BC at the Dodger Game!

Georgia filed this report on the BC fundraising trip to Dodger Stadium....

"Last Saturday (June 21), members of the Chorale and their guests enjoyed an afternoon at the ballpark as a fundraiser for the Burbank Chorale. The group of 50 arrived at Dodger Stadium on that very hot afternoon to watch the Dodgers play the Cleveland Indians and to sing some tunes to help publicize the upcoming release of Universal Pictures' feature film MAMMA MIA. We joined with members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles and sang portions of MAMMA MIA, DANCING QUEEN, and TAKE A CHANCE ON ME. Fans in the stands around us joined in the fun, and we also sang a few impromptu "Happy Birthdays" along the way.

The Dodgers' may have lost the game in the 11th inning, but the Burbank Chorale won an afternoon of fun and raised $1,000 for the Chorale in the process. Thanks to everybody who participated!"

And thanks to you, Georgia, for organizing this event so well!

Singing the Fauré Requiem

So our Spring Concert took place last weekend at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church, a new venue for us, and an impressive one with its striking modern architecture and unusual stain-glassed windows. We started with our Morely and Arcadelt madrigals and sang them with a lot of spirit and rhythmic verve, or so it seemed to me. And the ladies and Colburn Children's Choir sang their Rachmaninoff piece, The Angel, well, angelically. The Song I Sing was a lively finish for the Chorale's first half; the audience certainly seemed to like the unusual mixture of pop, jazz, rap and Handel contained in the arrangement. Pop, jazz, rap and Handel--fun now and then, but for obvious health reasons I wouldn't take that mixture too often.

The Colburn choir followed with a beautiful set of folk and contemporary pieces, singing with precision and a truly lovely blend of treble voices, all showing Misha's loving hand as their director.

In the second half the Chorale turned to Fauré, with the orchestra in hand and with our own John Tveit at the church's towering new pipe organ. The Cantique is, of course, a lovely piece, a glorious little chestnut written by a teenage composer (and fantastically labelled "Op. 11" by a publisher who wanted Fauré to seem more experienced). If our French wasn't "native," our love of the music, I'm confident, more than made up for it. We all love singing the piece and I know that must have shown through.

Then came the Requiem. I first encountered the Fauré Requiem in high school when I had the experience of singing the Sanctus, the third section of the mass, with its flowing lines that lead up to those mighty "Hosannas." That led me to buy a recording, and I have listened to it from time to time with much pleasure over the years.

But occasional listening is really nothing compared to the experience of learning, singing and living with this masterpiece over several months. It's one of those special pieces, I think, in which the composer was simply inspired from start to finish--inspired to write beautiful and inventive harmonies, haunting and ravishing melodies, and to capture the text with absolute perfection. Consider the perfectly brooding "Requiem aeternam" that, at the very start, seems to bring us to death's doorstep, leading us right into a lovely but elegiac Kyrie. Then comes the whispering, almost ghost-like alto and tenor duet in the Offertory, with harmonies that sound distinctly modern yet timeless. Then the above-mentioned Sanctus momentarily raises the spirit and leads to the famous Pie Jesu that mixes loveliness and solemnity in appropriately equal proportions.

Next is my personal favorite, the Agnus Dei section; I wonder how many feel the same. It seems to be a whole mass in itself, with its beloved and beautiful obbligato intro, its melodic main theme (I'm happy that the tenors got it) and the ensuing chromaticism in which Fauré explores the depths of the text--all ending with that obbligato theme. Then, in the Libera Me, we seek liberation from death in a deep baritone, leading to Fauré's "touch" of a Dies Irae section with its driving beat and insistent plea. Finally, using a text from a liturgical prayer not found in the standard Requiem Mass, Fauré creates what seems to be the perfect "stairway to heaven." With its steady, flowing arpeggios, and its most gentle yet slightly mysterious melody, it seems to say, "if you've gotta go, this is your exit music, this is what angels actually sound like when they sing you to final sleep."

