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Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of articles about residents enjoying creative pursuits in their retirement or middle age. Readers with story suggestions for this series should contact editor Michael Wyner at 508-626-4441 or mwyner@cnc.com

Almost everyone sings in the shower. And that’s about all the singing that Wayland’s Jon Saxton, now 52, did for the first five decades of his life. Imagine, then, his surprise – after a few years of voice lessons and barely able to read music – when he was accepted into the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. He will be going on a European tour with the Boston Symphony Orchestra later this month.
"Well, my wife and I did take a tour around the country in a Ford van when we were younger. The speakers were terrible; we could only get the treble on them. I did at least have enough ability to fill in the bass line as we went along.
"And we certainly encouraged our daughters, Rebecca and Tess, who are now in their 20s, to take piano lessons and participate in musical groups in the Wayland schools and in college. But I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh, where music lessons just weren’t the thing. I played football instead."
Over the years, though, he "moaned and groaned endlessly" to his wife, Barbara Fox, that he had never given himself the chance to explore his interest in music. Finally, for his 49th birthday, she gave him a couple of voice lessons with the vocal coach Mena Levit, who also lives in Wayland.
"She just tore Mena’s name off a flyer at the supermarket. That was three-and-a-half years ago. I’ve been at it twice a week ever since," he said. "And it’s opened up an incredible new world to me."
Levit, he said, isn’t one to gush. "But she thought I had a good baritone voice. And she said that one of the best ways to improve is to sing for others. So I prepared a recital program and sang it at Traditions of Wayland with her accompanying."
Levit continued to encourage Saxton, and two seasons ago, he auditioned for the Vokes Players.
"Lo and behold, I got a part in the Sondheim musical ‘Merrily We Roll Along.’ That was quite an experience because I had never performed on stage before and certainly never danced and sung at the same time. A lot of the more experienced people just needed to string a series of dance steps together; it was sort of intuitive for them. But I was a newbie and had to learn how to manage all these different aspects.
"We did 14 performances, and everyone was really warm and encouraging and wonderful about helping me."
Levit also put Saxton on to the Boston Singers Resource Web site, which brings classical musicians together, including singers, directors, accompanists, composers and managers. Saxton noticed a posting from the Westford Chorus for their English production of "Carmen." He auditioned successfully, performed the opera, and said he didn’t feel too intimidated by it.
Then, last March, the Tanglewood tryouts were posted.
"I decided that, given my heavy travel schedule – my day job is as an executive communications consultant – this was one thing I could do. And, really as a lark more than anything, I decided to audition."
The audition was at Symphony Hall, with the chorus’ director John Oliver and its manager Felicia Burrey.
"I prepared a German song. I told them I didn’t really read music; I thought that would be a baseline criterion. And I wasn’t really nervous at all because I didn’t think I had a chance of being taken seriously."
He was. A week or so later, he got a letter welcoming him to the chorus, which is probably the most competitive group in the area. "I thought they’d made a mistake. I thought they meant another Jon Saxton."
Since last spring, Saxton has participated in a number of concerts at Tanglewood as well as Symphony Hall and other venues around Boston. The works he has sung include the Mozart "Requiem," Schoenberg’s "Gurrelieder," Verdi’s "Don Carlo," the Beethoven Ninth, Berlioz’ "Damnation of Faust," and Haydn’s "Mass in the Time of War." He has also participated in some holiday pops concerts.
The conductors expect their singers to show up at rehearsal knowing the music. And the chorus does give its singers some help with language coaches and a packet of material including scores, recordings, translations and pronunciation guides. But Saxton goes even further. He records his entire part with Levit and practices it on his own before rehearsals.
Although he wasn’t on the original roster for the European tour, he is now. He leaves Aug. 26 and returns Sept. 7, after performing in Lucerne, Essen, Paris and London, under the baton of James Levine.
Whereas until he took up singing seriously, he wasn’t into classical music – and "opera was just effete" – he says now he can’t get enough of it. He sings in six languages – English, French, German, Italian, Latin and Russian. And, since April, he’s been studying the cello with a teacher from the Boston Conservatory.
"I want to be a singer and a musician," he said.
"I’d really like to retire and devote myself full-time to music. But that’s not an option right now. In the meantime, though, I meet fabulous, intelligent, interesting and amazing musicians. I have a whole new world of history, culture and language opened to me. I get to tour Europe with one of today’s greatest orchestras and conductors. It’s such a privilege, so I work hard at it. And to tell the truth, I can’t stop pinching myself."