(Music up) Jo Reed: You’re listening to the Singing Sergeants. And this is Art Works the weekly podcast produced at the National Endowment for the Arts. I’m Josephine Reed. <Music> The podcast for this July 4th weekend is a first-hand account of life as a Singing Sergeant. Here to share her experiences is the NEA’s own Director of Music and Opera, Ann Meier Baker. Ann had a very impressive career before joining the NEA. She’s the author of several books. She was president of Chorus America. She worked for the League of American Orchestras. She was founding director of an education foundation and so on.  But out of all of Ann’s accomplishments, most intriguing to me was her time as a Singing Sergeant—which I’m embarrassed to say was an organization I never heard of until I met Ann. She was happy to get me up to speed. Ann Meier Baker:  Each branch of the military has a professional band based in Washington, D.C., and those bands have many different ensembles. So, in the case of the United States Air Force, there’s the Singing Sergeants; there’s the Airmen of Note, which is a jazz ensemble, there’s the Strolling Strings-- string players who play for White House events and those kinds of things. So, there are a number of different ensembles, and you audition to be accepted into those; and if you are accepted, then you get to join the Air Force. Jo Reed: Well Ann, how did you discover the Singing Sergeants? Ann Meier Baker: I’d never learned about them until I went to a concert, and I just so happened to run into a friend who was there, and he introduced me to someone I didn’t know who was a member of the Singing Sergeants. And he said, “We have an opening for a mezzo. Why don’t you audition?” And it turned out that over time, once I got in the Singing Sergeants, I started dating that person, and we got married. But we had the opportunity to get to know each other and to date while we were traveling the world together, and it was great fun. He and I are both big fans of Stephen Sondheim, so we even got to sing a bunch of Sondheim together as we were courting. So, it was really a wonderful way to get married. Jo Reed:  Okay, now here’s my question. Most people would be happy to sing in the church choir. What drew you to the Singing Sergeants? Ann Meier Baker:  Well it was a way to sing professionally and to be paid twice a month, and with military benefits and all those sorts of things. Also, it was quite an honor. There were only 28 Singing Sergeants when I was there, and so to be one of a handful of women who got to sing in that ensemble, was really quite something. So the quality was incredibly high, and the conductor of the Singing Sergeants, when I was there, was a fellow named Craig Jessop who went on to conduct the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and who was a wonderful singer, a perfect musician, and a terrific guy. So the chance to work with a great musician was another wonderful experience. Jo Reed:  So you were pretty committed to trying to have a professional singing career. Ann Meier Baker:  I was not at all. I had gotten my undergraduate degree in music education, I was teaching middle school music in Montgomery County, very happily; thought I was going to be a school teacher for the rest of my life. And on a dare, I agreed to audition for the Singing Sergeants. It was nothing I ever thought I would want to do, and as it goes, with things that you aren’t really invested in, sometimes those are the things that come true. Jo Reed:  That’s been my experience, too-- those things I’ve just done-- they pay off in spectacular ways. Ann Meier Baker:  I guess you’re not just mired in this-- it must happen sort of thing. You don’t have anything to lose. Jo Reed:  Yeah. Right. What was the audition process like? Ann Meier Baker:  Oh, gosh. We had to bring some prepared pieces in different languages; we had to sight read, we had to sing with some other Singing Sergeants to see how we fit in; those are the things I remember. Jo Reed:  And then when you passed the audition and you are then in the Air Force, or do you then have to go through boot camp? Ann Meier Baker:  Exactly. You have to go to boot camp. So I remember the call came from Craig Jessop and he said, “We’d like you join us.” And I said, “Yes!” And then the next day I called my friend who was in the Air Force Band, he was a clarinet player. I said, “Okay, tell me what I just agreed to do. What’s boot camp like?” And he said, “Oh, it’s like Girl Scout Camp. You’ll be fine.” Well for me, it wasn’t like Girl Scout Camp. I went to San Antonio, Texas in July and August for boot camp, and it was pretty steamy, and not my favorite of experiences, I must say. Jo Reed:  How long did the boot camp experience last? Ann Meier Baker:  It was six weeks. But the best thing that came out of it was another woman who was coming into the Singing Sergeants was there at boot camp at the same time. Her name was Daisy Jackson, one of the best sopranos on the planet, and she became my best friend. So we got through it together. And a friendship forged in adversity that is something I’ll carry with me to my grave. Jo Reed:  Let me ask you this, and I don’t mean this in any kind of insulting way; but you know, in colleges they have science for English majors-- did they have boot camp for Singing Sergeants? Or was it the rigorous thing straight through? Ann Meier Baker:  It was the same that others had to accomplish; except I think the bar was set very low for me when it came to shooting an M16. I think all I had to do was pull the trigger a number of times; it didn’t matter if I hit the target or not. Jo Reed:  Do you remember your first performance as a Singing Sergeant? Ann Meier Baker:  I remember the trip to the first performance. We were travelling somewhere in the west, and we used to fly on C130 cargo planes. So they would have the web seats and whatnot. And it was a long flight, we had to refuel halfway through, and the bathroom facilities for women on C130s are not ideal. So I asked my compatriots, “How do you manage this, what do you do?” And they