A Devotion from Lisa Houston

As a single Mom to three daughters, and head of the voice department while I was at NEC, Mrs. Clickner was an inspiration, a challenge, and always a delight. I consider myself so lucky to have worked with her, not only because of her excellent instruction, but because she was such a delightfully warm and caring person. Her studio was a real contrast to the stress and competition I experienced in the opera department. It was a wonderful environment in which to learn. And laughing and delighting in our successes and caring about our failures. One thing I remember in particular is that when I was choosing songs for my final recital, there was one I wasn’t sure about and she told me to skip it. “Life is too short to sing a song you don’t love.”

Her candor was epic, and if there was a problem with a musical passage, a song choice, a particular note, or even your mood, you could not leave that studio without knowing that she knew it and wanted to do what it took to make things better. Many a time she bustled in just before the hour began, bags full of treasures from some antique show or other.

In the years I studied with her she always had an accompanist in the studio, which not only gave invaluable experience to the student pianists who took up the opportunity, but it meant her full focus was on you. When she interrupted, which was often, her voice was not unlike a siren going off, startling, but with the assurance that help was on the way.

I wish I could remember more. It’s thirty years ago now and the opera department consumed most of my energy while I was at NEC, and that was a stressful, competitive environment for me, which makes the overriding memory of her studio all that more remarkable, because mostly what I remember is laughter, joy and passionate, deep, particular engrossment in music and singing. I went on to have other teachers and even other techniques, but there is a template of devotion to singing that she shared with me that I will never forget.

Many thanks to her daughters for creating this page, and for sustaining her love of life, and above all for sharing her with us, her students. 

With love, Lisa