So that's a mouthful, and apologies for any excess. But to me there's nothing like this piece. It's a genre to itself. Innovative and accessible, gentle and powerful, I feel sure that it moved all of us one way or another. I personally thank our maestro (and my fellow choir members) for the unforgettable experience of communing with it over the course of four months! And a THANKS to all those who worked so hard to make the concert turn out well. On to Mozart and Handel for Christmas!

John Lakovits

John Lakovits is one of our most avid choral singing enthusiasts, currently singing in two choirs, ours and one led by former Burbank Chorale Music Director, Frank Basile. I recall him making a very quick exit after our Dorothy Chandler performance, trying hard not to be late for his second gig of the evening. Interestingly, John manages to sing first tenor in our choir and bass in the other one. I guess it follows that he could easily sing baritone in a third! He tells us:

I was born in New York. My family and I moved to Colorado when I was 7. I grew up there, then moved to Southern California in 1980 with hopes of becoming a screenwriter. Since then I have worked in a variety of fields including journalism, human resources, office support, marketing, public relations, escrow, to name a few. I also have a background in improvisational comedy, which I still occasionally teach. My last nine years have been spent working as an escrow officer. As the mortgage/banking industry is in a bit of slump -- pardon my understatement -- I am now in the process of transitioning into another field.

Though I have no professional training I have sung in several choirs in my life, most recently—before Burbank—with a small group back in the early 90's called the Ad Hoc Chorale run by one Frank Basile whom I believe some of you are familiar with. I was drafted into Frank's choir by Anita Van Tellingen. In 2006, Anita suggested I feed my current spiritual and creative longing by checking out the Burbank Chorale, which she had been a part of. I immediately felt I was home my first night. Needing even more, last summer I joined Frank's choir, the Friends of Music, at St. Bedes in Mar Vista.

I appreciate the learning experience I have had with Burbank Chorale so far. For somebody who has no formal education in music it's a true joy to be able work with a musical director like Misha. His patience and sense of humor make each rehearsal something to look forward to. His style of directing is also an education in itself. I used to think a 5th was something you purchased form the liquor isle at the market. Misha has taught me otherwise. The fact that he not only directs us but adds to our musical knowledge is one of the things I like best about being a part of the Chorale.

Some of you met my dear friend and creative partner, Toni Attell, at Glen and Amy's soirée last summer. She and I created a live show that is based on the Golden Age of Radio, Television and Film. It's similar to Vaudeville with our own updated twist. Right now we are performing at retirement communities, but are working on selling a similar, more educational version, to the school system. Since a part of our show includes music, I have learned how to capture, edit and burn music, so we don't have to pay somebody else to do it for us.

A Few Words on Arcadelt

Now that we've rounded out our Spring Concert madrigal selection with Il bianco e dolce cigno I thought a few words were in order about its composer, Jacques (a/k/a Jacob) Arcadelt. Though his name is not exactly a household word, he was a rather popular and influential composer in Renaissance Italy and France. Arcadelt was born around 1500 in Holland (though some sources describe him as French or Franco-Flemish). He worked for many years in Italy, where he served as choirmaster of the Papal boys' choir at St. Peters. He spent the later years of his life in France in service of Cardinal Charles of Lorraine, the Duke of Guise. Though he wrote sacred music, he is most significant as a writer of madrigals. He published numerous books of madrigals in both countries and both languages. His work was important and influential because he contributed to the growth of the madrigal in Italy and France as a "serious" alternative to sacred choral music. According to Goldberg Magazine (an early music publication):

"He was one of those distinguished musicians of the Netherlands, who by their efforts to advance their art in Italy, ...helped to lay the foundations of the great Italian [madrigal] school."

For 99 cents, Itunes has a nice recording of Il bianco e dolce cigno by the King's Singers. It's on a King's Singers album called The Madrigal History Tour (which also has a French chansons by Arcadelt).

