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FEATURE FOR
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2003
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Esther Gray:
Promoting Happiness and Well-being |
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Growing up in the wilds of Pea Ridge in Carroll
County, Esther Gray was a dreamer. An only child,
she and her best friend were separated only by the
country road that came between them.
"We spent all our time together," she says,
concerning David Magee who was three years younger
than she. Their friendship mellowed when Esther
started high school and their age difference
suddenly seemed dramatic.Participation in
musicals |
Esther Gray: Singing and Yoga go hand-in-hand to fulfill
her desire to add happiness to the lives of others
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and plays at Bethel College
filled much of Esther's time during her high school
years, while her rural environment gave her time to
explore more fully concepts she had merely dabbled in
when she was younger, solidifying her talents and
ambitions into goals that meant, first, that she would
have to spread her wings and fly to places far away from
McKenzie.
"When you spend a lot of time by yourself it makes a big
difference; it makes you be more creative," says Esther,
"You have time to see things in different lights and
explore your surroundings, especially all the way out
here."
She was born into a musical family: her father, Alden
Gray, is a classical pianist who also plays guitar and
flute in various musical genres and whose sister,
Patricia Gray of Memphis, is an erudite musician of
impressive resume.
Esther started early in her own musical studies,
learning piano under Mrs. Sandi McMahan from the time
she was in the third grade.
"I appreciated her, she always encouraged me to work
hard," Esther says sincerely, then laughs, "I was always
a good sight reader but she was smart enough to know
when I had practiced. When I hadn't she always gave me
that 'special look'."
As her talent evolved over the years, her ambitions also
grew, and she expected someday to play the piano
professionally. Ironically, preparation for that role is
what led her to become enamored with singing.
"My aunt sent a CD of opera repertoire," says Esther,
who was in the eighth or ninth grade when the CD
arrived, explaining her aunt's rationale that if she
were to be accompanying the vocalists she would need to
be familiar with their art.
 "I thought, 'I wish I could do that!' so I tried it and
I could," she reports happily. "I didn't get into opera
itself until probably my junior year."
When it was time to choose a university, Esther seized
the suggestion of her uncle, Robert Patterson, an
accomplished composer and horn player from Memphis, who
named Indiana University as the best place for her to
study.
"I really didn't do much research," Esther admits. "As
soon as he said that I knew that's where I wanted to go.
It was the only place I applied and the only place where
I auditioned, which was not necessarily the wisest
decision because if I had not been accepted I would've
been between a rock and a hard place!"
That she was able to audition at all, Esther credits to
prayer.
"I was in the McKenzie High School library studying for
a project the day before my audition when I swallowed
and felt that lump in my throat."
In the mirror, she could see her throat was covered by
the white dots characteristic of a strep infection. A
quick trip to the doctor for penicillin did little to
calm her fears so close to the audition.
"I thought, 'This is going to change the rest of my
life, getting sick before my audition. Mom called so
many people, saying, 'You have got to pray for her.'
When I woke up only a day later my throat was not sore."
The successful audition secured a place for Esther in
the school of 45,000 students following her 1995
graduation from McKenzie High School.
"It was quite a change from McKenzie - nine times bigger
within a seven-mile radius - but it was a wonderful
experience. It was fascinating being around so many
different kinds of people from all over the world," she
describes with glowing eyes. "It was a very metropolitan
place out in the middle of a cornfield; as soon as you
left the campus there were cornfields all around."
The curriculum itself Esther found to be very
competitive, with many people starting who did not
graduate, and while junior and senior students looked
forward to recitals, sophomores were subject to the
"upper divisionals" that determined which students would
continue their studies at the university.
"It wasn't about just finishing your qualifications;
they decided if you were up to par or not and, if you're
not, you can't continue," she explains, her eyes
softening. "It was very stressful but it gave us an idea
of the real world as far as music is concerned. You have
a lot more sacrifice; you have to have a lot more drive
and ambition besides just being able to sing. The ones
who actually make it absolutely love it and cannot
imagine doing anything else."
After graduation, Esther's first "paid, professional
engagement" was with the Lyric Opera San Diego's
presentation of the operetta "The Gypsy Princess", in
which Esther portrayed the character "Daisy".
She then performed lead roles in each of three operas
during the Harrower Opera's 2002 Summer Festival in
Atlanta, sponsored by Georgia State University. Esther
portrayed the chambermaid Adele in "Die Fledermaus" by
Johann Strauss Adele; Sophie in "Der Rosenkavalier" by
Richard Strauss; and the nymph Echo in "Ariadne auf
Naxos", also by Richard Strauss.
