Onstage at Symphony Hall, Upper School (US) History and Social Sciences Department Head and member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus Susan Glazer performed Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). Mahler’s Eighth Symphony is also called “Symphony of a Thousand” due to the large number of performers it requires. The audience included some familiar faces: US students and faculty members attended as part of the Petropoulos Art Scholars Program, coordinated by US Chorale and Music Teacher Joel Sindelar.
Ms. Glazer has been a part of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the official choir of the BSO, since she was 15—the youngest member at the time.
“I joined in my sophomore year of high school,” she said. “It was a huge deal for me. I even wrote my college essay about it.”
She has been involved with the chorus on and off since but rejoined as a full-time member in 2012.
Due to her longstanding participation, she has sung many pieces, but she said Mahler is particularly special to her.
“I’ve sung a lot of Mahler’s works, and I really appreciate how he writes for the human voice.”
Even though Ms. Glazer has already sung Mahler’s Second and Third Symphonies, performing his Eighth felt even more significant, she said.
“Mahler threw everything into this piece–a boys’ choir, double chorus, an organ, four harps. I mean, that’s insane! I didn’t have a full sense of the grandeur until our orchestra rehearsal.”
The rehearsal process was challenging, as the chorus had a relatively short amount of time to learn a complex piece, she said.
“We had a few five-hour Sunday rehearsals and met two to three times a week after the BSO management decided that we were going to perform it. It was a very, very sophisticated piece, requiring double the size of our normal choir.”
The sound they created was very overwhelming, Ms. Glazer said.
“I even had to wear earplugs the whole time. And I never wear earplugs in a concert.”
The Petropoulos Exhibit, which honors students who have made a serious commitments to arts, was founded in 1984 by Peter Gergely ’72 and Andre Balazs ’75 in honor of former US Ceramics Teacher John Petropoulos. Then, former US Photography Teacher Parrish Dobson and former US Visual Arts Teacher John Norton started the Petropoulos Art Scholars Program to provide ongoing opportunities throughout the school year for students in the arts. Now, Mr. Sindelar coordinates the program’s performing arts events, and Visual Arts Teacher Ian Koopman organizes the visual arts events.
Ms. Glazer was grateful to Mr. Sindelar for organizing the trip.
“I was so touched to see familiar faces in the crowd and the fact that Mr. Sindelar put everything together. I received such nice feedback. It was an unforgettable experience.”
Sari Goldberg ’27 attended the performance through the Petropoulos program.
“The acoustics of the performance was extrodinary. It was very exciting to see Ms. Glazer singing on the stage, which showed a whole new side of her beyond just being a teacher.”
Mr. Sindelar was also impressed by the scale of the performance, he said.
“With my conductor hat on, all I could think was, ‘Holy cow, what a huge number of people to manage.’”
He highlighted a specific moment from the symphony.
“There are breathtakingly powerful moments in this piece like the soprano soloist who appeared on the balcony in the last movement. What a beautiful moment.”
He decided to make this performance a Petropoulos trip because of how rarely Mahler’s Eighth Symphony is performed.
“It’s not something you see every day,” Mr. Sindelar said. “How wonderful to see Ms. Glazer in this different context. It was a great chance to build the school community by bringing faculty and students together to support her.”
The Petropoulos program has helped Jasiri Cash ’28, among others, find community.
“Being a part of Petropoulos gives me a better sense of belonging. I’m seeing and supporting something that means a lot to other people and, in turn, means a lot to me.”
