For Scotts Valley’s Des Wilson, music is a way of life.
An accomplished amateur baritone opera singer, Wilson decided with his wife, Lynda, that each of their five children must take five years of piano lessons if they wanted to participate in other extracurricular activities, such as youth soccer or 4-H.
Each child made it — the two boys stopped after five years, but the three girls went on to more. Today, with the children grown and 13 grandchildren around, family gatherings often end up around the piano with song filling the air.
Wilson graduated from Brigham Young University after studying music and specializing in piano technology.
“I was a voice major, and I pursued it with gusto, singing all over Utah County,” Wilson said.
His time at BYU was augmented by a traditional two-year Mormon mission to England, where he joined an octet and traveled from town to town to perform.
Originally from Wyoming, Wilson went to work for a piano tuner in 1975, and when the owner retired, he bought the business. He now owns Burton and Wilson Piano — a home-based piano tuning, rebuilding and refurbishing business — in Scotts Valley.
Wilson and his staff tune 1,000 pianos each year throughout the Bay Area, including the instruments in the Flint Center in Cupertino and the San Jose Center for Performing Arts.
But it’s singing that Wilson is known for.
“I began singing at my mother’s knee,” he said.
He’s a soloist with the Temple Hill Symphony Orchestra in Oakland, and he recently sang the part of Elijah for the Santa Clara Chorale. For 26 years, Wilson has sung in “The Messiah” during the holiday season at churches from San Diego to Turlock.
“I’m not a professional singer, but I love to sing my head off,” Wilson said.
This year, Wilson will perform with his church, the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints in Santa Cruz, in a free Christmas choir show, “Christmas Bells are Ringing,” on Dec. 6.
Wilson has a solo, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” and a duet with his daughter Megan Roos, also a Scotts Valley resident.
The 50-person choir is made up of people from all over the county and will include a bell choir for the first time.
Local performers include organist Debbie Hencke from Bonny Doon; San Lorenzo Valley residents Elizabeth Blomquist, Leona Murphy and Eric Leetham; and Lizz Anderson, the owner of Musical Me and a former member of the San Francisco Opera. The director, Ruth Kasper, is a Santa Cruz Chorale member.
Wilson said the Mormon church has seven “stakes,” or congregations, in the county, and each has between 400 and 600 attendees.
“It’s amazing that out of these mountains, they’ve really pulled out some fantastic singers for this production,” he said.
At a glance
• WHAT: “Christmas Bells are Ringing”
• WHEN: 7 p.m. Dec. 6
• WHERE: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 220 Elk St., in Santa Cruz (off the Morrissey exit)
• COST: Free; canned food donations for Second Harvest Food Bank are accepted
