Capital Region Performance Gallery

by Dick Frantzreb

The summer months are a desert for choral singing. Energy spent from the effort devoted to their spring concerts and resting for the discipline of preparing fall and holiday concerts, most choral organizations go dormant. Not so The Woodland Chamber Singers who presented, not just a concert but a concert series here in early July. And with a title of “75 Years of Broadway” who could resist? Broadway tunes are arguably our culture’s most beloved melodies.

I attended Friday’s opening night concert, held in the Woodland Christian School Performing Arts Center. I believe this will be WCS’ new “home,” and it is an excellent facility for a concert. The PAC was completed in 2021, and with flexible seating (floor and raked), it can accommodate audiences of 400 or more in comfortable chairs.

Promptly at 7:00 p.m., the chorus entered the darkened stage and took their widely-spaced seats on 3 levels of risers. All were dressed in black: the women in sparkly tops and long dresses; the men in tuxedos. They represented a mix of ages, 33 singers almost evenly balanced between men and women.

The lights went up and Board President, Ruth Miller welcomed the audience, gave a preview of the program and introduced Artistic Director Lenore Heinson and Accompanist Lori Jarvey, both of whom entered to applause and took their places on the stage.

(Click here to open the program in a new window.)

As I listened to the first two medleys ─ music from Brigadoon and My Fair Lady, it occurred to me how pleasant it was to be listening to music that is essentially the soundtrack of your life (at least for those of us over a certain age). I wrote in my notes that it was “happy music from happy people.”

I noted the pure sound from the sopranos at the beginning of the Brigadoon medley, but I heard a good ensemble sound throughout. The chorus were singing from scores, but soloist Matt Franck gave his strong, confident, expressive solo from memory. Then in the My Fair Lady medley, I got the impression ─ call it my imagination, if you will ─ that they were presenting this familiar music with respect for how important is was to those of us in the audience. They were familiar arrangements with familiar styling.

The West Side Story medley had some diversity of presentation. In “Tonight” from the full chorus, I noted some excellent harmonies. Then a small group of 14 performed (from memory) a sophisticated and stirring arrangement of “Somewhere.” This was followed by a very expressive presentation of “Maria” from Ryan Gordon-Morgan, with Director Heinson at the piano.

What followed was a suite of 5 solos (all accompanied by Heinson):

•  Spencer Alexander performed the comic “C’est Moi” from Camelot with great confidence, good pitch and a strong voice ─ all to the delight of the audience.
•  Barbara Mills gave a contrasting, subdued presentation of “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music. I felt that her delivery of the lyrics was especially effective, and at one point her technique made me think it might be considered parlando. In any event, her listenable voice gave the right mood for the piece.
•  As Daniel Reagin was singing “Johanna” from Sweeney Todd, it occurred to me what a tough song it was to sing. Challenges notwithstanding, I felt that Daniel gave a solid performance with good vocal control.
•  Next was guest soloist Katie Carlson Cartwright performing every soprano’s favorite song, “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess. Displaying what was clearly a trained, experienced solo voice, Katie delivered the true feeling of the piece with a strong, pure tone ─ and a beautiful cadence at the end.

Programming the next piece, “Anthem” from Chess, was the stroke of brilliance in this concert. We are all profoundly concerned as we follow the war in Ukraine, and the concert program notes explained that this piece is “Dedicated to the people of Ukraine with hope for a future of freedom and prosperity.” (Be sure to click here for the lyrics.)

•  Michael Frasier began “Anthem” in an understated way, including a few moments of what seemed to me as singing sotto voce. Then he unleashed a powerful voice, concluding in a moving, sustained final note. Indeed, the audience had been moved, and they responded with unusually enthusiastic applause.

A small ensemble of 6 (see the program) followed with “For Good” from Wicked. They performed an arrangement with difficult harmonies and did so from memory. And it was all highlighted by the two singers who carried the parts of Elphaba and Glinda, emphasizing the sentiment in the song by holding hands as it concluded.

Of all the music presented tonight, I think everyone (audience and singers) had the most fun with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from the 2021 animated comedy, Encanto. The chorus was on the risers singing from scores, but the spirit of the song was carried by the 4 singers (without music) who were out front. (I’m not sure which 4 of the 6 listed in the program were in this group.) They acted out the music, having great fun with it, and both quartet and chorus performed with what felt like the most energy in the concert to that point.

With Les Misérables beloved by so many of us, it was satisfying to see many of its songs included in the medley that came next on the program. I thought that the chorus did an excellent job articulating the rapid flood of lyrics in “At the End of the Day.” Then the solo of “I Dreamed a Dream” was delivered with a pleasant tone that one could never get tired of listening to. And it was an honest presentation of a deeply emotional sentiment. In “Castle on a Cloud,” I loved the harmony with which it was performed ─ and the artistic balance between the men’s and women’s parts.

The next selection was “Someday” from the 1996 Disney animated movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie, so I didn’t recognize this music, but it was an excellent choice for tonight’s program. It’s a song full of passion, and the chorus really committed themselves to it and sang it with heart. It was during this selection that I was acutely aware of how Lenore Heinson had been giving strong direction and thoughtful attention to the dynamics of each piece the chorus performed.

Part one of tonight’s big finish saw Katie Carlson Cartwright return to sing the iconic “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel, with the chorus giving her a backing that made us in the audience feel the emotional impact of the piece. I call it “iconic” because I experienced the 1956 movie version of this show when I was a child. I can still see Claramae Turner’s (Aunt Nettie’s) face fill the screen of the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The goosebumps weren’t over because the chorus transitioned into another moving piece, “Climb Every Mountain” from The Sound of Music. It was a big arrangement, sung with great energy that made it the perfect concert finale.

As I went to my car after this evening of so much familiar music (and a good bit of wonderful unfamiliar music), I felt gratitude for the institution of the community chorus. Woodland is a city of not much more than 60,000 people. But in any community that size there are a lot of good singers, and their lives are enriched by the opportunity to refine and display their talent ─ not to mention the enriched lives of their audiences. But the Woodland experience is special because they have the unusual gift of a chorus led by an experienced and inspirational director in the person of Lenore Heinson, backed up by a talented accompanist, Lori Jarvey, who has been with The Woodland Chamber Singers since 2004.

One more thought. It’s unusual for a community chorus to have so many solo singers in a concert. I counted at least 7, all of them so fortunate to get the exposure to performing solo in public and the opportunity to learn to sing with confidence. I chatted briefly with one chorus member who shared that Heinson was often known to use this phrase with soloists, “Four measures to courage.” Self-confidence and the joy of making music in a group: just a couple of the benefits of a community chorus, of which The Woodland Chamber Singers is a shining example.

Follow The Woodland Chamber Singers through their website:  www.woodlandsingers.org.