Cleats and conducting, game plays and rehearsal schedules. What exactly do those things have in common? Dr. Richard Zielinski could tell you: it’s him.
Zielinski, Dr. Z as he is most commonly referred to, is the choral director of activities at the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma.
On the surface, one sees a man who has a love for music and teaching it, but on the inside his passion for music and sports flows through his body like ending vocals resonating in an auditorium.
Standing up looking at his bookshelf, he runs his fingers over the collection of sports books in a small section of the bookshelf in his office. Some of them were written by athletes and some by coaches. He gazes at them, all while mentioning his love for sports. Zielinski played sports all through his childhood and even into part of his college career, and actually attended Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. on a sports scholarship.
“I never had to pick. It was always athletics and arts.”
If Zielinski weren’t teaching, he’d be a coach.
“What I do in front of a choir is very much like a coach. I’m trying to get people organized and motivated. Rehearsals are like a practice; you practice certain skills.”
Although his love of sports and competition runs deep, he did not continue to do sports for his entire college career; instead, he turned to music.
“Music can go on forever. Any athlete’ll tell ya that there comes a time when you hang up you cleats and glove.”
“I had three older sisters, and a lot of them were involved in music. So we had a lot of singing groups, piano, and we’re playing... So I just always thought that was kind of normal. There was always music at our house. My sisters and dad had a great LP collection. So I was just exposed to it at a very young age. You know, that’s the way I live my life.”
He also mentioned how the sports factored in, playing pickup games with the neighbors all day and everyone coming over to the Zielinski household where Mama Z, as the neighborhood kids called her, was with food and love, and an eye to keep on Ricky. When they went to the small three-bedroom house that was shelter to six people, they all gathered around the piano in fellowship and sang songs.
Reflecting on the wide LP collection the family had, Zielinski was exposed to different types of music.
“I’ve done all kinds of music in my life. You know, choral music, to symphonic, opera to rock ‘n roll. You know, I’ve done all that stuff. I’ve sung in rock ‘n roll bands; I’ve sung opera. You know, I’ve did all that. When I was a youngster, or younger.”
Zielinski’s athleticism got him pretty far, and his love and passion of music kept growing.
"Now I’d see, by the time I got to college, I’d go audition for choir in college They’d say ‘Why aren’t you in music? Why aren’t you a music major? You have a beautiful voice.’ I’d say, ‘Well I'm here. I’m gonna teach history and coach.’ I wanted to be a professional athlete. I always wanted to be. I was athlete of the year. I did realize that I had a lot of talent. I had great training.”
Another thing he enjoys is history, and he wants everyone to know theirs, including whichever school they attended or are attending.
“I like history. You know, I’m trying to bring back all these spirit songs. You know, these old spirit songs. There’s about 10 of them. I wanna get that football stadium singing; it’s one of my goals.”
Getting people involved and bringing them together as one community is one thing he really wants to do.
“I love how music brings the community together. There’s no division: it’s not black-white, it’s not young-old. rich or poor...They’re just singing. They don’t see that. And then think of how it looks to the audience when they see a multiracial, multicultural, multi-religious group of people. We sometimes take it for granted what choirs do. Choirs do a lot for a community.”
Dr. Mark Lucas, the assistant choir director said Zielinski could by described by intense. "But sometimes that word has a negative connotation," Lucas said, "And with him, it doesn’t." Zielinski's work ethic from his athletic years to his music years and having such a passion for it can be one reason many, including Sara Ledford, a graduate assistant that's been working with him for a bit, agrees to.
"I would also describe him as intense," she said.
Lucas also noted that he is "very energetic, words like intense, and serious describe him, but not in a negative way at all- it’s a very positive way."
From Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and traveling the world teaching and directing choirs, he’s ended up here: teaching history and coaching.
Zielinski, a renowned and revered choir director, has traveled around the world came to OU from the University of South Florida.
-ReiL.
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