Friends and relatives of Christian Elser on Aug. 3 remembered the co-founder of Glow Lyric Theatre as a man with “an immense talent” and “indomitable will” for musical and theatrical excellence.
As the executive director of Glow — a professional opera and musical theater company in Greenville — Elser brought out the best in singers, said Steve Compton, a veteran of 19 Glow productions.
“He had an indomitable will, an urge to make everything he did better,” Compton said, speaking at a memorial service at the Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Greenville.
Elser, 53, who also served 16 years as a professor of music and choral director at Presbyterian College in Clinton, died July 20 at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina after a long battle with a rare interstitial lung disease.
During the memorial service, Elser’s life was celebrated with music, poetry and personal recollections. The Rev. Chris Hockman presided.
Elser and his then-wife, Jenna Tamisiea, created Glow Lyric Theatre in 2009. It would go on to stage bold, daring productions that grappled with contemporary social and political issues.
A baritone with a booming laugh and commanding stage presence, Elser often directed the music in Glow productions while Tamisiea served as stage director. Through the years, their shows focused on such hot-button topics as racism, immigration and women’s issues.
In 2016, for instance, Glow updated Charles Gounod’s 1867 French opera “Romeo et Juliette” to contemporary America, spotlighting the immigration debate. That production alternated with “West Side Story,” a musical about racial strife.
In 2019, the company focused on strong women navigating through a man’s world, with works such as Bizet’s “Carmen” and Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady.” Last year, the company responded to global authoritarianism with dystopian stagings of the opera “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the musical “Cabaret.”
‘Pushing the boundaries’
“Christian Elser was a force for the arts in the Upstate, demanding excellence and pushing the boundaries of ‘appropriate’ theater while calling for justice through performance art,” said Chase McAbee, who worked with Elser on stage and as a Glow music director.
Elser was known for his progressive political opinions and concern for the marginalized.
“Christian was a fierce supporter of the arts, a generous and kind soul and an ally who would readily lend his voice to those whose aren’t being heard,” said Chris Earle, Glow’s orchestra manager. He added that Elser was a multiple-organ donor.
Elser’s Facebook page is filled with messages from Presbyterian College students who describe him as an inspirational choral director. In a recent tribute on the Presbyterian College website, Elser’s faculty colleagues praised his dedication to students and advocacy for liberal arts education.
Several former Glow singers, meanwhile, credit Elser for providing significant early support for their careers.
Early life
Albert “Christian” Elser III was born on June 2, 1971, in Illinois. Elser earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin (Madison), his master’s from Northwestern University, and his doctorate from the University of Kansas.
As a singer, Elser performed with such companies as the Chicago Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera Kansas City and Light Opera Oklahoma. He can be heard on several opera and song recordings on the Cedille, Naxos and Centaur record labels.
In a eulogy Saturday, John Elser remembered his older brother as someone who, even as a child, “always knew his path” — that of a musician.
Beginning with piano at an early age, Elser later played a Wurlitzer organ and then synthesizers. He dreamed at first of becoming “a rock god” before finding his way to opera, John Elser said.
As a child, Elser turned his family’s basement into a recording studio.
“Our house vibrated constantly,” John Elser said.
Glow operated until February, when Elser announced that the company would suspend operations.
Elser is survived by his mother, Kimberley (Marriner) Elser; his father, Albert Christian Elser II, and his wife, Storm (Garrison) Elser; his brother, John Elser, and his wife, Elissa (Strzelczyk) Elser; two nieces, Madeleine (Maddy) and Colette (Coco); and his partner, Krista Ramirez.
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