| From the soprano descant on an English psalm
tune sung in Miller chapel to the solo rendition
of the African American spiritual “Were You
There?,” Carol Ann North’s voice has
captivated the Seminary community. There is,
however, no doubt as to where those beautiful
notes come from. “When I sing,” North says, “I feel that I have surrendered my vessel to God. Every time I sing, I say a prayer: ‘Dear God, if I open my mouth, will you sing through me….’ ” |
 Photo: Chrissie Knight |
For North, a PTS M.Div. middler, her music and her
faith have been inexorably bound throughout her life.
Like most preacher’s kids (her father was a minister
in the Church of God in Christ in San Antonio, Texas),
she recognized early the centrality of religion in her
life.
“I knew when I was a young girl that I would always
be in the church…. I knew that that was going to be
a critical factor in my life. My daddy was a prayer
warrior!
“I grew up in a singing family,” she continues. “My Mom played hymn after hymn at the piano. My two brothers, my sister, and I were always listening to sacred music, singing hymns, and playing the piano. Music was a part of my faith experience.”
A pianist as a child, North played for area churches. But while her talent as a musician was nurtured, no one ever identified her voice as something to be cultivated.
“My mom would say to me, ‘Carol Ann, your voice sure is loud.’ ”
However, North’s experience of music wasn’t limited to hymns and sacred music. The young Carol Ann had individual tastes as well.
“I grew up on Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Gladys Knight and the Pips…all the Motown sounds…. I listened to Aretha Franklin over and over until my mother would finally say in desperation, ‘Can you change that song, now, please! You’ve been playing the same one for an hour!’ ”
As is true for many young people in early adulthood, her life took a detour when she left the security and comfort of her hometown. In 1967, North departed for Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue her undergraduate studies in drama. There she performed in Medea and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, among other shows; in 1969, she received the Stagecrafter’s Award for general contribution to dramatic arts.
After graduating from Fisk and taking a single semester at the University of Pittsburgh, where she began a program in education, North headed for New York City.
“There was this yearning inside of me,” she recalls, “this longing to pursue theatre in New York.” But North found “The Big Apple” more cutthroat than she could handle, and six months later, in June 1970, she entered a program at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in college administration.
North feels that her gift as a singer was discovered at Howard. In 1973, she joined the cast of the then-new musical Raisin, based on Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, in its highly-successful pre-Broadway run in Washington. Although she was not chosen to continue her role on Broadway, the success gave her the impetus to return to New York.
It was in New York that her music and her faith came into conflict. In her pursuit of a singing career, she abandoned many of the values that she had held onto since childhood. As North reflects on that period in her life, she remembers herself as being driven, narcissistic, and spiritually parched. She likens her life at that time to a tumbleweed on the desert. For five years, she left the church and pursued other religions including Buddhism and the Nation of Islam.
One night, after an unpleasant scene in front of Lincoln Center with one of her beaus, North had something of a revelation.
“I realized that I had become a different woman, an ugly woman. My character was crumbling away. I was so unkind. And I thought ‘It isn’t worth it being so unkind.’ ”
So she left New York City and went to work with the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Civil Rights movement. She used her talent as a means of helping the cause by singing at rallies, meetings, and conventions. She began to experience herself in a new light.
In the summer of 1977, she had a conversion experience. “I guess it was all part of God’s great architectural plan and design,” she says, “but I was completely convinced that what I really needed to do was concentrate on seeking the Kingdom of God.” Which she did.
In 1996, after a decade teaching English in the public school system in Washington, D.C., North realized that it was time to go to seminary.
Initially, she felt out of her element at Princeton. “I knew I had something to offer, but I felt out of sync. First I felt like a whale among goldfish, and then like a whale among eagles. I was intimidated by the difference in age between me and most of the other students. I’m as old as most of their mothers! But then I realized that I would lose out if I harbored resentment.”
Since then, Princeton Seminary has become a welcome home for North. She has found refuge in Miller Chapel, contributing to the choral programs of music director Martin Tel, and in the office of campus pastor Michael Livingston. Recently, she accompanied alumnus, jazz pianist, and PTS trustee Bill Carter (’85B) on his new CD, “Faith in a New Key” (which is available through the Seminary’s bookstore).
When North reflects on her singing today, her face reflects a serene joy.
“Today, I go forth in complete freedom,” she
says. “Today when I sing, I am free.”
© Copyright 1998 Princeton
Theological Seminary
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| last updated 01/22/99
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