Shown from left are Bernadette VanValkenburg, accompanist; Kimberly Nethaway, Director; and Heather O’Connell, accompanist.
(Oneida, Rome, NY – April 2015) The Oneida Area Civic Chorale will present “Give Me Music!” on Saturday May 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Rome, 108 Court St., Rome, and Sunday May 17 at 4 p.m. at the Oneida High School, Seneca St., Oneida.
The concert will mark the 20th year with the OACC of Director Kimberly Nethaway and piano accompanists Heather O’Connell and Bernadette VanValkenburg, and will feature a wide variety of Chorale singers’ favorite musical selections from concerts spanning those 20 years. The program will include a performance by the recipient of the 2015 OACC Senior Scholarship, and a newly-commissioned piece by composer Samuel Pellman.
The concert will be under the direction of Kimberly Nethaway of Rome. Nethaway’s 20-year tenure with the Chorale began with joining the group as a singer after college, serving as the group’s accompanist, substitute conductor and associate director, and then becoming the director in 1995. She believes in the importance of an adult community chorus, and continues to support the OACC to keep it a vibrant source of music in our region.
As director Nethaway has been enriched by the musical and artistic challenges she encounters, and treasures the friendships formed over the years.
“I realize that this is a gem of an organization, and I sincerely hope the OACC continues to enjoy success in our community for years to come,” Nethaway said.
Piano accompaniment for the concert will be provided by Heather O’Connell of Oneida and Bernadette VanValkenburg of Sherrill, both in their 20th year as OACC accompanists. O’Connell joined the chorale as a singer when she came to Oneida as a new music teacher. She then served as a substitute accompanist, and in 1995 became one of the two OACC resident accompanists.
O’Connell enjoys being part of a “family” of people of varying ages who are committed to the group because they love to sing. She loves to share her talent with the OACC and to work with her fellow accompanist and director who have also become good friends. Belonging to the OACC is part of the philosophy that O’Connell shares with Friedrich Nietzsche: “Without music, life would be a mistake.”
Bernadette VanValkenburg was the Chorale’s first accompanist when it began in the fall of 1967. At the time, she was a senior at Oneida High School, and soon left for college. Upon her graduation, she sang and played for the Chorale from time to time, and became a resident accompanist in 1995.
VanValkenburg enjoys playing for the choir, and likes the fact that Nethaway sets a high bar for excellence with innovative and challenging programs. She has made many good friends in her OACC years, and sadi, “The constant goal of a high level of musicianship and expression to bring a composer’s score to life has resulted in twenty years of great choral singing.”
Musical selections for the concert will range from the pop hit “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” by Paul Simon, to a Mark Hayes jazz arrangement of traditional spirituals titled “Swingin‘ With the Saints,” to “A Red, Red, Rose,” a Robert Burns ballad set to music by James Mulholland and featuring the flute of Amanda Yeoman.
Yeoman will also play on “Into the West” from the film Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The crowd-pleasing “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” by Irving Berlin will be performed, as well as the concert’s title number, “Give Me Music!” the 2012 OACC-commissioned piece by Amy F. Bernon.
O’Connell and VanValkenburg will provide special four-hand accompaniment for “How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place” from Brahms’ Requiem and Aaron Copland’s “Stomp Your Foot” from The Tender Land.
The concert will feature the world-premiere of “How Can I Keep from Singing?” by Samuel Pellman, commissioned by the Chorale “in honor of 20 seasons of music with pianists O’Connell and VanValkenburg and Director Nethaway.”
Composer Samuel Pellman teaches music theory and composition at Hamilton College, in Clinton and is co-director of its Studio for Transmedia Arts and Related Studies (STARS).
He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where he studied composition with David Cope, and an M.F.A. and D.M.A. from Cornell University, where he studied with Karel Husa and Robert Palmer.
Many of Pellman works can be heard on recordings by the Musical Heritage Society, Move Records, and Innova Recordings. Recently his music has been presented at festivals and conferences in Melbourne, Paris, Basel, Vienna, Montreal, New York City, Beijing, Capetown, Buenos Aires, Hsinchu and Perth.
Pellman is also the author of An Introduction to the Creation of Electroacoustic Music, a widely-used textbook.
Kaleigh Watkins of Hamilton Central School, this year’s recipient of the OACC Senior Scholarship, will perform at the May 17 concert. Watkins will sing “Sure On This Shining Night” by Samuel Barber.
Tickets for the concerts are $10 and are available from Chorale members, at W.J. Hinman Jewelers, 115 Main St., Oneida, or by calling Beth at 697-3377.
Tickets will also be available at the door.
Both venues are handicapped-accessible.
For more information, visit www.oneidachorale.com, find us on Facebook, or call 761-9701.