A Hero's Rhytmn

Phil Theodorou
Joyfully doing what he loves,
making beautiful music




Click to hear Phil's message to San Clemente




The Call
One doesn’t decide to become a hero. The hero chooses you.
Like other heroes in our midst, Phil Theodorou didn’t set out
to become a hero when he brought together 110 varied voices
from the corners of San Clemente.
He just wanted to bring people together to sing.

Now, it’s not always convenient when the hero calls. Phil had
plenty to do with five other chorale groups he was directing.
But the soul of our city was calling out for more musical
nourishment. The music called Phil.

The first thing you notice about Phil is energy. High energy.
Fun energy. The energy of life. Phil started the San Clemente
Choral Society (SCCS) to give our community a place where
people can gather during the week and make music together.
“There was a need,” Phil said. The parents of his students
could hear them performing such great music and said, “It’d
be so much fun if I could experience that too.” Phil put two
and two together and “bet this could fly.”
Not only did it fly, it soared.

Phil’s interest in music started early, “My dad put me on a
steady diet of classical music when I was a baby. One of my
favorite childhood memories was just sitting with him,
absorbing great pieces of music.“ When Phil was six, his
elementary school was visited by the music director of the
Pasadena Boys Choir. That clinched it. Music grabbed his
soul and wouldn’t let go. He got sidetracked a bit as a
pre-med student in college. “Then I took organic chemistry.
That did in my medical career.” The music had won.

The Sound of Music
Phil has a unique way of blending voices. Rehearsals are
fast-paced, yet amazingly beautiful. “Let’s go through this
section,” he tells them. “OK. We can fix this, this, this.
Can I hear it again?” He “shapes” the sound. “The ideal sound
I look for comes from correct pronunciation. I get them familiar
with notes, rhythms and the way the words are set. I allow
them to sing the way they’re going to sing. One thing that
makes a beautiful sound, is if it’s made with joy and happiness.
That makes a far more beautiful sound than any technique.”

“Each singer taps into something unique. It’s my role to facilitate
that endeavor. That’s why you get into directing in the first place.
You have to be a musician, teacher, cheerleader, psychologist,
and businessperson. Some have never read a piece of music
before. Looking at these dots, dashes and sticks on a page and
trying to equate them with what you hear is daunting. I tell them
‘It’s like your first swimming lesson, getting thrown into the pool.
You have to do something to make it work!’ Above all, I urge them
not to give up. A community chorus is supposed to be enjoyable,
not have a great deal of pressure. I squeeze them, but I squeeze
them just enough so they’re moving ahead, but not so much
that I choke em.”

Folks, we have our own Doctor Phil right here in San Clemente.
The music doctor. Making people feel better through great music.
“I get to be the prism through which their energies are focused.
Music is everywhere. It’s in us. Our whole existence is based on
a rhythm, a rhythm of life.”

“Good music is a journey. You don’t know where you’re going.
But when you arrive, you say. ‘This is the place where I’m supposed
to be,” says Phil. It’s very much like life. That old hero’s journey again.

Focus on Greatness
In his San Clemente High music appreciation class, Phil loves to
teach students how to discern good from bad music “I present
examples of what’s great. It’s like a great restaurant tour. If you
give them a diet of great food by an outstanding chef, or a number
of outstanding chefs, they begin to relish the experience. They’re
able to discern. It’s like asking them ‘Are you tasting this? Do you
see how this meal is presented? Do you see how the flavors
compliment each other? That’s like explaining what a great
piece of music is like.”

“We live in a society culturally that subsists off what it’s given,”
says Phil. The vast majority of what kids are exposed to, is what
record companies want them to be exposed to. Kids don’t know
anything else. It’s overwhelming for some students to be faced
with great music. If I play Rossini, The Barber of Seville, the first
thing that pops in their mind in Bugs Bunny. I tell them ‘We
associate this music with Bugs Bunny. What’s its real purpose?
Why does it sound the way it sounds? Here’s why.’ That opens a
door. They start to think about what the music is trying to communicate.”

What will Phil teach his one-year old son, Alexander about music?
“Music teaches you unique things. You understand yourself better.
Understanding notes, rhythms and how music works is very
important for my wife and I. There certainly will be lots of music
in our house! Fostering the growth of the musical area of
Alexander’s mind will be very helpful for him in life. It’s like eating
a healthy dinner. Right now I have him listening to lots of music,
lots of patterns. You’ve probably heard about the Mozart effect.
I’m a big believer in that.”

