Spring concert a mixed bag

Like an early bird, the Arizona Western College Early Spring Choral Concert chimes in next week, and despite arriving before the vernal equinox, it is certain to delight audiences with its melodic tones, its organizer assured.

Choral and vocal music professor Chuck Smalley said he always schedules this performance in mid-semester to take advantage of one of his choir's membership. The Yuma Choral, comprised of 50 members, including 15 winter visitors who just love to sing, often depart soon after.

"It's a real mixed bag of people," Smalley said. "But winter visitors add maturity to the group and bring a different spirit because they have a different outlook since they come from across the U.S. and Canada."

The Early Spring Choral Concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. March 6 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 16th Street and 14th Avenue. A donation of $5 is requested, as it goes back to students in the form of scholarships for tuition. Those unable to afford a donation are still welcome. Smalley said that St. Paul's has a particularly enchanting setting.

"The church has beautiful acoustics, and the choirs sound much better there than anywhere, and it always surprises them too."

The Yuma Choral, who actually close the concert, will showcase John Ritter's "Distant Land" written in 1990 just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, "Music's Echo" as well as "There is Balm in Gilead," featuring soloist Deltrina Grimes, soprano.

Yet opening the performance will be the AWC Chamber Singers, a smaller ensemble of 30, who are an audition group, Smalley said. This choir will perform two madrigals, pieces originally written for one voice in parts: soprano, alto, tenor and bass, he said.

Smalley said he arranged music for a "beautiful Nicaraguan folk song" and the interesting thing about it is that half the choir is Hispanic, and when they perform the piece they sound like a Nicaraguan choir.

"We did a concert last Christmas and a Hispanic woman came up to me and said the Spanish was perfect," Smalley said. "I was very flattered and would hope if we were singing in Italian or German, people would say the same thing."

He said he especially enjoys performing in foreign languages, even if the choir seems to "fight it." The choir also performs pieces from the "Native American Songs" collection that he called difficult and dissonant, but so unusual they really stand out. In addition, there will be two student soloists, Rebecca Brown and Jaime Inda.

"We're lucky to get them because they have such gorgeous voices," Smalley said.

Inda, 21, a voice major sophomore who wants to go into recording, said he's really excited about the concert because in class they concentrate on learning the pieces. While performing, however, the choir tries to touch an audience's emotions through the music.

Inda said the piece, "The Lonely," on which he solos, is an odd but really beautiful selection.

"Once it begins to flow you understand it, and then it really has more meaning for me," Inda said. "I hope we can fill up the church and everyone enjoys the music because I just love watching their faces react, even when some people cry."

Smalley praised the Chamber Singers for their reliability, hard work and maturity.

"Whenever you find kids like that, it brings the level of the whole group way up."

--
William Roller can be reached at wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.