Low Down Articles
Artist Profiles - Gary Dahl
Article 10 of 73
From the book Artists of the Gatineau Hill by Catherine Joyce. This article first appeared in the "Artist Profiles" column in the May 25, 2005 issue of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News.
Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.
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Keeping the Faith
When Gary Dahl was a young boy he wanted a horse. He dreamt of it so hard that every morning he would run to the window to see if the horse was out in the fields of the family dairy farm in Yarrow, B.C.
"My Dad was a very practical man, a Mennonite who believed in hard work, usefulness, economic restraint. What good is a horse, it produces nothing? But I kept coming back, pestering him, I never let up, until one day he said, 'Hop in the truck, son. We're going to look at horses.'" The next morning, when Gary woke up, the horse was out there, no longer a dream.
For a young boy growing up in a strict Mennonite community, the dream of becoming a professional singer was unheard of. As the second youngest of nine children, Gary was expected to follow in his siblings' footsteps - fulfilling chores, obeying his father.
"But there was a moment in church when I was five or six. The choir director, my uncle, put aside the hymns and took out some sheet music. Suddenly he came alive - like he was dancing. The music sent shivers down my back, I've never forgotten." The seed fell on fertile ground. The gift was there from the beginning. "We all sang, even my father. You'd hear him burst into song as he worked. You knew then he was happy."
But to move out into the world, into secular music, the theatre?
Gary escaped to study English at the University of Winnipeg in 1972. There, as part of the magnificent choir of Concorde College, he received the tap on the shoulder he needed. "You should have lessons," the director told him. Finally Gary could admit to himself the depth of his desire to sing. After his degree in English and Music, he went on to study voice in Vancouver and New York, performing in opera choruses at home and abroad, commanding roles as a soloist - culminating in the 1991-1995 world tour or Phantom of the Opera.
A private voice teacher since 1981, Gary is now the new director of the Castenchel Choir. "Music is serious fun. It is the best kind of play. We need it to crack through the robot mode we all live in. You come together with neighbours and friends and you put it out there. Singing! It's like love. You spend it all and you get it all back."
Today he sings as a soloist in events across Canada and in choirs throughout the region. Even in the last two years the richness of his voice has deepened. "It has confirmed for me you have to be patient. You have to wait for it. So many people on the verge of a breakthrough give up. They say, 'Oh, be realistic!' but then they miss the surprise. If you want something, really want something - you gotta pretend like it's Christmas, to make it happen."