The Singing Hoosiers headed to Batesville, Ind., on Sunday for their first performance without Dr. Steve ?Zegree as their director.
“It was the most difficult performance I have ever been apart of,” Kendall Renaud said. “But it was also the most beautiful. All of the emotions and tears just proved how big of an impact he had on ?my life.”
Zegree died March 7 in Bloomington, according to a Jacob’s School of Music ?newsletter.
His students were aware he was ill but were not informed Zegree had pancreatic cancer until a couple days before his death, Singing Hoosier Jared McElroy said.
Zegree joined the Jacobs School of Music as a faculty member in August 2012 and became the director of the Singing Hoosiers that same year. He was born May 5, 1953, in Vancouver, Wash., and died at the age of 61, according to the newsletter published by the music school.
Renaud is a senior at the music school studying choral and instrumental music. He is also the current student manager of the Singing Hoosiers.
“We continued the ?performance because he would have wanted it that way,” McElroy said. “It’s such a family-oriented group that we needed to be together anyway. So all of us got on that bus and dedicated the performance to him. We were better because of it.”
Once the ensemble entered the building, they were in the zone, Renaud said.
By lunch the group was laughing with a great morale, which is what Zegree would have wanted, Renaud said.
“Zegree was known for ending all shows with a song called ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’” McElroy said. “Once that song came on there were tears flowing. It was hard but we got through it.”
As the student manager at the time Zegree took over, it was McElroy’s responsibility to show Zegree the ropes of the Singing Hoosiers, he said. He took Zegree through all their traditions and was assured they would remain intact by their new director, McElroy said.
Zegree had a treasure trove of lessons he taught his students on a regular basis. One of his most influential lessons was to embrace change, even if it is scary, McElroy said.
“One of his quotes, he had so many quotes, was that the only constant in life was change,” McElroy said. “Change would happen and change would be good. We would continue to grow through that change.”
Even when he was sick, Zegree was still completely ?involved, McElroy said.
“He started missing rehearsals last fall,” McElroy said. “They relayed to us this past Thursday that he had pancreatic cancer, then on Saturday morning he passed away. Within 36 hours of us knowing his diagnosis, he passed.”
Zegree’s extensive music and jazz career included a book titled “The Complete Guide to Teaching Vocal Jazz,” and another titled “The Wow Factor: How to Create It, Inspire It & Achieve It,” founding a vocal jazz camp called the Steve Zegree Vocal Jazz Camp and creating a vocal jazz major at the Jacobs School of ?Music, McElroy said.
Zegree was completely selfless in everything he did, McElroy said. If a student had a problem, Zegree would do whatever he could to help.
Renaud said he will always remember the way he cared for his students and his ?honesty in all matters.
“This completely changed me, and I will do my best as a music educator to try and continue to live my life the way he did,” Renaud said. “His honesty made coming to terms with more difficult situations easier. He taught me to confront my problems, issues and fears and to love myself and to believe in myself to make my dreams become a reality.”
Zegree’s family asks that donations be given to the Steve Zegree Vocal Jazz Scholarship fund in his honor. The scholarship will benefit graduates and undergraduates at the Jacobs School of Music and Music Vocal Jazz program according to the press release. Funds can be made out to the IU Foundation and mailed to the IU Foundation at P.O. Box 500, Bloomington, IN 47402.
“He was so much more than a choir director,” Renaud said. “He was genuine, an amazing musician, selfless, a brilliant educator, mentor, friend and most of all the most loving person I have ever met.”
