• Still having fun

  Carey Erdman's still singing after all these years.

• 
  A resident of Boston since the mid-'80s, Carey Erdman worked for the first U.S. company to make spy cameras for use in space.
  
  For ten years he was president of a firm that sold satellite images and remote sensing software. While he's no longer with the company, he's still on the firm's board of directors.
  
  Now he's made a major career switch and is a division manager of Webster & Company, a family-run business in the Boston Design Center.
  
  To prepare him for these careers Erdman majored in biology and environmental studies at ISU.
  
  Oh, yeah. He was also a fixture in several ensembles offered by the Department of Music.
  
  "In high school I was in a ton of music classes and groups," Erdman remembers. "It was always just for fun."
  
  As a freshman in the mid-'70s Erdman joined the Iowa State Singers and added the Cardinal Key Notes (show choir) his sophomore year. Even though he wasn't majoring in music, the department became the highlight of his college career.
  
  He wasn't content just singing either. Erdman took his involvement to another level.
  
  "My sophomore year the Iowa State Singers were going to tour California for the first time and we had to raise a lot of money in order to make the trip," he said. "Then the fundraising chair quit and I volunteered when no one else would. The tour was in danger. This was the first of many situations where I found I could do a whole lot more than I
  thought I could."
  
  Erdman helped raise $16,000 for that tour and in the process "really got to know everyone in the group." His junior year as president of the Iowa State Singers he helped the music department organize its first VEISHEA open house complete with informational displays and two days of non-stop performances.
  
  During his senior year he led the fundraising efforts that saw the group tour England for 10 days after graduation. This time he lead the raising of $60,000.
  
  "Being in the choirs was an amazing experience for me," Erdman said. "I made so many friends. I really credit the music department on so many levels in my life. But it was solely for fun."
  
  Erdman is still singing for fun – only now he's performing with some of the most prestigious vocal ensembles in Boston.
  
  "Boston is blessed with so many performing arts organizations. There is so much happening here," he said.
  
  Soon after he moved to Boston, Erdman auditioned for, and was selected to sing with, the Cantata Singers. He's now in his 23rd year with the ensemble and performs on a regular basis in addition to serving on the board.
  
  But Erdman's love of music couldn't be satisfied with one vocal group. Just over 12 years ago he was asked to join the Tangelwood Festival Chorus, the ensemble that supports both the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Pops.
  
  Whether he's performing in Boston's Symphony Hall, at Tanglewood, on television or even at Carnegie Hall, the conductors, venues, guest artists, and repertoire run the gamut.
  
  Erdman doesn't get paid for his talent – all singers are volunteers and it can be time consuming. Most music is memorized and there is little rehearsal time before a performance.
  
  "I'm singing the master works with some of the world's best conductors and soloists," he said. "I'll continue as long as it's fun."
  
  Given Carey Erdman's history, he'll be singing for a long time.

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