Pictured is Laura Enslin.
(Oneida, NY – March 2015) The Oneida Area Civic Chorale will present “The Great American Songbook” on Saturday March 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday March 15 at 4 p.m. at the Kallet Civic Center, 159 Main St. in Oneida.
The 100-voice community chorus will perform classic standards by Gershwin, Porter and more, and will be joined by soloist Laura Enslin of Syracuse. The cabaret-style concerts will be directed by Kimberly Nethaway of Rome and accompanied on piano by Heather O’Connell, Oneida, and Bernadette VanValkenburg, Sherrill, and on bass by Gary Williams of Rome. Amanda Yeoman Oneida will provide flute accompaniment.
Refreshments and a cash bar will be available.
The “Great American Songbook,” sometimes referred to as “American Standards” is the uniquely American collection of popular music from Broadway and Hollywood musicals prevalent from the 1920s to 1960s. Familiar composers include George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, and Richard Rodgers. Singers include Frank Sinatra, Al Jolson, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme and so many others. This timeless music offered hope of better days during the Great Depression, built morale during two world wars, helped build social bridges within our culture, and whistled beside us during economic growth. Since the late 20th century, there has been renewed interest in the Songbook, with performances and recordings by artists generally considered part of the rock and pop music scene. In addition, various jazz artists continue to perform these songs.
The OACC’s tribute to the Songbook begins with the George and Ira Gershwin favorite, “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” and continues with Harry Warren’s “Lullaby of Broadway” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo” performed by the women of the Chorale.
The men of the Chorale will present the Lerner and Loewe classic “Get Me to the Church on Time” from My Fair Lady, and then rejoin the women for “Anything You Can Do,” Irving Berlin’s lovers‘duel from Annie Get Your Gun.
Tenor Don Drake of West Winfield will solo on George David Weiss’s “What a Wonderful World,” the popular classic made famous by the late, great Louis Armstrong.
Other numbers include Bart Howard’s “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Tenderly” by Walter Gross, considered by many to be one of the most popular ballads found in the Great American Songbook. The audience will be invited to participate in a sing-a-long of favorite classics.
Guest soloist Laura Enslin will join the Chorale on several songs, including Hoagy Carmichael’s “Skylark,” Gershwin’s “Summertime” and a Cole Porter medley.
Enslin, an accomplished performer and music teacher from Syracuse is an instructor of music at the Syracuse University Setnor School of Music. As a soprano, she is described as a “perfect vessel of beautiful singing” (The Buffalo News) and has been singled out for her “plush, velvety voice and unfailing sensitivity” (Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle). Recent engagements include the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, where “her dramatic renderings elicited bravos and cheers from the audience” (The Post-Standard); Syracuse Opera; Springfield Symphony; Lake Placid Sinfonietta; Onondaga Civic Symphony Orchestra; and Syracuse University Brass Ensemble. She also performs regularly with Treehouse Musicians, an experimental, mixed-genre chamber ensemble of which she is a founding member.
An active soloist, Enslin has presented chamber and orchestral music by Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Mahler, and Villa-Lobos, to name a few. Operatic and stage roles include Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Adel (Die Fledermaus), Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Guinevere (Camelot). A champion of new music, she has premiered numerous pieces for the Society of New Music and the Commission Project, as well as special music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Robert Ward. Enslin serves on the voice faculty of SU’s musical theater program and has taught voice at Nazareth College and at the Eastman School of Music, where she earned a master’s degree in voice performance. At the concerts, Enslin will perform a set of solos including Leonard Bernstein’s “Dream With Me” from Peter Pan, “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” by Duke Ellington, and “Make Someone Happy” by Jules Styne.
Enslin will be accompanied on piano by Irwin Goldberg of Manlius. Goldberg is an accompanist, conductor, and music clinician in all areas of music from classical and jazz, to rock and pop music. He earned music degrees from Ithaca College and Syracuse University and is retired from the East Syracuse Minoa school district where he conducted the choirs and taught music theory, music history, and musical theater. Goldberg has been a music consultant for the Disney Corporation, and he has played, judged, and conducted in six states, the United Kingdom, and Mexico.
Due to the limited table seating at the cabaret-style concerts, tickets must be purchased in advance. Tickets are $10 and are available from Chorale members, at W.J. Hinman Jewelers, 115 Main Street, Oneida, and by calling 697-3377.
For more information, visit www.oneidachorale.com or call 761-9701.