When a Father Sings with His Son

Even If Their Last Name is Not Pavarotti

More than a decade ago, I uploaded a short clip to YouTube. It was a segment from a BBC documentary, Pavarotti: A Life in Seven Arias, showing Luciano Pavarotti and his father, Fernando, singing César Franck’s Panis Angelicus together in the Modena Cathedral in 1978. It amazes me that this video has been viewed over 1.4 million times on my YouTube channel. Here is the link to that Youtube video:

After watching the Pavarottis, it is easy to see why it has so many views. The setting is obviously sacred, the tone is reverent, and the moment between father and son is moving. Their iconic and potent voices blend beautifully as they offer a joint musical offering.

This past Easter Sunday, I had the joy of singing with my ninth-grade son, Eli, during the service at Church of the Redeemer. As choir director, I had selected a paired section from Handel’s Messiah: the reflective “O Death, Where is Thy Sting?” followed by the triumphant chorus “But Thanks Be to God.” These two pieces belong together both musically and theologically, and they seemed a fitting proclamation for Resurrection Sunday to begin our service.

I continue to be so pleased with our church choir. This faithful group of youth and adult voices brings more musicality, attentiveness, and joy to worship than many would expect from a volunteer ensemble. They sing with gusto and joy, and it is great fun to rehearse with them each week.

Any church musician will likely agree that serving in church music often means your family ends up serving with you along the way, sometimes in unexpected ways. Over the years, Eli has been a dependable soloist when I needed one. But this was the first time I remember the two of us singing a duet together (Unless I’m forgetting). Standing beside him and proclaiming the resurrection through music was a special joy. Here’s the video clip from Easter Sunday 2025:

Of course, we Richeys are nowhere close to the Pavarottis. But still, it was fun to reflect on the joy of singing with my son on Easter and think how fun it would be to sing with him again when I am old like Fernando Pavarotti was with his son Luciano. Hopefully, he will have greater opportunities to sing and serve the church through song in the coming years.