Update, Nov. 19: The photo caption has been corrected. Chicago Chorale is a choir of mixed voices, all genders.
Colin-Rennert-May’s singing journey began early on. When he was just 10 years old, he left his home in New Brunswick, Canada, and went to Princeton, New Jersey, where he boarded at the American Boychoir School. He woke up early every day to rehearse and toured with his choir for 12 week of the school year. They sang in great music halls and were even featured in movie soundtracks and commercials.
Today, Mr. Rennert-May is still singing, not as a professional, but as an amateur. While students may know him as an integral member of the high school English faculty, he is also a baritone for the Chicago Chorale, an ensemble that has strengthened his love for singing and brought him a deep sense of community.
Mr. Rennert-May notes that being an amateur choir is not a loss for the Chicago Chorale. In fact, they spend a lot of time with the music they work on, something that professional choirs are not always able to do.
“When you hear somebody talking about someone being an amateur, there’s a sense of them being lesser than a professional,” Mr. Rennert-May said, “but really it’s somebody who does something out of love, out of passion.”
The Chicago Chorale’s artistic director, Bruce Tammen, is a true believer in the fulfillment of life through the liberal arts, specifically music. He believes being a professional musician is not more reflective of ability or understanding of music than an amateur musician; it’s merely a personal choice.
“As you’re growing up, you know you do all kinds of things that you’re not going to do professionally, but it enriches your life,” Mr. Tammen said. “Becoming an adult doesn’t mean you suddenly stop doing the things, or should not mean that you stop doing these enriching activities.”
Mr. Tammen sees how Mr. Rennert-May’s involvement with music has shaped him.
“It’s giving him a sensitivity to other people and an emotional sensitivity,” Mr. Tammen said. “I think it’s really enforced his love of literature and his love of teaching that he does, and I wish that more people would take the risk that he takes to have this large activity outside of his professional life.”
For the past 18 years, the community of the Chicago Chorale has enriched Mr. Rennert-May’s life. He believes participation in a choir is one of the few things in life where people come together and create something communal that is powerful.
“Singing in a choir in particular is something I really appreciate,” Mr. Rennert-May said. “It is really something where you get together with other people and the sum is greater than the parts.”
He notes that teaching is a job where he has had a lot of autonomy, and is usually the one at the center, directing things. The chorale is the perfect balance to this.
“When you’re singing in a choir, you have to put your ego aside and be part of a group,” he said.
Over the years, Mr. Rennert-May has found that his own approach to music means loving what he is working on. For him, the journey has always been worth more than the destination.
“There’s almost nothing where by the end, I’m like, ‘I don’t like this,’” Mr Rennert-May said. “I’ve put some of myself into this music and into this process, and so it’s really something where I find I can love it, and I think that’s true with teaching, too, with books. It’s the work we do where I find my love for that thing.”
