The art of a classical singer is based in a dependent relationship. Our voices alone can be powerful tools, but that power is magnified when paired with a truly great accompanist who helps us communicate in a more elevated manner than we could do alone. To find a coach-accompanist with a thorough knowledge of the singer’s voice, languages, style, and the history of the singing profession is truly to find a treasure.
Classical Singer’s choice for the 2009 Coach of the Year is just such a rare gem. Cliff Jackson profoundly affects the lives and singing careers of the numerous students and artists who are coached and accompanied by this great man. He has played for the likes of Marietta Simpson, Renata Scotto, Kathleen Battle, and Gwendolyn Bradley, among many others. His students are now praised for their performances on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, the Washington National Opera, and in theatres throughout the United States.
Jackson is a kind man, but he is also honest with his students and doesn’t allow them to settle for mediocrity. “I can hear his sweet yet effective criticism,” said Sarah Downs, a DMA student at the University of Kentucky, of Jackson. “He’s the voice in my head that refuses to settle for anything but the very best I can possibly achieve. He’s the voice in my head when I know that I haven’t gotten deep enough under the character’s skin. He’s the voice in my head when I need to believe in myself and my abilities as a musician, performer, and scholar.”
Everett McCorvey, a professor of voice who has known Jackson for nearly 25 years, put forth this praise: “He is student centered and God centered, and he really has used his musical gifts to elevate our profession and the lives of the students and artists who have had the privilege of collaborating with him. He is a rarity in our business.”
I spoke with Jackson recently by phone, and he shared both his friendly and gracious manner as well as his insights on his unique career as a vocal coach.
How did you come to the profession of coaching?
I have always been drawn to vocal music, even as a piano student in high school. All the other students were working on Beethoven sonatas and I was working on the “Hallelujah” from Beethoven’s Mount of Olives. I always loved singing. When I went to Oberlin, I started as a music education/organ major. And when I got there, my friends all ended up being singers. I could sight-read pretty well, and so I would end up sight-reading a lot of things for them. I fell in love with being around singers.
As far as coaching for a career, I didn’t think about that so much. I was just enjoying playing for singers and I loved listening to opera recordings. I became a piano major. The last year I was there, Francis Walker asked me what I was going to do after I graduated. She said, “You know, they have a master’s program in accompanying at Manhattan School of Music.” So I auditioned, got in, and then got a church job in Brooklyn. After a year, I was just so burned out with school that I dropped out. But I knew by then that I wanted to have a career as a professional accompanist.
You stayed and worked in New York for a while. What were those years like?
I lived in New York for 10 years and it was a really good place to be, especially because things weren’t so expensive when I moved there in 1977. I went back to the Manhattan School for another year, but I didn’t go back in accompanying. I went back as a piano major. I knew I wanted to be an accompanist and I wanted to focus on my playing—not that I wanted to be a soloist, but I wanted to make sure that I got a solid technique in piano, and I wanted the time to practice.
I have to talk about Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Frierson. I met them at Oberlin, and I used to play for some of his students. My junior year, they did a faculty recital which they were going to perform at Alice Tully Hall that spring of 1975. About a month before the concert in New York, which was going to be Easter Sunday, March 30, Mr. Frierson said to me, “Do you want to fly to New York or do you want to drive?” I asked, “Why am I flying to New York?” And he said, “You’re going to come and play the concert for us.” And I thought, “Oh, wow.” I . . . have to credit both of them with giving me my start. They were instrumental in my getting established in New York and . . . helping to instill [my] love for accompanying.
Of course, doing the American Opera Center at Juilliard [from 1982-84] was the next important thing for me because, you know, everybody came through Juilliard and I met lots of singers there and started playing lots of auditions. I lived in New York for three years after that just freelancing, and fortunately I met a lot of singers who were doing recitals there. Then I moved to Miami where I worked at Miami Opera for four years. After that, I worked as an adjunct faculty at the New World School of the Arts for Joy Davidson. I learned a lot by working with her.
What brought you to the University of Kentucky?
Everett McCorvey. He called me in Miami in the spring of 1992. Everett knew [they] needed a coach at UK. He found out I was in Florida and asked me if I was interested in coming to the University of Kentucky. I said, “Well, I guess so. I don’t know.” So he said, “Come to the interview.” I came to Lexington, and when I saw the campus and the town, I knew I wanted to be here.
You mentioned practice time earlier and focusing on that at Manhattan as a piano major. How important is your practice time to you, and what difference do you think it makes in your work as an accompanist and coach?
You have to practice. A lot of people think of accompanying as being for second-class pianists. That is so very far from the truth. All of these great song composers were great pianists. You think about Debussy…and you have to be able to play very well. I always say whenever I have to play French repertoire that you can tell if you’ve been practicing because that French music sure will reveal your weak places. You know, playing things like Hugo Wolf, Brahms, Schumann—they were pianists, and so they composed for the piano. With opera, you can cheat a little bit, but with song literature, you can’t. You have to practice.
It has been said that one of your greatest qualities, a lost quality to many conductors and accompanists, is that you are able to breathe with the singer after each phrase and still maintain the energy of the phrase. How is it different working with a singer? Are there specific things you think of when working with a singer as compared to an instrumentalist?
You know, with singers, you have to remember that [they] have words. No other musicians have words to play. Singers have words to sing and so, you’ve got to be thinking the words along with them. I’ve been playing with singers for so long that I don’t even think of myself as a pianist. I think of myself as a singer who plays the piano. I don’t have a voice, but I think of myself like a singer. I listen to the repertoire and I love the repertoire. I just think of myself like a singer. In my case—and, I think, with a lot of great accompanists—some of those qualities, I think you’re born with. I think that basic instinct to follow singers is a little bit of a natural ability.
It seems there is a difference singing with a vocal coach than with a piano professor or piano major. Do you think the qualities of a coach are something you can teach?
I think so. Certain elements of it. You can teach people to listen. I always tell people that you’ve got to listen to the words and think of breathing as if you were singing along.
And it has to be something that you really want to do and really love to do. I tell people if you don’t really love singers and working with singers, don’t go into this . . . because singers are a group unto themselves, as you well know, and I don’t mean that in a negative sense. You think about the things that singers have to do. When they do an opera, they have to memorize the music, they have to remember the words, they have to have good pronunciation, they have to handle props, they have to know other people’s lines, and they have to move. I mean, who else has to do that?
What have been some of your favorite moments or memories during your career?
I loved working in Chautauqua. I did the summer opera up there from 1987 to 1991, and I loved working there. It was a beautiful and fun place, and they did wonderful work.
My Juilliard experience was a highlight. Then, I would have to say, it was a big challenge for me to play for Kathy [Kathleen Battle] and I was very nervous, but that was one of the best things I had ever done in my life. And then, being here at the University of Kentucky has been wonderful.
Professor Jackson, congratulations on this award.
Well, thank you. I’m just really very shocked and humbled. You know, you think of this type of thing being given to others. I am very grateful.
