Standing alongside his fellow Denison Singers, John Leistler ’86 put the appeal of their late leader into perspective Sunday, June 28, 2026, at Swasey Chapel.
More than 70 group members gathered from across the county to celebrate the life of William Osborne, the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts. It marked the Denison Singers’ 600th performance — and the first since its founder, a mentor they called “WO,” died Oct. 30, 2025, at 88.
Leistler told the audience that Osborne’s influence was not bound by generations. He spent four days at the latest Denison Singers’ reunion swapping “WO” stories with performers who, in some cases, were either 20 years older or almost 20 years younger than Leistler.
“Coming back for so many years, I have made dear friends from the 1960s, and friends who are barely in their 40s,” Leistler said.
Sarah Enterline Roch ’02 made a similar observation after the 75-minute performance that featured 12 songs, seven guest speakers, and a rousing standing ovation.
“We are a family,” Roch said. “In almost any other setting, I would never be social friends with people who graduated from college 40 years before I did. Nor would they be social friends with someone who’s only 44. But these connections have been built through the reunions, through not only singing together but also in the revelry that happens in the evenings and at dinners.”
Sarah Enterline Roch ’02 is one of the Denison Singers’ youngest performers, but she has built friendships with members 40 years older because of the tight-knit nature of the group.
Osborne, who taught at Denison from 1961 to 2003, created this camaraderie through his passion for music, love for students, and desire to see them succeed and perform at the highest levels.
He was a professor, musician, conductor, collaborator, department chair, author, donor, and cultivator of artistic rigor and intellectual curiosity.
“WO defined what student-faculty relationships mean to this university,” President Adam Weinberg said. “We do mentorship well, but he did it better than anybody else.”
Guest speakers blended humor and poignant insights about their time with Osborne.
Jeffrey Masten ’86 on William Osborne’s culture of acceptance: “The space WO created in the Denison Singers, a space for aspirational achievement, welcoming to people of all kinds, made for me an incalculable difference.”
Denison Trustee Jeffrey Masten ’86 drew laughs with memories of his professor’s use of the “unexpected, startling adjective,” his love of language, and the pleasure he derived from “entertaining us with it.”
Masten, a professor of English and gender & sexuality studies at Northwestern University, spoke of how Osborne had “changed the course of my life” through a culture of acceptance.
“The space WO created in the Denison Singers, a space for aspirational achievement, welcoming to people of all kinds, made for me an incalculable difference,” Masten said.
Overall, there have been about 260 Denison Singers, a sum that includes 13 President’s Medalists, an honor begun in 1985. Many members were music majors, going on to successful careers in performance, church music, and education. Others just liked to sing and delighted in the inclusivity that Osborne fostered.
“There is multi-dimensional expertise and a huge variety of careers in the group,” Masten said. “It’s a group that anticipated something Adam (Weinberg) likes to stress about Denison: That you can come here and be a medical research scientist and a performer or an economics major and a musician.”
The Denison Singers toured Europe, Venezuela, and across America from 1961 to 2003. And while the group formally dissolved when Osborne retired, the alumni continued to perform with WO as its conductor — a tribute to his enduring legacy.
Members lauded the efforts of Harris Ipock, associate professor of Music who serves as director of choral activities and coordinator of vocal studies at Denison. Ipock conducted the Denison Singers’ concert Sunday — the group’s 19th performance in Granville since 2003.
He oversaw five rehearsals, which began on Thursday night.
Harris Ipock, associate professor of music who serves as director of choral activities and coordinator of vocal studies, conducted the Denison Singers on Sunday.
Osborne family members were overwhelmed by the turnout — a gathering on par with the Denison Singers’ 50th reunion in 2011 — and the hard work that went into delivering a great show. Sharon DeVane Knode ’87 traveled from Sydney, Australia, to participate.
“I’m not surprised,” said Osborne’s brother, John, who along with John’s two daughters made the trip from North Carolina. “Bill was a perfectionist and he trained his students to be the same.”
William Osborne’s brother, John, and John’s daughters, Meredith Priestley and Heather Brashear, at Denison Cemetery. The family interred William Osborne’s ashes on Sunday. (Photo from family archives.)
Prior to the concert, the group attended a graveside service at Denison Cemetery, where the family interred Osborne’s ashes.
“We brought him home,” Osborne’s niece Meredith Priestley said. “He loved Denison and he loved the Denison Singers. He often referred to them as his children.”
Weinberg called Osborne one of Denison’s most generous benefactors.
He was the lead donor for the $280,000 restoration of the chapel organ ahead of Swasey’s 100th anniversary in 2024. He also established the Mary G. and G. Harold Osborne Scholarship to benefit students in the fine arts.
Several alums have recently followed his lead. Denison Singers Amy MacDonell ’79 and James Gentner ’70 have started the Dr. William Osborne Fine Arts Scholarship in WO’s memory. It will provide resources to attract and retain talented students whose passion for the arts reflects Osborne’s commitment to artistic excellence and willingness to unite Denisonians through song, spirit, and aspiration.
As for the Denison Singers, the show will go on in some form. Members voted to keep staging the occasional performance, which might be why they closed Sunday’s concert with, “How Can I Keep From Singing?”
Osborne’s family knows how much the Denison Singers meant to him. They made sure the group’s collective voice was heard one last time before he died.
“WO passed peacefully with music surrounding him,” Roch told the audience. “Thank you to his brother John for holding a phone up to his ear during his final moments. He was listening to a recording of our concert sung here in Swasey last June.”
