GUILFORD — On their first Circle of Light tour of the United States, Netherlands-based operatic trio The Diamond Baritones are making a detour to Guilford on Saturday Nov. 1 for a gala concert appearance to benefit Shoreline Arts Alliance at the First Congregational Church.
The Diamond Baritones are no ordinary classical act. This Netherlands-based trio are making a name for themselves across Europe, performing their no-holds-barred mash up of classical and pop music. They segue from Puccini to Bruce Springsteen at the drop of a hat. They pop and lock in tuxedos. They build cheerleading pyramids. They boogie down with banjos.
One of the Diamond Baritones happens to be Guilford-raised Kyle Bejnerowicz.
As a Guilford High School graduating senior in 2013, Bejnerowicz won a vocal music scholarship from the Shoreline Arts Alliance. In the twelve years since, he’s gone on to train and perform across Europe. The Diamond Baritones have accrued lot of buzz in the last two years, appearing on Holland’s Got Talent and advancing to the semi-finals. But the seeds for their idiosyncratic success were planted right on Connecticut soil. In an interview with the CT Examiner, Bejnerowicz describes how Guilford teachers created opportunity for a kid who needed the freedom to find his own musical path.
CTEx: You now live in the Netherlands! But you grew up in Guilford for your whole childhood?
I was born in Guilford, and I lived in the same house all the way from kindergarten to high school — only about a mile away from the high school. I would walk to school.
How did you first find your way to music and singing?
KB: When you are young, you like to try all different things. The first time I joined the school choir, I didn’t know anything about it. There was the select chorus in Adams Middle School with Mrs. Johnson, the choir director. She made everyone audition even if you weren’t interested in it. So I auditioned.
She posted the list of who made it. Everyone was going over and looking at the list. I thought, why should I even look — I’m not going on be on it, nor do I care to be. Mrs. Johnson came over to me and said, “Kyle, I think you should go check the list.” Sure enough, I had gotten into it. The select chorus would rehearse twice a week at 7:00AM; you had to come to school early. The boys choir, I became a part of that too, and that would meet after school twice a week. It was social — it was community.
CTEx: Where were you in your training when you got the scholarship from Shoreline Arts Alliance?
KB: It was just as I was leaving high school. And to be honest, I was not the best student. I thought that there was no way a scholarship was going to come to me.
Guilford has a scholarship night for students, and if you win any award, you get a letter: “Oh, you should come and be part of this.” I had done a music competition via Shoreline Arts Alliance, that’s how they knew I existed. I’d channeled my energy into the artistic outlets, or the sports outlets — I put my effort into the things that mattered to me, but that wasn’t always the academic things.
Like, they forced everyone to take language for two years — three was very recommended. I remember thinking, I just cannot learn Spanish — so after two years I said, screw it. I do not see my college path as being similar to most people around me. So when I heard I had a scholarship, I was very surprised. Really, Arts Alliance was filling the gaps between the academic scholarships.
CTEx: Kevin Buno is being honored at the November 1st concert. What are your recollections of him as a teacher?
KB: Mr. Buno is the man. Before I took a real interest in singing, I was mostly interested in piano. I didn’t start playing piano early, like when I was five, so I knew it was probably not going to be a career for me. But it was the first way I entered into serious musicianship. And I was starting to think, how am I going to make my way in this music thing.
Mr. Buno ‘s first year at Guilford was my first year; my experience was also his experience of being in a new place. In the process he started to implement things that were not typical for the older kids. One thing he did to pump us up was “Battle of the Sections.”
Usually there are four sections in a choir: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. He said, “For 30 minutes, all the sections: you need to get together and work on arranging a song. The song is: ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.'” It was totally collaborative — you’d just go and do it, and see what happened.
I was in a section with the basses. Basses tend to be notorious for being really chill. And this group of basses in particular — they were already in a band together, it’s like they were more mature. It’s funny, they seemed like grown men to me. We would all spitball ideas to make something really special with “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” I couldn’t remember today what our arrangement sounded like, but I remember the audience reaction. We’d decided to make a River of Time of song excerpts. We started in the 1920’s and worked our way up through the present era, changing the words of all these famous songs to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” I was the piano player and arranger in that effort.
Mr. Buno was all around a very laissez-faire kind of teacher. He let you have the space you needed to discover. It wasn’t just “Battle of the Sections.” We used to actually eat our lunch in the choir room. We’d get our food at the cafeteria and carry our trays to the choir room. It was like the movies: a nerdy clique of band kids. But that’s what I needed. Not someone to tell me what to do, but someone to show me where I needed to go.
CTEx: Was there a decisive moment for you, with music?
KB: So there’s two types of musical camps out there: there’s the old-fashioned camp that says everything needs to be the same. Mr. Buno was in the other camp; he was always down to see how the music could fit the community. Being part of Mr. Buno’s choir, Voices, that was a big turning point in my life. I also played hockey, and I was really dedicated to it. I went to every practice. One time I was scheduled for a Voices concert at the same time I had hockey practice. Not even at the same time — I just needed to leave practice right away to make the concert. At that time there was a policy on the hockey team that everyone had to take the bus home. I told my coach that I had to leave right away on my own so I could make the concert. The coach said, “Okay, fine, but just know you are going to be benched the next game.” I said, “That’s not fair; this is a school activity.” But basically, he wasn’t willing to give an inch about this rule.
I thought hard about it. I’ve played hockey my whole life. But now there’s these two things in my life, and it doesn’t seem possible to do both at the same time. I’m not the most forward-looking person; I put a little too much trust in fate. But this was a very serious moment. I thought, I’m not going to be a pro hockey player —but maybe I’ll be a professional musician.
So I told the coach, I won’t come back. I think he thought, “Kyle is a young idiot going through puberty, he’ll be back at practice on Monday.” But another thing happened immediately after that told me I was on the right track. I got to this concert; we performed. After it was over, a totally random lady came up to me and said, “I enjoyed your performance so much. I am the director of a musical in Madison. I think you should come to be part of it.”
Literally two hours ago I had quit the hockey team. I thought, there’s no turning back now. I said “yes” immediately.
CTEx: What can we expect in the upcoming Gala Concert?
I love where I am musically, and I couldn’t have made it happen without people like Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Buno, and Eric Dillner at Shoreline Arts Alliance. The concert on November 1 will be all about appreciating that community — and singing along with each other! We always start the show by saying, there’s only one rule tonight: make yourselves comfortable. Sing, move around, dance! Do as you’d do in your own home.
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The Gala Concert is November 1st at 8 pm at First Congregational Church of Guilford. Tickets are $39 in advance for adults and $19 for students and can be purchased through the Shoreline Arts Alliance website, shorelinearts.org. If tickets are still available, they may be purchased at the door for $49.