The first thing University professor of voice Robert Grayson ever said to his former student Loraine Sims was, “Hello, I’m Robert Grayson, and you’re not.”
Coming from being the leading tenor at the New York City Opera to teaching at LSU, he was, as he says, a bit of a hotshot.
Sims, now an LSU professor of voice herself, said she will never forget his opening line. To this day, it’s her favorite Grayson story.
After 30 years, Grayson is retiring as a full-time professor. He leaves behind a long storied legacy of success in LSU’s music program.
“That was his stage persona,” Sims said. “I always tell him he’s softened up, and he’s mellowed in his old age.”
Another of Sims’ favorite stories from when she was Grayson’s student involves the spelling of her name. At first, Grayson would misspell her name with two R’s instead of one. She called his attention to it, and from that moment on, everything he wrote to her, he would underline the one R. After her first doctoral recital, he wrote her a card with an elaborate design of her name spelled correctly, with the single R underlined.
Sims is part of his legacy, as she is going into her 15th year as a voice professor at the University. She’s taken everything Grayson taught her as a student to become a great teacher in her own right.
“When he was my mentor, we had a very close relationship working together,” Sims said. “He helped me get through my degree program and that’s something you don’t forget easily.”
Grayson is known in the music department as someone who expects the best out of his students. Sims said he always knew exactly how to pull that out of them.
“He was really good at helping you come to terms with things that might be blocking your performance, and getting you more confident when you sang,” Sims said. “He was really good at letting you find your best self.”
One of Grayson’s most high profile former students is Lisette Oropesa, an internationally acclaimed operatic soprano currently performing all over the world. There is a long list of other successful performers whose roots can be traced back to Grayson’s teaching.
Though he will be missed throughout the music program, Grayson is at peace with his decision to walk away.
“Everything that I’ve been doing the past few weeks is the last time I’ll be doing it as a full-time faculty member, so there have been some waves of nostalgia,” Grayson said. “But it’s irrational to believe that you can continue, when you’re getting older, at the same energy level that you did when you were 30, 40, 50, 60.”
Now that he’ll have more free time, Grayson said he is looking forward to spend with his family, namely his wife, daughter and grandchildren.
He said he is grateful for all his experiences teaching at the University. He calls his tenure here, some of the most rewarding times of his life and has the highest regard for his students.
“For the first time since 1987, I won’t be the head of the voice program,” Grayson said. “What’s really more fulfilling than performing on a big stage myself is to see what my students have achieved. They still come back and see me after 30 years.”
Grayson isn’t straying too far away, as he will still be available in the future for consultation with his students.
“I’m philosophic, and I look forward to remaining active and engaged with LSU,” Grayson said. “LSU has been a great place to teach, to interact, to collaborate and I truly hope our legislators will recognize the excellence that is inherent in LSU.”
Even though he was her teacher long ago, Sims knows that she and everyone else he’s ever taught has a little bit of Grayson in them.
“Every voice teacher is a composite of every person they’ve ever studied with, so I know there’s some Robert Grayson in me,” Sims said. “He’s an immovable force. LSU owes him a debt of gratitude.”
The LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts will be honoring Grayson at a tribute gala Friday in the Union Theater.