Dr. Kathleen Figaro of Bettendorf can heal people both in her job and her music.
Board-certified in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism, she has her own medical practice in Davenport. On the side, she is a passionate soprano who loves to sing, and will lead a benefit concert for The Center of St. John’s United Methodist Church on Sunday, June 7 at 3 p.m., in the church sanctuary, 109 E. 14th St., Davenport.
All proceeds and donations will benefit The Center, helping to show Christ's love in three major areas -- youth development, homeless outreach, and community support.
This afternoon of music and community will bring people together and feature performances by Dr. Figaro and her talented friends, including Dr. Joan Temmerman, and piano accompanist Sheila Doak.
“Music has a unique ability to bring comfort, peace, and renewal, and we hope this concert offers a refreshing opportunity to slow down, reconnect, and enjoy an afternoon of beauty and encouragement,” Figaro said in an e-mail invitation.
The theme of the Sunday concert is "Together in Harmony," a progression from sadness to joy, and the comfort of a mother’s love.
“A lot has happened in life. I got divorced last year. I love singing and I've been passionate about it all my life,” Figaro said Wednesday. “I've done it all my life and particularly I've done it in the church. This church, this has been my church since I moved into town. The day I moved into town, I went to this church and I joined it, St. John's United Methodist. And I've been sharing since then with them. And this is just an extension of it because The Center is an important community resource that is co-owned and operated by our church.”
Figaro moved here in 2013 from Nashville, where she taught preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University for 12 years. She grew up singing in the Baptist church as a child in Montclair, N.J.
“I've sung since I was a baby. It's my way of regulating my internal state,” she said. “It's my way of accessing joy and ecstatic experiences. It's my way of being. So I warble all the time.”
Figaro’s two children are skilled musicians – her 18-year-old daughter Victoria (who finished her first year at McGill University, Montreal) will be on the program, playing French horn. Her 15-year-old son Jon, who finished his freshman year at PVHS, can’t be at the concert, since he will be playing piano, violin and celeste for the QC Youth Symphony Orchestra the same time at Moline High – preparing for their tour of Spain and Portugal starting next week.
Figaro earned her B.A., Magna cum Laude, from Princeton University in 1992 (majoring in French Literature and Culture); her medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine, and later a Masters of Science in Clinical Epidemiology, cum Laude, at Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, New York City.
She moved to the QC after Vanderbilt because she married a Minnesotan and their children needed to know their other set of grandparents. “And so this was as far north as I was willing to go,” Figaro recalled.
She had sung four times in the former Genesis “Doctors in Recital” programs, which went through 2016.
Figaro conceived of this new benefit for The Center, since it does a lot of great things.
“I've given to them individually, but I thought I’d make more people aware of the skate church they have, the programs they have for addicts, the way they help people with their rent who are in dire straits,” she said. “They have a thrift store, they have counseling. They have everything there. It's really a community magnet.
“And it's really wonderful that our church has this front door access to the community,” Figaro said. “I am very proud of the Methodist church for having put all their eggs in that lovely basket.”
A theme of the program is transformation and the love of mothers.
“The idea of transformation, of learning to be peaceful within yourself, of having joy,” Figaro said. “And how much singing was important to me and how I wanted to keep singing. And so in order to keep singing, you have to have an audience. And one of the gifts I've been given.”
“I used to sing for years at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists national meeting. I would sing,” she said. “So I'm used to sort of incorporating singing into whatever I do. But I wanted something particular. I wanted something like a whole program that had a concept to it, and it was from sadness to joy and to the glory of God. I've never done anything where I didn't really praise God.”
Details on Sunday program
The wide-ranging program includes a number of lullabies and inspiring pieces, including:
- “Vocalise” by Andre Previn, featuring solo cello
- “Ballade de la Reine Morte D’aimer” by Maurice Ravel
- “Weep You No More” by Roger Quilter, a melancholy English ballad from the Elizabethan era.
- “The Little Horses” by Aaron Copland, a soothing song traditionally sung to calm children.
- “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat,” with music by Matyas Seiber (a poem Figaro used to read and sing to her daughter every day before she was born).
- “The Mother” by Brandi Carlile, which inspired Figaro to build the entire recital program about emerging from sadness to joy.
- “Chansons de Ronsard” by Darius Milhaud, a song cycle inspired by the poetry of Pierre de Ronsard, a prominent French poet from the Renaissance period.
- “Eternal Source of Light Divine” by G. F. Handel, featuring solo trumpet
- “Cantata” by John Carter
- RONDO “Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells”
- RECITATIVE “Sometimes, I feel like a motherless child”
- AIR “Let us break bread together on our knees”
- TOCCATA “Ride on King Jesus, no man can a hinder me”
- “Now Sing We Happily unto God!”
- “Panis Angelicus,” with words by Saint Thomas Aquinas and music by Cesar Franck.
The Center, DavenportThe theme of Sunday's 3 p.m. concert is "Together in Harmony."
The Center is at 1411 N. Brady St., Davenport, and its website Thecenterdavenport.com says the concept of a holistic ministry site, “where we create an environment for programs and ministries who seek to serve in the name of Jesus can thrive, was birthed from a unique ministry.
“Skate church began in a parking lot as an effort to reach at-risk students who did not feel comfortable in a traditional church setting. It was then that students of St. John’s Edge youth ministries began to pray about a place where people can gather to live life together creating a better community,” the site says.
“Our goal is to be a light in dark places, serving the needs of our community through the empowering love of Jesus. We facilitate a sense of belonging through relationships while impacting our community through radical love and servanthood.”
It's also a happy coincidence that this Sunday is “Change the World Sunday” at St. John’s UMC, which The Center always celebrates, Figaro noted.
“I went there and we filled baskets for kids to give them nutrition. It was protein mixed with a carb. And these little bags would be given to kids who were starving,” she said. “Families would be able to keep their kids eating. Kids against hunger, I believe is the rubric, but that's where we filled all the containers for the kids, in The Center.”
“It comes once a year and we love it. Like we have all sorts of projects in the church this coming Sunday, from quilting to writing notes to those who are homebound to cleaning up litter in the community,” Figaro said. “To building projects or whatever your flavor is, you can sign up. It's on our website. And you can devote two or three hours of your day to helping the neighborhood and beautifying it and cleaning up.”
While Figaro hopes some of her children’s musical talent is genetic, for Jon she added that “I encouraged him and I saw his natural talent and I gave them the resources so that he could build on that talent,” she said. “Because you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't practice, and if you don't have a good teacher, it will never see the light of day.”
Figaro herself studies voice with Catherine Lyon. The Sunday concert will encourage free-will donations, and you can give at The Center website HERE.
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