said, “Well, as you take the bus out on the tarmac to get on the C130, take a Dramamine. You will sleep through the whole experience, and when you get there, you’ll be refreshed, there will be a bathroom, it will all be fine.” So I followed the instructions to a tee, we were driving out on the tarmac, I took my Dramamine, got in the C130, and there were equipment problems. So, you know, they tried to change us to another plane, etc., it ended up not taking off. We went home that night and came back the next day and flew commercial to the gig that day. But I went home and slept and slept and slept. Jo Reed:  How did it work? Did you live on base? Did you live in your own home when you were in the military? Ann Meier Baker:  We were based at Bolling Air Force Base, but we didn’t have to live there; we could live wherever we were wanting to, and then we would just travel in for rehearsals and performances; although, what we did most was tour. So we had many different musical assignments. Some of them were artistic, so for example, we commissioned music from Gian Carlo Menotti we did recordings of Frostiana by Randall Thompson. We did all kinds of performances at major music conferences and those kinds of things. So there was a whole artistic part of our mission. There was a public relations aspect to it, so we would sing on the steps of the Capitol or fly to different places in the country; sometimes the best venues ever, and sometimes high school gymnasiums to entertain the public. And then there were all kinds of military duties. So we would sing at the State Department for high level dignitaries, or we would sing at the Vice President’s house, or any place that they needed us to be. <Music> Ann Meier Baker:  It was great, and the repertoire was so diverse and you know, we did musicals and operas and we sang in club shows. I got to sing to the famed airman Jimmy Doolittle on his birthday in a club show in some bar somewhere, I forget where. Jo Reed:  There was also a lot of international travel. Ann Meier Baker:  Absolutely. We traveled the world. Especially the four years I was there. So many people stay in the Singing Sergeants for their 20 year career, but I was there just for four years, and those were the perfect four years, because we really traveled the globe. Places I would never imagine being, as well as places you’d always dream of going. Jo Reed: Well, what’s a place you never imagined being? Ann Meier Baker: Okinawa. So hot. Oh my goodness. Jo Reed:  Hotter than Texas. Ann Meier Baker:  Oh-- terribly hot when we were there. And just a number of places like that that you don’t imagine you will be, and then Italy and Greece and Turkey and Korea; all kinds of places. Jo Reed: So how did the touring process work? Because on one hand, I think there’s-- and Lord knows I have it, this romantic idea-- oh, touring in Italy-- and you get to spend time there, but is it more rushed? Is it like a tour where you’re there for two days and then you’re on the plane and you’re off someplace else? Ann Meier Baker:  Exactly. And the stateside tours were a different venue every night. So they might fly us to California, and then we’d get on a bus, and we’d sing in one place one night and then next place the next night. If we got to stay two nights in the same place, we were delighted. So there was a lot of pack your bag, hurry-up-and-wait kind of behavior. But even though they weren’t relaxing vacation-like trips, the opportunity to sing for all those different people, to really see how making music in a high school gym or a multi-purpose room or at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, can move people all the same. And the opportunity to just make music on a regular basis was a thrill in all those places that maybe we only got a snippet of; I think we were in Athens for 24 hours. But I got to see it and knew I had to go back. Jo Reed:  And I think there’s also something about singing in these places. I mean, it’s not like going through on the tour bus, but you’re actually giving something to it, even as, you’re taking it in. Ann Meier Baker:  Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think singing is like the secret weapon, because everybody can do it, and everybody does do it in their car, in the shower. So to sing with people, and for people, it’s just, an amazing opportunity. Jo Reed: You know, I think people can be surprised that all of the armed services contain artistic occupations. I mean, as you pointed out, they all have various music programs, but there are also graphic artists, there are writers, photographers. And they’ve also become part of the protocol of military healthcare now. So I’m just wondering, as somebody who was in the Air Force for four years, how do you see the arts and the military interacting, and perhaps having an impact on each other? Ann Meier Baker: Well, we were a group of professional singers and that was one thing. But a lot of the bases around the country have their own base bands. And maybe those are people who have different jobs in the Air Force, but they play in the band, they have parades, they do concerts-- so there are all kinds of different opportunities for people to be engaged in the arts. But also, the spouses of the service people had different opportunities to sing and be engaged. So I think, it brings everybody together. There’s a way for everybody to participate, whether you are very skilled or a novice. Jo Reed: The other thing, I think it’s because the arts-- and I think for me music in particular-- can both be a source of enormous fun and joy, but also great comfort. And it can really be a respite from a lot of the anxiety that of course can be attendant upon being in the military, especially during a time of war. Ann Meier Baker:  Exactly. So participating in making art, or just having a chance to have a glimpse of beauty now and then in the midst of all the difficult things you’re doing can really be healing and good for everybody. Jo Reed: Okay, this is a hard question, because I know you’ve had so many experiences, but are there one or two that