by Karen Halvorsen Schreck '84
Early one Sunday morning, my family just stirring, I put a recording of the Wheaton College Women’s Chorale on the stereo. The CD’s title: View Me, Lord, A Work of Thine. The conductor: Dr. Mary Hopper ’73. I want to know Dr. Hopper better still—her recent repertoire, the music she draws from individuals and shapes into chorus. This was my original intent—analysis and interpretation.
Imagine my shift in focus when, first note sounded, my house comes to feel like a place of worship. What can I do now, but listen? Comforting, challenging, each song on the CD holds the complexity and beauty of a Psalm, and works with companion pieces on a spiritual plain. These young women, under Mary’s direction, sing me closer to God.
In this way on a Sunday morning, Mary’s gifts bless me. On a daily basis for 31 years, Mary’s gifts have blessed the extended Wheaton community. As professor of choral music and conducting, and director of performance studies, Mary conducts not only the Women’s Chorale, but also the Men’s Glee Club. She also serves as artistic director for Wheaton’s annual Christmas Festival and Festival of Faith. Needless to say, Mary’s professional and personal impact is far-reaching.
“God has lent Dr. Hopper a special joy and dedication to others that has positively shaped the lives of countless people,” says Conservatory Dean Dr. Michael Wilder. “She possesses a unique ability to provide leadership for large groups of musicians, while attending to the needs of each participant. She prayerfully seeks ways to minister to those around her and does so through a winsome, sincere, deeply rooted faith that has been used powerfully by God to touch the lives of hundreds and hundreds of students, colleagues, audiences, and church members.” No wonder, then, that this year, in celebration of her dedicated leadership, her contributions to the field of choral conducting, her commitment to current students and alumni, and her living testimony to Christ’s love, the Wheaton College Alumni Association has honored Mary with the 2010 Distinguished Service to Alma Mater Award.
“When I heard that Dr. Hopper was receiving this honor, I thought, Of course,” Glee Pribnow McAnanly ’86 says. Glee, a member of the Women’s Chorale for two years, has maintained contact with Mary over the decades; she still looks to Mary for mentorship and inspiration. “Dr. Hopper believes the best about each person with whom she comes in contact,” Glee explains. “If you are fortunate enough to develop a relationship with Dr. Hopper, you will want to become the person that she believes you can be.”
Debbie Rodgers ’73, admissions counselor for the Conservatory, has enjoyed working with her former classmate for many years now. She says, “Mary is a faithful, faithful colleague, who forges an enduring bond with her students, and creates a sustaining community for them too, that lasts long after graduation. Mary works tirelessly, encouraging talent, nurturing gifts. Through her dependable and consistent leadership, the quality of the ensembles continues to grow.”
Encouraging, nurturing—these are the words that students, alumni, and colleagues consistently use to describe Mary. (In almost the same breath, these same folks also frequently reference Mary’s contagious laughter and strong sense of good fun as the perfect balance to her professionalism.) Mary herself says that her “core motivation in teaching is to give constructive feedback. I want to challenge students. But I want to be realistic about what they can do well and feel good about doing. People learn best through positive reinforcement. In building confidence, you build a team.”
Mary’s earliest model for this positive approach was her mother, who was the choir director at the Hopper family’s church—a little Presbyterian congregation in Iowa. It was in this sanctuary that Mary first felt drawn toward music. “I was probably in first grade,” Mary recalls, “when I turned to my mother and said, ‘I can read the words. When are you going to teach me to read the notes?’” From there, Mary went on to take piano and violin. By fifth grade, she was accompanying the church’s junior choir. And by the time Mary entered Wheaton, she was a musician of great breadth, playing violin in the Symphony Orchestra, percussion in the Symphonic Band, singing in the Concert Choir, majoring in voice, and ultimately discovering and claiming her passion for conducting. “Interesting that I have been involved with all five ensembles at Wheaton over the years!” Mary remarks.
While a student at Wheaton, Mary also maintained a job as a church organist. Over the years, she has continued to minister in this way; she now serves as director of music at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Warrenville. And Mary’s leadership abilities have made her a good ambassador to other extended communities, as well. She has toured nationally and internationally with both the Men’s Glee Club and the Women’s Chorale to great success. She has been a clinician, judge, and guest conductor for national events and participated in many professional organizations. She is currently the central division president for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). Her ensembles frequently perform at ACDA conventions, and she has been the conductor of two ACDA Division Honors Choirs, as well as eight All-State Choirs. This year, Mary will travel to New Zealand to lead a plenary session and coach other conductors at the New Zealand Choral Federation.
Approaching the next stage of her career, Mary has faith that God will undertake to guide the future as He has the past. She views all her work as a form of ministry, perhaps most especially her work with Wheaton students. Through these students, Mary says she has learned much about faith. “Over the years I’ve had some young women who have come from difficult and broken family situations who have shown such strength, fortitude, and courage. The faith of these and many other students ministers to me,” she says. This graceful exchange of encouragement and support infuses Mary’s life and music, and her service to Wheaton College, with evidence of God’s love.