At the same time I was thinking to myself, “Suppose I find that I don’t like performing as my life’s work, or suppose I can’t make enough money doing it to support my pregnant wife and me,…  Hmmm, I’d better get myself a little more education to fall back on.”

As a World War II veteran I could take advantage of the G I Bill to pay for some post-graduate schooling.  So, I took the North Shore up to Evanston, Illinois, and enrolled in the Music School at Northwestern University.  And there I stayed until the spring of ’49, taking graduate courses in the daytime, playing Carousel at night.  Then, when the Carousel company completed its run at the Shubert and continued on its national tour, I remained in Chicago and worked towards my Master of Music Degree, majoring in Voice.

Needing to replace that substantial $70/wk income, I began to seek jobs here and there.  I became Choir Director at my home church, the Federated Church of Harvey ($15/wk), sang Friday night services for Temple Beth Am on the south side of Chicago ($15/wk), sang twice a week on “Songs You Remember” on radio station WJJD in downtown Chicago ($9/show), sang “doo-wahs” in a jazz quintet (blending straight-tone) for the experimental new television series at WGN called “Homer Herk” ($20/wk), and sang for memorial services at the Cordt Funeral Home in Homewood, Illinois ($5/funeral).  And every once in a while I got booked to do the tenor solos in an oratorio or cantata, which paid anywhere from $25 to $75 per performance.

From playing violin all those years I could read music well, so I was able to utilize all my train-commuting time to memorize art songs, practice music composition and choral arranging and study bibliographical research.  I took a voice lesson from Prof. John Toms every day for eighteen months, concentrating on developing the ability to PROJECT to the back row.

CAROLYN HAYES (1948)
On March 21, 1948, Palm Sunday, Mary went into labor with our first child.  Mid way through the process, while she was doing her thing in the labor room, I had to excuse myself and go up to Schurz High School to sing the Dubois Seven Last Words of Christ ($25).  And afterwards, still in my white tie and tails, I whipped back to the hospital to behold my first born, a beautiful new girl baby we named Carrie.  Because of my formal costume the nurses joked, “What happened?  Did you two just get married today?”  In 1948 that was a joke, but today nobody would have thought of it.  Times change.

It probably was no coincidence that we named our daughter Carrie and one of the leading roles in Carousel was named Carrie.  Anyway I was fascinated at having a child of my own and soon discovered that the positives of parenting far outweigh the negatives.  Feeding, burping, changing diapers (and that was before disposables), rocking to sleep, crooning lullabies—all that’s a privilege.  And when that baby smiles and coos and one day even laughs you’re more than compensated for all your time and trouble.

Fast-forward twelve months.  Carrie is now a year old.  I’ve presented my graduate recital and am wrapping up all my courses at Northwestern.  One of my original compositions has been played by an oboist friend in her graduate recital.  I’ve appeared in some student opera presentations, and even sung four lines in a professional production of La Traviata in Chicago ($25).  I had traveled to Burlington, Iowa, to sing the tenor solos in Handel’s Messiah ($75).  And one night I got a phone call which turned out to be another life-changing moment...