The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

Sunbury/Norry Region

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March 13, 2013

SVYC to perform 'From the Stage'

SUNBURY — The Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale (SVYC) takes to the stage March 24 with a selection of some of the best music written for the stage, from oratorio to opera to rock ‘n roll.  The concert features music by Jacques Offenbach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Harold Arlen, Gioacchino Rossini, RIchard Rodgers, David Brunner, Irving Gordon, Felix Mendelssohn, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Queen.

The Youth Chorale performs in concert at 3 p.m. March 24 at Zion Lutheran Church, 15 S. 5th St,, Sunbury. Under the direction of Valerie Flamini Caldwell, the Youth Chorale’s three levels — Preparatory, Camerata, and Valley Singers — will present “From the Stage.”

Tickets are available at the door March 24 or online at svcmusic.org: $10 for adults, $5 for students, and children 6 and younger free. For information, call 547-0455.

The Preparatory Chorus, the youngest level of singers, will open the program with music from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and feature Jessep Caravella, a Valley Singers member from Danville.

Camerata singers will offer distinctively different stage music, performing from the 1846 oratorio “Elijah and Spiritual Musick” composed in 2010. The latter was “purchased” in an auction by 13 children’s choirs from the US, Canada, and Scotland. Thirteen premieres of this piece occurred on separate stages throughout 2010-2011 in addition to a notable performance by the Children’s Honor Choir at the 2011 national conference of the American Choral Directors Association. The quirky text was written in London by Christopher Smart during his confinement for insanity between 1759 and 1763.

The high school Valley Singers perform music from Beethoven’s only opera, “Fidelio,” singing in German. Featured are Angelina Rodkey and Riley Cellitti of Sunbury, David Wolfe of Shamokin, and Timothy Panarese of Middleburg. The Neighbors’ Chorus from La Jolie Parfumeuse, a comic opera of 1873, showcases Everett Kopp of Winfield and Kara Heim of Herndon.

One highlight of the concert is “Unforgettable,” originally made famous by Nat King Cole. This rendition brings together the Youth Chorale and their grandparents and features a duet by SVYC singer Emily Wetzel and her grandfather David Reier.  The Preparatory Chorus delights with the “Comic Duet for Two Cats” related to Rossini’s opera “Otello” with a duet by Natalie Mathews of Sunbury and Kylee Noble of Middleburg. The singers then sing of their “favorite things” from “The Sound of Music.”

Valley Singers reproduce the sound of the group Celtic Women, as they perform two works which have had worldwide success on the stage and through recordings by this Irish phenomenon. A musical memorial to those who experienced loss as a result of Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy will showcase the Camerata singers, accompanied by the youngest and oldest levels.

“Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz” featuring Aleah Spiro of Lewisburg, and “Somebody to Love” spotlighting Natasha SImeonoff of Selinsgrove and Austin Duclos of Winfield brings the concert to a close.

The SVYC, an educational outreach of the Susquehanna Valley Chorale (SVC), offers two sessions a year, fall in Lewisburg and the current winter session in Selinsgrove. It draws young singers from Williamsport to Middleburg, and from Mifflinburg to Shamokin. Nearly 70 singers in grades 2 through 12 will perform.

Exciting plans are under way for “Camp Expresso,” an innovative 2013 summer camp for young singers to be held the week of Aug. 5. In collaboration with Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority (LARA), SVYC staff will offer two levels, half-day and full day, of a vocal camp devoted to developing skills for stage singing. Hosted at Central Oak Heights, West Milton, students with singing experience from grades 3-12 are eligible to attend. Highlights will include vocal instruction, use of props and costuming, blocking and stage movement, guest artists, and a culminating performance. Tuition and activity information will be available after April 1 at www.golara.org and www.svcmusic.org.

 

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