CHARLENE PEYTON'S LOVE FOR GOSPEL SHINES THROUGH

A Baptist minister's daughter, Charlene Peyton makes no secret of her love for gospel music. It shines through in everything she plays.

Even her music students at Clippard Elementary School know the difference between "Farmer in the Dell" played Peyton-style and the same song played the usual way.

"Sometimes a substitute has to teach my class," Peyton said. "When I come back, the kids say, `Mrs. Peyton, she didn't know how to play the piano!' I tell them that she did."

Now Cape Girardeau's popular teacher and performer is moving after 20 years of working in the community. This fall, she will begin a job at a public high school in Tacoma, Wash., but not before a series of farewell concerts.

The first will be at 7 p.m. Monday at the band shell in Capaha Park. Peyton will perform during a break in the special Cape Girardeau Municipal Band concert on Memorial Day. Her selections will include "Give Me Jesus" and a patriotic melody of her own composition.

Peyton started playing piano by ear at age 5. She went on to become a voice major at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif., and to get her master's in music education from Southeast Missouri State University.

But her playing is basically the same as that 5-year-old girl's whose legs dangled from the piano bench. She hears a song, makes revisions and plays it her way.

Peyton's skill has made her a popular performer in West Coast churches, where she tours each summer. She said she is glad to see the resurgence in gospel's popularity.

"But I was singing those songs when they weren't popular," she said.

Her move to Washington was unexpected, Peyton said. She and her husband, Kenneth, love Cape Girardeau, but a December visit to the West Coast convinced them to leave.

"I always say the Lord moves me," Peyton said. "He's telling me to go now.

"I've been so excited about the challenges I'm going to face, I haven't had much time to think about what I'll miss. But I'll miss my friends and the intimacy people have here. I'll miss the smallness of it. And I'll miss my kids."

Monday's concert, with Jay Landers as master of ceremonies, is being given in conjunction with the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. The municipal band will perform patriotic marches, a Broadway musical medley, a Big Band medley and a medley of anthems from all five branches of the military.

The band's 70th regular season will be June 5-Aug. 14, with performances at 8 p.m. each Wednesday in Capaha Park.

"We always have special guest performers," band director Ron Nall said. "In this case, Charlene is leaving Cape, and we wanted the community to catch her one more time."

The community will have two other opportunities to see Peyton before her departure. She plans to give a solo performance at 7 p.m. June 22 at Centenary United Methodist Church. She will perform with the trio Heartsong at 7 p.m. June 29 at Lynwood Baptist Church.