“We are living with the Mozarts of today. People had no idea the
profound effect Mozart would have on music when he was alive.
Bach even more so. Good music will survive despite the
materialistic bent on things. The desire to create beauty is innate
in the human spirit. A hundred years from now, they’ll look back
on those pieces that have lasting power. They’ll marvel at them,
the same way we marvel at masters we revere now. Much of what’s
getting attention now will not last. A genius follows his heart,
whether it be a genius of music, literature or as a leader. I’ll quote
Joseph Campbell. ‘Follow your bliss.’ Then Phil adds, “If you follow
your bliss, you end up with…bliss.”
That’s a great note to end this column on. There are a lot of notes
in the air around Phil Theodorou. Perhaps you will be lucky enough
to hear some of them.

Live like a hero!

Terri Marie
Award-Winning author of “Be The Hero of Your Own Game.”
To view other hero stories or share your own hero story visit
www.heroesamongus.blogspot.com
Heroes Among Us is supported by Wal-Mart

Lessons From Phil

• Use the resources around you
Originally Phil got the word out through the Sun Post News.
“They seemed to be the best vehicle. I imagined people
who’d be interested would read the paper. There’s no way
we could’ve got off the ground if it hadn’t been for the Sun Post.”

• Every experience is unique
“I tell every choir, ‘Once this concert’s done, it’s for the
archives. It’ll never happen again.’ There have been thousands
of performances of Messiah in the last ten years, but the one
we did, was a great moment. A mountaintop experience.
I get to create them on a regular basis.”

• Learn by example
He credits John Alexander, director of the Pacific Chorale
for invaluable help in teaching him how to become a chorale
director. “He never gave me an outline, but when you see an
artistic director work, you begin to get it,” Phil said. “That made
more of a statement to me than any thing that could’ve been said.”

• Beauty is in the ear of the beholder
“Every choir has a unique sound. I don’t tinker with it too
much as long as it’s beautiful. There are many different
beautiful sounds, just like there are many different beautiful voices.
Listen to Louis Armstrong. What would be considered a very gravely,
raspy voice, had a beautiful quality to it.”

• Think of your audience/clients in your decisions
“I choose music that will speak to them. Then I take the music to
where it becomes polished. It’s like creating a sculpture. You chip
away till you get a basic shape of what you’re looking for.
Then you refine it.”

• Have an open door policy
“I don’t want anyone to drop out. If that happens, I tell them,
“Down the road we’re doing this music. It might be more
suited to you. Why don’t you join us again?”

• Look for patterns
“My father is a math teacher. My mother a French teacher.
Between them I learned a great deal about patterns of
language, and patterns of numbers. There are patterns in
music too. Become familiar with patterns. They are studies
in logic and problem-solving. Music is an exercise, as is
studying a language, or doing laps.”

• Mental challenges are good for you
“There’s a great saying by Seneca. I remember this well
because it was emblazoned on top of the presidium at
my junior high. Seneca said, “Difficulties strengthen the
mind as labors do the body.” I believe that.”

Seeds of Hope

Dr. Frances Mead-Messinger
with her husband Rod in China




Listen to a short 3 minute audio with
Dr. Francis talking about how to
Keep your brain healthy.

Doctor Frances Mead-Messinger did not start out life as an ordinary
little girl. At four years old, she found herself in an orphanage, dying.
“I was dying as a “failure to thrive” child,” says Frances. “That’s
common in orphanages. The child quits eating out of depression.
I can remember one night being in the cot with all the little cots
across the room. There was a light coming in and I saw the little
shadows of the little girls across the room and thought to myself
“Oh those poor little girls. I need to help them.” Immediately my
heart went out to those little girls. It just changed my whole life.”

That decision to help those children saved her life.
It gave her the will to live.

The will to live is something many people don’t have. Dr.
Messinger works around the world, helping people overcome
hopelessness. Either through the many program’s she’s developed,
or the traveling she does as an ambassador for mental health,
Frances inspires, not just individuals, but
whole countries to find ways to turn lives around.

This takes a woman who lets nothing stop her. She had throat
surgery in December and still came to do the interview wearing
a neck brace.

At Fatherhood 101.org, Frances helps dads remember to put
the children first and not get overwhelmed by the huge emotions
of divorce. This helps bring them all back into the cycle of life.
She says, “A lot of dads just leave. They get their own life and
let the kids go. Long term that’s destructive to the kids. In order
to mature with balance, all children need the freedom to love
and respect both parents. When a parent (divorced or not)
attempts to alienate a child from the other parent, that’s what
I call ‘child abuse.”

Frances is also an ambassador for the People to People
Foundation started in 1956 by Dwight D. Eisenhower to
promote international understanding. She has taken 3 trips,
one to South Africa, one to India and her most recent, to China.
People all over the world are having stress-related problems.
“Since our country looked at these issues in the 1950’s, we can
guide other countries through the process of accepting and
dealing with mental health care. It’s something all countries
go through, “ says Frances. “If you look back into the roots
of our country, I’m sure no one thought of schizophrenia.
Cowboys were just acting weird and went out and shot people.”

