{"id":61475,"date":"2015-04-29T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=61475"},"modified":"2015-04-26T14:45:36","modified_gmt":"2015-04-26T18:45:36","slug":"civic-chorale-to-present-give-me-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=61475","title":{"rendered":"Civic Chorale to Present \u2018Give Me Music!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2nd<\/a><\/p>\n

Shown from left are\u00a0Bernadette VanValkenburg, accompanist; Kimberly Nethaway, Director; and Heather O’Connell, accompanist.<\/em><\/p>\n

(Oneida, Rome, NY \u2013 April 2015) The Oneida Area Civic Chorale will present \u201cGive Me Music!\u201d on\u00a0Saturday May 16 at\u00a07:30 p.m.\u00a0at the First Presbyterian Church of Rome, 108 Court St., Rome, and\u00a0Sunday May 17 at\u00a04 p.m.\u00a0at the Oneida High School, Seneca St., Oneida.<\/p>\n

The concert will mark the 20th year with the OACC of Director Kimberly Nethaway and piano accompanists Heather O\u2019Connell and Bernadette VanValkenburg, and will feature a wide variety of Chorale singers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

The concert will be under the direction of Kimberly Nethaway of Rome.\u00a0 Nethaway\u2019s 20-year tenure with the Chorale began with joining the group as a singer after college, serving as the group\u2019s accompanist, substitute conductor and associate director, and then becoming the director in 1995.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

As director Nethaway has been enriched by the musical and artistic challenges she encounters, and treasures the friendships formed over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Nethaway said.<\/p>\n

Piano accompaniment for the concert will be provided by Heather O\u2019Connell of Oneida and Bernadette VanValkenburg of Sherrill, both in their 20th year as OACC accompanists. \u00a0 O\u2019Connell joined the chorale as a singer when she came to Oneida as a new music teacher.\u00a0 She then served as a substitute accompanist, and in 1995 became one of the two OACC resident accompanists.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell enjoys being part of a \u201cfamily\u201d of people of varying ages who are committed to the group because they love to sing.\u00a0 She loves to share her talent with the OACC and to work with her fellow accompanist and director who have also become good friends.\u00a0 Belonging to the OACC is part of the philosophy that O\u2019Connell shares with Friedrich Nietzsche: \u00a0\u201cWithout music, life would be a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bernadette VanValkenburg was the Chorale\u2019s first accompanist when it began in the fall of 1967.\u00a0 At the time, she was a senior at Oneida High School, and soon left for college.\u00a0 Upon her graduation, she sang and played for the Chorale from time to time, and became a resident accompanist in 1995.<\/p>\n

VanValkenburg enjoys playing for the choir, and likes the fact that Nethaway sets a high bar for excellence with innovative and challenging programs.\u00a0She has made many good friends in her OACC years, and sadi, \u201cThe constant goal of a high level of musicianship and expression to bring a composer\u2019s score to life has resulted in twenty years of great choral singing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musical selections for the concert will range from the pop hit \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water,\u201d\u00a0by Paul Simon, to a Mark Hayes jazz arrangement of traditional spirituals titled \u201cSwingin\u2018 With the Saints,\u201d to \u201cA Red, Red, Rose,\u201d a Robert Burns ballad set to music by James Mulholland and featuring the flute of Amanda Yeoman.<\/p>\n

Yeoman will also play on \u201cInto the West\u201d from the film Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.\u00a0 The crowd-pleasing \u201cAlexander\u2019s Ragtime Band\u201d by Irving Berlin will be performed, as well as the concert\u2019s title number, \u201cGive Me Music!\u201d the 2012 OACC-commissioned piece by Amy F. Bernon.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell and VanValkenburg will provide special four-hand accompaniment for \u201cHow Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place\u201d from Brahms\u2019 Requiem and Aaron Copland\u2019s \u201cStomp Your Foot\u201d from The Tender Land.<\/p>\n

The concert will feature the world-premiere of \u201cHow Can I Keep from Singing?\u201d by Samuel Pellman, commissioned by the Chorale \u201cin honor of 20 seasons of music with pianists O\u2019Connell and VanValkenburg and Director Nethaway.\u201d<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Pellman is also the author of An Introduction to the Creation of Electroacoustic Music, a widely-used textbook.<\/p>\n

Kaleigh Watkins of Hamilton Central School, this year\u2019s recipient of the OACC Senior Scholarship, will perform at the\u00a0May 17\u00a0concert.\u00a0 Watkins will sing \u201cSure On This Shining Night\u201d by Samuel Barber.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Tickets will also be available at the door.<\/p>\n

Both venues are handicapped-accessible.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit\u00a0www.oneidachorale.com<\/a>,\u00a0find us on Facebook, or call 761-9701.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shown from left are\u00a0Bernadette VanValkenburg, accompanist; Kimberly Nethaway, Director; and Heather O’Connell, accompanist. (Oneida, Rome, NY \u2013 April 2015) The Oneida Area Civic Chorale will present \u201cGive Me Music!\u201d on\u00a0Saturday May 16 at\u00a07:30 p.m.\u00a0at the First Presbyterian Church of Rome, 108 Court St., Rome, and\u00a0Sunday May 17 at\u00a04 p.m.\u00a0at the Oneida High School, Seneca St., […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-entertainment","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}