Parishioner Spotlight: Marianne Bailey
Spotlight on Marianne Bailey,
All Saints organist
Hometown: Amherst, Ohio, a little town, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. “You could walk from one end of town to the other in half an hour.”
Family: Daughter, Kathleen; son, Kevin; eight grandchildren from ages 14 months to 17; black cat, Angus.
Heritage: “Big Polish Catholic family.” Both sets of grandparents came to America from Poland prior to World War I and settled in Amherst.
What brought you to Cincinnati?
CCM [The College-Conservatory of Music at UC]. I also applied at Oberlin, which was only five miles from my house, and Baldwin-Wallace. I was accepted at all of them, but CCM offered me the most money. It was a no-brainer for my parents. I was happy, too, because I had heard quite a bit about the school.
To back up a bit, how old were you when you started playing?
I started playing piano at the age of 4, because my grandmother wanted to get rid of her piano. Mom found a teacher who came to the house, and it just grew from there. I never had to be forced to practice. I went to a Catholic school and by 6th grade, the teachers were saying, “We need to teach her organ so she can play mass everyday.” By the time I was a sophomore, I knew music was what I wanted to do with my life.
When you got to CCM, did you major in piano or organ?
I started out as a piano major but these itty-bitty hands couldn’t do a lot of the music of Liszt, Schubert and a lot of the big Romantic composers. I was already minoring in organ so after much discussion with my teacher, I just switched and became an organ major and piano minor. I also was getting a degree in music education. When I graduated, I became a sub music teacher for Cincinnati Public Schools for a couple of years.
What was that like?
It was nightmarish! I went all over, doing every level band and chorus. I finally got a full-time K through 8 music position at St. Veronica’s in Mt. Carmel where I was for about 10 years. I got married towards the end of that time and moved to the Batavia school system where I taught general music in middle school and high school chorus. After I was there a few years, the big Ford plant closed, which took a lot of money away from the schools. The art teacher, the other music teacher and I lost our jobs. After that, I managed a Hardees for many years, first in Evendale, then Milford. During that time, I was divorced.
Since you were raised Catholic, when and how did the Episcopal Church enter your life?
My first organist job in Cincinnati was my senior year at CCM at St. Philip’s Northside, which no longer exists. The rector there, Peyton Reed and his wife, Mary Ann, became my surrogate family in town. Becoming an Episcopalian came along with that. Later on, during the years I was teaching or working at other things, I also was doing church work.
How long have you been at All Saints?
Twenty-seven years. I was at CCM and saw a notice on the bulletin board for an organist/choir director at All Saints. I’ve worked for eight different rectors or priests-in-charge.
The organ is such a huge and complex instrument. In all those years, has anything weird ever happened during a service?
Oh, yes. A cipher is when you’re playing and suddenly there’s a sound coming from one of the pipes that just won’t stop. It’s only happened at All Saints four or five times, but the first one was during the funeral of the former All Saints organist. She was in the room that day, that’s for sure.
What’s the most challenging piece of music you’ve ever played?
The Toccata from [Charles-Marie] Widor’s Fifth Symphony. It’s five minutes of playing at top speed nonstop. I love it, but I need a couple hours of recovery. The other one is Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in F Major. One of my best moments on stage was playing that in recital and everything worked perfectly.
Any other musical activities in your life?
I’m a member of the Clermont Chorale, a community chorus based in Milford. It’s about 65 voices and we do all kinds of music from Mozart to ragtime.
What’s on your bucket list?
I would like to travel more. So many places in this country I’d like to go or visit again: Colorado, Boston. And I’d love to see London.
Is there something that most people don’t know about you?
I hold a second degree black belt in three martial arts: Taekwondo, Judo and Kempo. I studied for about 9 years.
(Note: Don’t mess with the organist.)