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| Chorale sings songs of the sea By Stacy Trevenon [ stacy@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 4:42 PM PDT Songs of the sea and other things will make up a Coastside Chorale concert Saturday evening. The concert will have a decidedly nautical theme, said singer Stephanie Ross. It takes place at 7:30 p.m. May 24 at the International Order of Odd Fellows Hall, 526 Main St., Half Moon Bay. Admission will be $10 general and $8 for students and seniors. Concert highlights include selections from the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera “HMS Pinafore” and “Five Sea Songs” by Vaughn Williams. There will also be swing tunes by Harry Warner: “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Lullabye of Broadway” and “At Last.” The animal kingdom will be saluted with whimsical short poems (“The Panther,” “The Cow” and “The Firefly”) by Ogden Nash. The chorale will also render Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” and a nod to spring, “Make Our Garden Grow,” from “Candide.” Songs will include ensemble number and solos. Pianist Michaele Benedict and guitarist James Moran will accompany the chorale, along with their partners: Benedict’s husband, cellist Charles Calvert, will play the cello part that Benedict composed for the “Pinafore” selection, and Moran’s wife Johanna Tesauro is a tenor with the chorale. (Many of the ensemble’s tenors are women, and the chorale also includes mother-son singers Valerie Kruger, a tenor, and her son Stephen, a bass.) Currently, 30 singers from teens to octogenarians, make up the chorale. The youngest, 14-year-old Ian Bent of El Granada, has sung throughout his life. Besides the chorale, he appeared recently with “Guys and Dolls” with the Coastal Theatre Conservatory. Bent’s first choral experience goes back to elementary school in La Honda. From there, a friend — the granddaughter of chorale conductor Joan McBride — introduced him to the chorale. Far from being intimidated by singing with adults, Bent relished the experience. “It’s fun,” he said. “We’re singing songs I never heard of.” He says he likes singing with the adults. “With kids, we all get to talking,” he said. “But the adults are all focused” on the music. Bent says he has no plans of becoming a singer, but has plenty of other options. “He’s a jack-of-all-trades,” said his mother, Melissa Bent. He is a member of the Mavericks swim team. An avid runner, he is a member of the Seven-Minute Mile Club at Cunha Intermediate School, where he is in the eighth grade. He is involved with animal rescue and volunteers with the Square Peg Foundation, and owns a rescued thoroughbred. And he has hopes of getting some of his young musical friends from “Guys and Dolls” into the Coastside Chorale. For information on the concert or the chorale, contact director McBride at 726-9266. |