were really particularly memorable? Ann Meier Baker: Gosh, there are so many. Well, I got to do, personally, a big review of Judy Garland tunes at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. It was a piece that was written for me, this 20-minute, greatest hits of Judy Garland. And there was a stage director from New York who came in and staged it, and lights-camera-action. So I got to do that several times. That was a real memory for me. But then there are goofy memories; like I remember we were in Sheridan, Wyoming, and we did a regular show and there was a Sheridan, Wyoming song. And they asked us to sing it as the finale. But for some reason, it was determined that we should memorize this. So we got to the venue, they passed it out, we read it down, and then at intermission we went over it again, and then it was the finale. And I remember the words, “To Sheridan for Me” to this day. So goodness knows why, the 10 minutes I spent learning that-- but I still know the stinger at the end-- “No more roamin’ in Wyomin’; it’s Sheridan for me.” So my memories go from you know, the sublime to the ridiculous. Jo Reed: You must have a lot of July 4th memories. That would seem to be prime time for the Singing Sergeants. Ann Meier Baker: One of my July 4^th memories was singing at the Air and Space Museum with Carol Channing, of all things. I had a hilarious picture of this with her. And you know, 4th of July, Memorial Day, all those days were big days for us. We didn’t have any of those holidays off. Jo Reed: When travelling internationally, did you change your repertoire at all?  Ann Meier Baker: Most of our international tours were to sing for the servicemen. So we typically went to entertain our own troops, and not so much the members of these other cultures. So they were so happy to see us. And also, frankly, we were really good, and I had the opportunity to hear the Singing Sergeants just about a year ago, and they are better than we ever were. So I think there was an enormous sense of pride that we would go-- sometimes we would sing medleys of commercials. And people would just be so charmed by, you know, the Oscar Mayer Wiener commercial jingle or whatever it was. So we would bring a little bit of home to them. Jo Reed: I was just going to say, talk about home-- Ann Meier Baker: Yeah. And then when I was there, Lee Greenwood, who’s a member of the National Council for the Arts, had his big hit. So one of the songs we sang that always brought the house down was Lee Greenwood’s “I’m Proud to be an American.” It was oft times the finale, and there was never a dry eye in the house. And we sang it with him several times, too. We had a guest artist series, and periodically guests would come and sing with us. And I’ve spoken to him about it, and he said that those military groups that did his tune for the troops so much really gave him a boost. Jo Reed:  I bet that’s true, yes. I’m sure all of the Singing Sergeants had great camaraderie, but there had to also be adjustments to traveling together so extensively as a group.  Ann Meier Baker:  Absolutely. There was a little bit of ego involved, because everyone in the group, of course, thought they were the-- good enough to be the soloist; we had to audition for solos, and the director would choose different people for different tunes. And so there was a little bit of, “Why does she get to sing that?” There was the funniest rule when we would travel on the bus together; absolutely no singing or humming. If someone would start humming, oh, my goodness-- these were in the days with Walkmans, you know, we had our headphones on with our tape players. And if someone would start to sing along with whatever they were listening for, oh, my goodness, absolutely squelched immediately. So it was funny, the protocols of living together for weeks at a time on a bus or in a hotel room, and how we all got along. Jo Reed: Do you still sing? Ann Meier Baker:  I sing some; not so much. My previous position before coming to the National Endowment for the Arts meant a lot of nights and weekends and my-- which is typically when people sing and want to hear singers, and my husband’s a professional singer and I have a family, and so all those things took precedent. But periodically I dust off my vocal cords, and they still vibrate. And I enjoy singing still. Jo Reed:  In thinking about it, can you just articulate what singing gives to you, that feeling you get when you sing-- both alone, but then in concert with others? Ann Meier Baker:  I started college playing the piano, I was a piano major. And then started singing, and decided singing was more for me. And what I noticed getting out from behind the piano bench, where you have this big thing that you’re trying to operate, you know, versus standing up and singing, it’s much more vulnerable, I think. Much more personal. It’s harder in some ways because we carry this thing around in our throat all the time, and sometimes we have a cold or sometimes, you know, nature takes over and it’s not like you just push middle C on the piano and it sounds. But I think there’s something about singing, about the universal nature of it, about the fact it’s so accessible you don’t have to buy a violin when you’re 10 in order to be able to play at all when you’re 20. And that we sing words, so we have this extra added element that is language and poetry, and all of that that communicates to people in special ways. So I think breathing together, singing together, using language together, is just kind of magical. Jo Reed:  Ann, thank you so much. Ann Meier Baker:  Oh, my pleasure. Thanks for asking. Jo Reed:  No, my pleasure, thank you. That’s the NEA’s Director of Music and Opera and former Singing Sergeant, Ann Meier Baker. You've been listening to Art Works produced at the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out how art works in communities across the country, keep checking the Art Works blog, or follow us @NEAarts on Twitter.  For the National Endowment for the Arts, I'm Josephine Reed. Thanks for listening.  <Music> Transcripti coming soon.