“When I selected repertoire, I looked for the meaning that would fill them up for whatever was ahead. These were cadets training to become officers in the United States Army, leaders of character. They were wonderful singers who came through an audition process, but they weren’t music majors. Still, I always wanted them to know the meaning behind the music.”
Constance “Connie” Lankford Chase (’76 BM Music Education) retired in September after a twenty-six-year career as conductor of the renowned West Point Military Academy Glee Club:
“I led the cadets in singing a varied repertoire—patriotic and military songs, sacred and secular selections. We performed all of it proudly. But we always talked at length about the meaning.”
Chase recalls hearing from a former student during the Second Gulf War:
“She was, I think, a captain at the time, and she sent me an email. She wrote: ‘When I was a cadet, I didn’t always understand why you had us singing what you did. But one day when I was out in the desert at a memorial service, the band began to play the [Pavel] Chesnokov piece Salvation Is Created. I recognized it, and I was able to tell the others what it meant.’ She said she was so grateful for that.”
A graduate of UNCG’s School of Music, Chase has always found meaning in music. Now, she is making sure that meaning is carried forward for future students through the Constance Lankford Chase Scholarship Endowment in Music. The gift is made in memory of her mother, ThomasEna “Tommie” Gandy Lankford, Woman’s College Class of 1941.
“On the day I was born, my mother declared that I would attend WC. Even though by the time I graduated it was UNCG, it was always WC to my mother. I told her I was reading about other schools, too, and she said, ‘You can read all you want but you’re going to WC!’ And that was that. It was very lucky for me that UNCG had a top-notch music school.
“My hard-work ethic was reinforced at UNCG. I credit that and all the training and support I got for everything I have ever been able to accomplish. Every single faculty member I met made me feel like I could do anything. They always said to go for it. They also reminded us that we were in a professional school, and we should act like professionals.”
Chase carried that message into her work with the cadets:
“Lots of opportunity will come the way of the West Point Glee Club because they’re West Point. And it was in 2002 that we had our first performance under my direction at Carnegie Hall. The West Point Bicentennial was coming up, so there was an occasion for us to perform the opening program. Some of the cadets were a little cocky about it, and I just wasn’t getting what I needed from them.
“So, at one point I said to them let’s be clear about why we’re performing Carnegie Hall this time. It’s because West Point bought the house. There were gasps from the cadets! Then I said, ‘now, let’s deserve to be on that stage.’”
Chase began her career as a junior high and high school band director in Fayetteville:
“I would probably still be there today if I hadn’t met my husband, Randy, who was a career military officer in the army. The first time he asked me to marry him I told him ‘no,’ because you’ll be leaving and I’m not going anywhere. I couldn’t imagine leaving my band.”
They did leave Fayetteville after Chase said “yes”, moving every one-to-three years for two decades until Colonel Chase took a faculty appointment at West Point:
“During Randy’s service, I had several responsibilities as an officer’s wife, such as running family support groups. Sometimes on small overseas bases I would be the only trained musician, and I would do services at the post chapel. Along the way, I played, taught, performed, whatever I could to keep my music going.”
She kept her music going, and music took her to many places:
Chase has conducted the West Point Glee Club in the country’s finest venues, including Carnegie Hall, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, and Kansas City’s Kauffman Center; and recorded for Capitol, Curtain Call, Paramount, PBS, ABC, NBC, and at world-renowned Skywalker Studio. Guest conducting appearances include the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, Symphony of the Americas, and the National Choral Council’s Annual Messiah Sing-In at Lincoln Center.
Under her direction, the Glee Club’s recordings include the original hymn Mansions of the Lord for the closing credits of the Paramount feature film We Were Soldiers; ’Til the Last Shot’s Fired with country artist Trace Adkins, which they performed with Mr. Adkins on CBS at the 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards Show; Showtime’s docu-drama A Game of Honor; ABC’s Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories That Changed America; NBC’s Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular; and the DVD/CD Stand Ye Steady featuring Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga.
In 2021 Chase joined organist Galen Tate as Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the St. Thomas More Summer Festival Chorus in Darien, CT, following a twelve-year tenure as Conductor and Artistic Director of Connecticut Chamber Choir.
She served fourteen years as an adjunct professor in Applied Voice at Western Connecticut State University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts. A lyric soprano and accomplished soloist, Chase has performed as a choral artist under the batons of Jane Glover, Louis Langrée, Nicholas McGegan, and Gerard Schwarz. Chase is co-author with the late Shirlee Emmons of Prescriptions for Choral Excellence (Oxford University Press, 2006).
A guest conductor and presenter of workshops across the United States, she is a member of National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) (former CT Chapter Governor, Vice President, and Secretary), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society.
In June 2023, Chase was inducted as a Voting Member of The Recording Academy, best known for its Grammy Awards.
Chase’s scholarship at UNCG is intended for undergraduate or graduate students majoring in Music Education, with preference to students who show strong potential in both teaching and performance. Along with the gift, she offers UNCG School of Music students this advice:
“Keep pursuing what you love and follow whatever opportunities come your way.”
Story by Terri W Relos
Photos provided by Connie Chase
