On Feb. 3 First Friday @ First Presbyterian will present tenor Mike Tyson in a program called “Classic Broadway.” The recital is from 12:05 to 12:35 p.m. at the church at S. Fourth and Ash Streets, and it is free and open to the public. It will be performed both in person and on facebook.com/FPC.Sterling. You don’t have to belong to Facebook to access this performance, and it will stay up and be viewable after the performance.
With a nod to Valentine’s Day, Tyson will present a program of Broadway songs ranging from the 1940s to the eighties, including “If I Loved You,” “It’s All Right with Me,” “Bring Him Home,” “I’m Getting Married in the Morning” and “If Ever I Would Leave You.” He will be accompanied by Elsie Fetzer.
Tyson is a recent Sterling resident who devoted some time and travel to researching eastern Colorado towns before moving here from Loveland. He grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, where he was taught to sing by his grandmother, starting at age two, in an otherwise non-musical family. He developed a love for choral music and has been active in it since he was 13, when he joined the church choir because of a girl. The girl left. Mike stayed.
In every town he has lived, he joined the Presbyterian Church, including Sterling’s First Presbyterian Church and its choir. Since 1979 he has sung with community choruses, including Flagstaff Master Chorale, Loveland Choral Society, Greeley Chamber Chorale and now Sterling’s Master Chorale. The music has often included performances of music with a common theme, like Christmas, Celtic, one composer (Cole Porter) or a large classical work like Beethoven’s 9th Symphony or Handel’s Messiah.
In Loveland Tyson formed the men’s quartet “Four Fathers” and arranged several pieces that they performed. Their music included barbershop, patriotic, Christian and ’50s music. They sang the National Anthem for Eagles hockey and other sports teams, and they entertained at nursing homes and various venues. He says “Choral music has always been an important part of my life. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy bringing it to you.”
Tyson attended Temple University, earning a degree in geology. Upon graduating, he joined the U.S. Navy, where he was assigned intelligence duties on a destroyer in the North Atlantic and on the staff of the Chief of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C. He left the Navy to continue graduate studies at Cornell and Miami in Ohio, receiving a doctoral degree in mineralogy and ore deposits. He moved to Flagstaff to teach geology at Northern Arizona University and advise graduate studies. He also conducted research in remote sensing with the United States Geological Survey.
Tyson has had other occupations but he states that the one constant in his life is music.