Clemmons' Tenor Anything but Tenuous

Author: Alexandra Hay

On Oct. 5, Mead Chapel was illuminated by François Clemmons, Twilight artist-in-residence, dressed in a bright gold jacket and enshrouded by the sound of his own glorious tenor voice, which was accompanied by Assistant in Music Cynthia Huard on the piano.
The theme for this fifth annual Clemmons Consort performance was Broadway show tunes. Clemmons opened the show with informal good humor, pointing out friends in the audience and jokingly warning the crowd to have their hankies ready because "there's going to be some crying music." As promised, the familiar show tunes brought to mind many "wishes, dreams, memories" with songs such as "Memory" from Cats, "Try to Remember" from "The Fantastics" and "Some Enchanted Evening" from "South Pacific."
Broadway songs are a recently discovered passion of Clemmons; he describes them as "the dessert that someone kept away from me all my life." Before singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" he quipped that transposing the song wasn't particularly difficult as it passed "from one diva to another diva."
This self-proclaimed "diva's" long list of credentials includes directing the choir, serving as an adviser to students, delivering guest lectures in classes and performing on campus and for town events.
Born in Birmingham, Ala., Clemmons moved to Youngstown, Ohio, at the age of five, earned a bachelor's degree at Oberlin College in 1967, a Master of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University in 1969 and received an honorary doctor of arts from Middlebury College in 1996.
Winning the regional auditions in Pittsburgh for New York's Metropolitan Opera and placing third in auditions in Cleveland landed him a Kathryn Long Fellowship with the Metropolitan Opera Studio and ultimately launched his career as a singer.
Clemmons' many outstanding achievements include singing with the Metropolitan Opera Studio for seven seasons and performing with other companies, including the New York City Opera. In 1974 he made his debut with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera in the role of Sportin' Life in "Porgy and Bess," and then went on to receive a Grammy Award in 1973 for his recording of the role on London Records with the Cleveland Orchestra.
Clemmons also created and performed the role of Officer Clemmons on "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" for 27 years.
A versatile and accomplished artist, his deep interest in spirituals led him to found and direct the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble that now performs regularly around the world. He describes his work with spirituals as "the hobby that became my life's work."
Onstage Clemmons clearly exhibited the joy brought to his music and song, and when asked to elaborate on what music means to him, he said simply, "Music is my life; it's a way to communicate, to say I love you."
Today he "adds a little spice to the [Middlebury] campus," in the words of Leslie Thompson '05. Creating a small stir everywhere he goes, he is never seen without an eye-catching outfit adorned with exotic accessories, such as the hand-carved cane from Ghana. He toted the cane Saturday in a dashing manner as he strolled up and down the stage during "It Ain't Necessarily So," from "Porgy and Bess." His gold jacket is only one of many he has collected over the years, some worth $1,000 or more due to the fine beading or hand-painted decoration. He describes himself as having "inherited Liberace's closet."
The tradition of Clemmons' signature jackets began in Italy in the early '80s when he was touring as a member of the cast of Porgy and Bess. He "found this beautiful material in a shop and a cast member convinced [him] to buy it." It was a year before it was transformed into a smoking jacket for a debut performance onstage. Since then Clemmons has "not worn a tux in 20 years, except when required, of course."
Clemmons will perform again, most likely next fall. For now he is working on Portuguese songs with the College's newly established Portuguese department in preparation for a trip to Brazil. He is also in the process of learning Russian songs to prepare for a trip to Moscow in April where he will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Language Schools.