Calvin Remembers Carl Kaiser
For nearly 20 years, Carl Kaiser was a soloist. He spent four years in the United States Army Chorus and then another 15 as principal lyric tenor at State Opera theaters throughout Germany.
In 1977, he traded in the public opera stages in Germany for a private teaching studio at Calvin.
“He made a mid-career change of a type that is not easy,” said Calvin Stapert, a former colleague of Kaiser’s at Calvin. “But he made the change gracefully and successfully as his students will testify.”
Kaiser served on Calvin’s music faculty for 22 years, retiring in 1999. On April 23, 2025, he died of age-related causes. Kaiser was 91 years old.
A sought-after vocal coach
“Those of us who studied vocal performance with him knew that he had no patience for musicmaking that was boring, conventional, and soulless,” said John Witvliet, who was his private voice student during his undergraduate years and later a colleague in the music department. “He celebrated with a memorable twinkle in his eye every time we took a musical risk, transcended good technique, and made a soulful connection with the music he assigned us.”
Kaiser was a much sought-after vocal coach with his studio seeing a steady stream of both college students and other singers from both near and far. But while his focus at Calvin was helping his students find their voices, he certainly hadn’t lost his.
Not giving up the stage
“Of course he did not entirely abandon his life on stage. Performance is to a voice professor what research is to one who teaches in an academic classroom,” said Stapert.
His former colleagues recall with fondness his performances as a soloist with the Calvin Oratorio Society, especially in Handel’s Messiah.
“Carl Kaiser was a consummate performer and inspiring teacher at Calvin,” said Witvliet. “At Calvin, his performances as tenor soloist in Handel's Messiah were particularly memorable, and professional colleagues often commented that each one seemed even more compelling than the last.”
“His singing from the opening words, “Comfort ye,” to the chilling words of the last tenor last aria, “Thou shalt break them,” was expressively spot on, a testimony to years of opera performance,” said Stapert.
And Stapert is quick to point out that Kaiser’s expressive gifts were not limited to big public dramatic works.
“I particularly remember what may have been his last recital in the Calvin Fine Arts Center auditorium—a performance of Schubert’s incomparable song cycle, ‘Winterreisse,’ said Stapert. “From the comfort of the promises in Handel’s Messiah to the unrelieved hopelessness in Schubert’s winter’s journey, Carl convincingly expressed it all.”
Not only did Kaiser share his gifts with students during the second half of his career, he also proved to be a powerfully effective ambassador for the college, leading seminars and performing on various stages throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.