the rest of the boys. As far as I know, there was never any hint of jealousy or rivalry.

BCM: Choirboys bloom and flourish during a vanishingly small period of their lives. And yet, during those special moments, the opportunity to sing and to create special, fleeting beauty creates a powerful, lasting impression on those boys that endures for a lifetime. Can you recall even being aware of this power during your tenure as a choir boy? And if not, when did you become aware of its influence on you?

BCM: You went on into opera and music and the arts from your boyhood. Was this simply an obvious transition for such a young musical talent or did you struggle with what was to come after your voice changed?

DC: I struggled greatly “as” my voice changed. I cried when I was having great difficulty just getting through the role of the Second Spirit in Mozart’s Magic Flute at the Santa Fe Opera in 1969.

I entered Peabody Conservatory as a pianist but, at the recommendation of Gregg Smith, head of the choral department and participant in several TBC recordings, I became a double major.

Here is the fly in the ointment of my development. My ability as a boy soprano was natural and I really never understood vocal technique. In early adulthood, I was under the impression I was “good enough” since I was a great boy soprano and thought I was a great singer. I didn’t get over this delusion for many years.

BCM: As a boy, do you remember looking ahead into adulthood? Were you entirely confident or did you struggle with the same fears of looking ahead as most other boys do when nearing the end of their adolescence?

DC: No; I hung on to music-making throughout my teenage years and into my studies at Peabody, Curtis and Yale.

BCM: Can we ask you to stop for a moment, close your eyes and resume your place back in George’ Bragg’s choir, surrounded by your fellow choirboys. What do you recall about being there? What was normally going through your mind as a boy as you practiced, as you performed and as you looked ahead into the future?

BCM: As a choirboy of some importance in many circles, what should we, as adults, think about doing to make the choirboys of the 21st century healthier, more creative and more alive?

DC: One should make the young boy realize that life is a school where one must constantly learn and seek knowledge. The success of a child prodigy does not carry into adulthood necessarily.