History & Mystery of the "Great" Mass

Mambo Italiano: Great food, entertainment & shopping!!!

Every year, the Seattle Choral Company holds a fund-raising auction which includes both a live and silent auction, dinner and drinks, and a performance/variety show along a chosen theme. To say this is an important event for the choir is an understatement as it raises a significant amount of the SCC's operating budget for the year. Simply put, if this event isn't a success, the choir could be in the proverbial weeds. This year, that is more true than ever as the recession has hit and hurt arts organizations just it has banks, lenders and borrowers, etc etc.

The good news, however, is that the choir has an amazing event in the works, which will hopefully meet the challenge and allow the SCC to engage wholly in next year's fantastic season, which starts in the fall!

This fundraiser is being held on May 9, 2009, at the Bellevue Hyatt Regency. The theme of this year's event is "Mambo Italiano" and the show will include such Italian-American classics as Volare, Eh Cumpari, Bouna Sera, That's Amore, and of course, Mambo Italiano itself. Members of the choir will be performing in both ensemble and smaller groupings, complete with costumes and staging. If you're not careful, you may be dragged into the performance! In addition, a fantastic live jazz combo will accompany the singers as well as perform their own set. Then of course comes the amazing food and of course, desserts; Chianti steak with artichoke risotto and broccolini as well as a vegetarian entree of ratatouille stuffed zucchini canoes with marinara sauce. Yum!

To my mind, the dinner and performance is worth the price of admission itself, but then you have the auction as well!  

The fantastic list of items in the auction run the gamut - from coupons to local businesses to a stocked wine cellar to jewelry and art to various services and week-long vacations all around the country. For the record, click here for more information about the auction, what's available, how you can contribute, and registration to attend. It's a fantastic social event with well over a hundred attendees from all around the region - a can't miss event! 

Hope to see you there!

Sharing a Stage With Marvin Hamlisch

Can you name the two people who have won the an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, a Tony, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama? One is Richard Rogers (think Rogers and Hammerstein). The other is none other Marvin Hamlisch, with whom the Seattle Choral Company had the distinct pleasure of performing a series of Christmas Pops concerts this past holiday season. I will confess: I honestly didn’t know who Marvin Hamlisch was – by name at any rate – before this concert run. Very quickly, however, I came to realize that I had been hearing his music all my life, whether I knew it was him or not. As his wiki indicates, the man has done just about everything one can do in music. The breadth of his writing is somewhat staggering, from writing A Chorus Line, to the music for the classic film The Sting, the theme song for Late Night with David Letterman, the soundtrack from the Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me….I could go on, but you get the idea.

For this performance, Marvin was conducting the Seattle Symphony in his role as Principal Pops Conductor (a role he fills with seven other major orchestras as well). To say that working with Mr. Hamlisch was a pleasure was an understatement. And a surprising pleasure as well. When the music was first distributed to the choir, there were many a groan as the music looked …. well …. cheesy. Basically, it was a collection of Johnny Mathis-worthy Christmas chestnuts. To my thinking, these kinds of things are usually better left to the aforementioned Johnny Mathis’s of the world and not to symphonic choirs, but hey, one should be open-minded, right?

Well, thank goodness we were. Upon rehearsing the material, it became evident that the genius of the music lie in its simplicity and ability to evoke a certain spirit. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean it still wasn’t a bit cheesy, but more in a very endearing and heartwarming way. It being Christmas season, what more could one ask for, really?

Given the high level of musicianship in the choir, learning the music was relatively simple. It wasn’t until we began rehearsing with Marvin himself that we truly gained an understanding of what it was he was going for, and that was spirit. Again – fitting for the season. Rehearsals were relatively loose and a great pleasure. It very quickly become clear why Marvin was as successful as he was – very affable, easy-going, but direct and clear with what he wanted. Not to mention a great musician with an excellent touch.

The real treat came during each of the performances. Marvin’s “shtick,” if you will, was amazing. After each night’s show, I came away smiling more than the previous, even though much of the act was the same. Let me put it this way: if Marvin ever decided to run for President, it would be a landslide. He has more charm than Pres. Obama, Clinton, and Kennedy combined. Not to mention his ease with making somewhat off-color ethnic jokes in front of a relatively politically-correct audience, his skill with children, and his ability to take the simplest of remarks and make it a running joke for the evening. I also had the pleasure of riding in the elevator with him and he was just as charming and welcoming then, as well. Truly an American Treasure and a goodwill ambassador extraordinaire.

As for the SCC, as a result of Marvin’s incredible spirit, the choir was brought to a high level of performance. In my humble opinion, I will say that we met or exceeded any and all of Mr. Hamlisch’s expectations. As always, it was a pleasure to perform with the Seattle Symphony, a world class orchestra that had just been nominated for a Grammy, which was announced during the concerts. This run of performances will undoubtedly be more clearly remembered, however, for Marvin Hamlisch’s musical talents, touch, humor, and wit, as well as his ability to touch at exactly what the Christmas spirit should be.

~James

Mozart In My Mind

You've had nights like this right? Rehearsal starts with cleansing breaths and well-supported Mozartian scales. And Fred gives a mini-class in how Mozart inserted pods of music into the "Cum Sancto". And if those pods were lifted out wholesale the music would still flow as if nothing was missing. And I get it. And it looks like others are getting it too.

Then we sing the "Cum Sancto" and we basses sing measure after measure of speedy eighth-note patterns and we're doing pretty damn good. And I'm feeling all special and fantasizing that I'm leading the way and getting it all right. And wer'e about 9 measures into an 11 measure run. And BAM! Mozart grabs me with a slight syncopation and puts me on the floor! For God's sake he's been dead for centuries and here he is reaching out from the great beyond and playing with my mind. And I gotta say it's kind of fun. Humbling but fun. I just wish others could see us as we make this musical sausage.

~Ron