A woman who inspired kids to sing survives cancer with a blend of faith, hope and charity, in equal measure.
By RICK GERSHMAN
Published October 8, 2004
LAKE MAGDALENE - Lynne Gackle doesn't care for wasting time, which makes for a challenge when it requires the cooperation of 50 teenage girls.
On a recent weeknight at Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church, the conductor of Le Petit Choeur has a yeoman's job to accomplish: Prodding these adolescent altos, these sophomore sopranos, these teenybopper tenors through a desperately needed rehearsal.
The girls have the day off from school, thanks to Hurricane Jeanne, leaving many in a chattier mood than usual. Gackle, 49, puts them through their paces expediently, politely but firmly directing several of her charges to switch seats, starting in on the next exercise before several of the girls have had a chance to sit down.
When these talented teenagers are on their game, the aural achievement is astonishing.
When they're not ...
"You went brain dead back there," Gackle notes during the run-through on an Italian piece. "I want to go back and make sure your brains are still intact at the beginning."
The girls start again, and Gackle, founder of the Gulf Coast Youth Choirs, stops them.
"You weren't ready," she admonishes. "Wasting my time. Okay, ready, go."
They give it another shot. It sounds fine to a lay person, but Gackle knows better.
"Oh, y'all! That was just gross!" she exclaims with a grin, following her medicine with a tablespoon of sugar: "That's okay, it's an Italian piece, it will take a little time."
But the choir of girls who are 13 to 18 didn't have a lot of time. The near-weekly hurricanes of September canceled several rehearsals. The choir needed to prepare for a performance at Florida State University, a fall concert and a holiday concert.
And then there's the curveball: With about two weeks' notice, Gackle was asked to direct a performance that merged a couple of choirs for a reception at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg.
She could hardly say no: The banquet was for Race for the Cure, a benefit for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
It was less than a year ago that Gackle was diagnosed with breast cancer.
When Gackle looks out on the choir, she thinks about the statistics: According to the National Cancer Institute, if current rates stay constant, one in eight of these girls - at least six in this group - will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.
It's a sobering stat to Gackle, who lives with her husband, Merlin, and their daughter, Megan, 14, in Cheval.
"I had never given breast cancer a thought," she said. "I never knew a breast cancer survivor before I became one. I so admire the women who have gone through this - the great attitude to keep on going."
The cancer in her right breast was diagnosed by her doctor, Sylvia Campbell, in December 2003 after a routine exam. Gackle tried but could not feel the cancerous lump in her right breast - it was too small and too deep.
The lump was removed surgically, but a biopsy detected a second tumor. As with the first, the cancer was in Stage 1, the most treatable stage. There was no indication the cancer had reached the lymph nodes, from which it could spread.
But Gackle no longer was a candidate for lumpectomy. She would need to have a mastectomy, the removal of her breast.
Devastating as the news was, Gackle found solace in her family, her work with the choir and, as a devout Christian, her faith: "I asked God, what is it you want me to learn from this? . . . I decided, I don't feel bad about this at all. Let's roll."
"Lynne has a very strong personality, a strong and deep character, and a deep commitment to her Lord," her husband said. "It brought her closer to her mortality, having gone through breast cancer."
"You think you have the rest of your life and that it will be long," Gackle said. "Then you realize, maybe I don't have that, that I need to use all the time that I've got to make a difference, to fulfill the purpose that I've been put on this world for."
Her will to make a difference is what led Gackle to create the nonprofit Gulf Coast Youth Choirs 12 years ago.
A singer and musician since childhood with a doctorate in music from the University of Miami, she was disappointed by the lack of choral programs in many north Tampa schools. She decided a program was needed.
"The power of music to touch one's life is the key thing," Gackle said. "Striving for excellence adds to the life of a child, and it allows them to change the lives of the listener. Music has the power of itself, too, in the form of choral music, to touch not only the listener" but the performer.
Gackle started with a choir of girls ages 9 to 12. As they got older, Gackle and fellow directors added more choirs. There now are five: Mannchor, a young men's choir; the cadet and children's choirs, both co-ed; the girls choir; and the elite Le Petit Choeur. Each has its own director. Gackle, who also teaches music and directs the Bel Canto choir at the University of South Florida, serves as artistic director for the nonprofit organization.
The choirs rehearse at the Lake Magdalene church and often perform Christian music. And Gackle's Christian faith is no secret. That prompts the question of whether Gulf Coast Youth Choirs considers itself a Christian organization.
Not at all, Gackle said. It is secular, and though a number of the participants are Christian, the choirs have members of other faiths, including Judaism and Hinduism.
"Choral music got its start in the church, and a lot of choral music happens to be sacred music," she said. "But we perform both secular and sacred pieces. If we do a (Christian-oriented) piece, I might tell them if this song means a lot to me. It's not that I'm asking you to believe what I believe. I'm asking you to understand what it's saying so you can sing it with depth."
Gulf Coast Youth Choirs now has almost 200 young performers, and while most are from north Tampa, some come from Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Sarasota counties. Costs range from $180 annually for the youngest children to $450 annually for Gackle's choir. The organization does have scholarships, and Gackle said no child who is talented and dedicated will be turned away.
Merlin Gackle has seen how his wife's creation has helped the lives of these children. When breast cancer struck, he witnessed how the youths could reciprocate: "Working with them was very therapeutic. They love her and respect her dearly."
It took time for Gackle to tell her girls about the cancer. They learned one night after a rehearsal.
"The whole room was just very quiet," Gackle recalled. "Then you could see the tears begin to fall. I didn't lose it that night, though. I didn't cry. It was like when I told my daughter (about the cancer). I told them, God's not finished with me yet. I've got so much else to do."
The girls responded with incredible support, she said. The surgery was a success, and Gackle has remained cancer-free through her checkups. She has not had to undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatment. So far, so good.
At the recent St. Petersburg banquet for Race for the Cure, the Gulf Coast Youth Choirs performance came together beautifully. The next day, a team from the choirs ran in the race.
"In my choir, several of these girls will have this disease," she said. "If we can raise more money, all the better. We need to knock this disease out."