In China there is tremendous stress due to the growing
economy and pressure to succeed. Family size is highly
controlled. Frances said, “They can have one child. If it’s
a girl, they can have a second child. We heard in Shanghai that
if the mother has more than two children, the husband is fired.”

Frances was asked to be an ambassador because she’s an
expert in the field of psychology and neuropsychological
testing, She not only understanding brains, but the people
who own them.

Frances also worked with people in Poland. She co-wrote a
book about a little girl who went off on a spaceship, Magdela
Goes to the Moon. “It showed how women can do anything
they want to do,” says Frances. In effecting change on a
large cultural level, Frances is respectful of the culture. “We
didn’t want to step on their toes. All we could really do was
give them the concept of how to open up the little girl’s world.
We took it to extreme in the Polish book, going out to space,
which was a little far out there at that time.” (This was before
Sally Ride). Frances volunteered to do the book because the
book would go to orphans in Poland, fulfilling part of her wish
as a four-year-old.

From starting one of the first Driving Under the Influence programs,
while she was director of St. Vincent’s. Hospital, to being one of
the founding members of the National Organization of Women
(NOW) to starting a foundation with her husband, Frances is busy
helping people, as she promised she would from that little cot
in the orphanage. Her programs have been successful. The
DUI program was initially in one room. In six months, “it expanded
to the entire fourth floor of the hospital!”

Around the world and far away from her San Clemente home,
people stressed by the complexities of modern life, have been
affected by her help. “I always have personal goals that are
maybe a little unrealistic,” said Frances. “Change the whole
world!” With a gentle, yet powerful influence, Frances has planted
seeds of hope around the world – “pathways of survival.”
Perhaps other orphans will grow up believing that they too,
like Frances, can help change the world.

Live like a hero!

Terri Marie is the author of “Be the Hero of Your Own Game.”
For past articles on Heroes Among Us, to share your hero stories,
or to recommend a hero for a future article, please visit
heroesamongus.blogspot.com.
Wal-Mart is proud to sponsor each Hero Among Us.

Dr. France’s Life Tips
• Your biggest struggles are your biggest blessings
“The most important thing to me is family, that comes from
my orphanage experience.” It is also where she received her
biggest gift in life. That decision to help the orphans changed her life.

• Keep the brain under control – Yours!
“My personal take is when you depend upon a chemical to
do your work for you, then you lose control,” she says.

• Hold on for the long term
Cultural changes take time “especially when you are talking
about children,” she says. “You don’t really know until they
get into their twenties what kind of an impact something
may have,” she says. This probably goes back to her roots.
Her great-grandmother was full-blooded Choctaw. They think
generations ahead in their decisions. “We build long term
change through
our children.”

• Dance your way through life
Frances feels dancing is a great way to keep the brain and
mind connected and keeps the brain young. “Rod and I do
a lot of dancing” When she was doing diagnostic work and
saw early dementia, she would tell seniors, “Do a lot of
dancing. If you really want to remember something, say it to
yourself while you’re dancing, while you’re moving. It makes the
brain pull together.”

• Always learn. Education changes the world
“The more you learn, the more you know, and the more you
grow,” says Frances. “We donate to education. That changes
the world. That’s where it all begins.”

• You can always give
“My life is now totally built around giving. It gives such joy
inside to give. When I say give, I don’t mean just money or
presents, just to give. Give to help others. Those are what I
believe brings blessings in your life.”

• Say yes and find a way
When Frances started the ADAP program, she needed a
room and asked the Queen of Angel’s hospital if they
could donate one. They said, “Yes,
but you have to be a non-profit.” Frances replied, “That’s
fine, we’ll do that.’ “ I had no idea what a non-profit
organization was. She asked Rod, her husband, “Can we
start a non-profit?” He said, “Of course.” They started
the Sanivita Foundation, a 501-C3, which they have
donated to for 30 years.

• Family is most important
“My step-grandfather was a big impact upon my life.
I lived with him after the orphanage. He introduced me
to the library. That a huge impact on my life. He’s a role
model for me, ethical and full of integrity.”

• Don’t be afraid to take steps to change the world.
If a 4-year-old can do it, so can you.

Her “Triangle of Life” - Open mind, healthy brain

Frances feels most people take a firm position, then
close their brains, when they need to think for themselves.
At the base of the triangle are those who accept the beliefs
and values given to them by culture, etc. She calls this a
“given” position. In the middle are those who gather info,
take a position, and stick by it no matter what. At the top
of the triangle, are the few who gather info, take a position,
but remain open to all other positions. I believe Frances
is there. On her trips, she has been connecting India, South
Africa and now China in a triangle of understanding,
helping to move more people up the triangle of life.