"I'm most proud of Sophie in 'Der Rosenkavalier',"
smiles Esther, explaining she assumed the role after the
original singer abandoned the role one week prior to the
performance due to "various political reasons."
"I was not her understudy; I had two other roles I was
learning," she explains. The head of the music
department, while acknowledging the impossibility of
learning the role in a week, asked her if she would take
the part.
"It turned out to be a very successful performance, one
of my favorites," smiles Esther, who performed all three
roles within two days of the festival.
She was most pleased that her parents, Alden and Mary,
were present for the performances. "They always tried to
come," she says. "Obviously they couldn't come to
everything but they always came to the big things."
Esther decided to return to McKenzie when the festival
was over.
"There are a lot of different reasons, but everything
always works out the way it's supposed to," she says
without fanfare.
Back home, Esther's main pursuits have involved another
art she discovered during her sophomore year at Indiana
University: yoga.
"I actually took (the class) because I needed a movement
art and ballet didn't fit my schedule," she says.
 An avid practitioner and the only certified Thai Yoga
therapist in Tennessee, according to Esther, she began
teaching yoga at the Yoga Center of Jackson while
working toward a separate certification through a 1,000
hour program through the Southern Institute for Yoga
Instructors in Nashville.
She explains the program well exceeds the requirements
for certification: "I could go to a weekend
certification program but because I'm working with
people's physical bodies I felt I owed it to the
students to know as much as I can."
Esther's enthusiasm regarding the discipline is
infectious. "It makes people feel so good - look better,
feel better - and have so much more energy," she says.
Particularly thrilling for Esther are the positive
effects experienced by victims of arthritis and
neurological disorders. "They show so much improvement
in physical control and mental stability and that is
really what makes it worth doing to me," declares
Esther, who with 700 hours completed toward the
certification is already eligible for registration with
the Yoga Alliance, an organization that maintains a
registry of qualified yoga instructors and schools.
"It's truly amazing how beneficial yoga can be - it's
such a therapeutic thing - it makes everybody feel so
good," says Esther, extolling the benefits for postural
problems, heart disease, migraines, and other diseases
as well as pregnancy.
Yoga also enhances the aging process, Esther declares:
"In this society we have a misconception of what aging
is going to be; it doesn't have to be that way. My
teacher, Betty Larson, in Nashville is 64 and looks
amazing. She has so much energy, so much presence, and
it's all about energy - everything is energy," she says,
explaining that "prana", a Sanskrit word meaning breath
of life, is "that thing you have when you're alive that
gives you that 'oomph' you want to maximize to your
fullest potential."
Esther is currently examining opportunities to expand
her yoga practice to McKenzie under the business heading
"GrayStar Yoga", a name chosen because Esther in Hebrew
means star.
In addition to teaching yoga, Esther enjoys her role as
a Thai Yoga therapist, a certification she completed
through the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara.
Thai Yoga massage is an ancient healing art which
combines "rhythmic massage, acu-pressure, assisted Yoga
stretching exercises, gentle twisting, energy work and
meditation" to "release tension, increase vitality and
create wholeness of mind, body and spirit in both giver
and receiver," according to the White Lotus Website.
"I move my partner into yoga positions without any
effort on their part," Esther explains more simply.
Following the session, which typically last a couple of
hours, subjects have a "blank, real soft look" that
reveals their deep level of relaxation.
"It's a very therapeutic thing as well," says Esther,
whose future plans also include singing.
"I've been blessed enough that I've found two things I
love, and I don't feel I have to pick one or the other,"
says Esther regarding singing and yoga.
She hopes to perform locally in a recital near
Thanksgiving and to offer a Christmas concert in
addition to performing in a series of recitals in
Florida early next year.
"I enjoy making people happy," she says, relating the
ability of music to "take someone away and transport
them to a place where it is really beautiful and they
feel comfortable, cared for and peaceful."
"Yoga produces the same effect," she says, completing
her interpretation of the dual arts.
"My dream is to be able to sing for anybody who will
listen and to have a yoga studio close by; that's what I
enjoy; for myself, that will make me happy," she says.
Now nearly 26 years old, Esther returned to find David,
still next door, had grown up, as well, and the two
resumed their lifelong friendship, adding spice to the
homemade flavor of life back home for Esther.
"I'm glad to be back, it's nice to be home, slower
paced," she says, "I didn't appreciate it before though;
the whole time I was in high school I was thinking, 'Let
me go, I've got to get out of here!' You've got to have
some kind of dream, get out there and then come back. I
certainly don't regret anything. I feel like, now, I
have so much more to give."
For more information about Esther's GrayStar Yoga, call
731-695-6280. |
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2003
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2002
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2001
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or
Fax (731) 352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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