Bach at Disney Hall

This past Sunday, Kyrian, Brad and I, and my wife, Karen, had the special pleasure of hearing the B Minor Mass at Disney Hall. The choir was a trimmed-down version of the Los Angeles Master Chorale (maybe 50 singers) and the orchestra was L.A.'s resident baroque ensemble, the Musica Angelica Baroque. Our group sat in the last row of the second to last balcony, affording us a fine panorama of Frank Gehry's masterpiece and a good spot from which to hear the refined, beautiful blend of the chamber orchestra and choir. Brad and I, who like to turn our stereos up loud, had the small complaint that the sound could have been louder, as it would have been if the the LAMC had been at full strength. But we agreed that with a larger choir, we could not have heard the counterpuntal voicing so perfectly. And indeed the smaller forces (still large by Bach's standards) enabled conductor Grant Gershon to achieve what the LA Times review praised as "clarity of line, texture and text," not to mention that special dance-like quality so essential to good baroque performance. All in all, the performance showed the strong influence of Gardiner and other leaders of the "period performance" movement. Brad noted, subtley, that the performance, though excellent and refined, may have lacked a touch of abandon, of "letting it rip" (my words).

But those are quibbles. After all, we weren't there to review a performance. We were there to revel in Bach's amazing music, and so we did. Kyrian and I found ourselves conducting from the balcony during the allegros and holding our breath during the piano sections. And we came away happier than ever that we could look forward to singing ourselves on Tuesday night!

John Tveit, accompanist extraordinaire

Next up in this monthly column is our very own accompanist extraordinaire, John Tveit. We see him up there at the piano, working hard for us at every rehearsal, reading those tricky harmonies by Bernstein and Faure, serving as our temporary baroque orchestra, and then coming through for us at our concerts. I asked John to tell us how it all got started, and he sent in this delightful piece describing his early obsession with the piano:

“I come from a fairly unmusical family, although my father loved to sing and had a very good lyric tenor voice. My earliest exposure to music came through recordings of classics that we had at home, and through the music I heard in church on Sundays. I've never been much of a singer myself, but I have always been around choral music, and I've loved it since I was very young. At one point, one of my teachers noticed that I often drew pictures of pianos, and mentioned this to my parents, with the not-so-subtle suggestion that they provide me with one. They wouldn't. Nevertheless, it became obvious that I had become obsessed; I fantasized about pianos, I dreamt about pianos - the very sight of a piano was a thrill. I had to play; it was a compulsion stronger than any other I'd ever had. I took to going around the neighborhood, knocking on the doors of those that I knew who did have piano, asking to come in and play theirs. Often, these people weren't even known to me, but the urge to play overrode any shyness I might have had about inviting myself in. The fact that I didn't know HOW to play didn't matter; just having my hands on a keyboard was everything that I wanted. There was something magical about pressing a key and hearing the particular sound of a hammer striking a wire, and then ringing, bell-like on a particular pitch. Also, the fact that they could be combined; several notes could be played at once - that just opened up another whole dimension. Maybe it was magical because it seemed that there was a world of infinite possibility. Eventually, my parents heard about the visits to the piano-households. They were horrified: amused probably, but very embarrassed nonetheless. And so they relented and bought a piano for me and for my sister. Lessons soon followed, and continued on through my college years and beyond. To this day, they like to recount how I "shamed" them into making that purchase, and we all have a good laugh.

Eventually I wound up in Southern California and made my way to the Burbank Chorale; how that came to be is another story. I love playing for the group: I love the rehearsals, I love the music we do, the people in the group, working with Misha - all of it. I wouldn't have stayed so long otherwise.”

John’s a bit cryptic about just how he made his way to the Chorale. I guess we’ll have to read about that on TMZ!

By Jeremy Williams and John Tveit

Georgia Treharne, Membership Director

Anyone who has heard her fine solos won’t be surprised to learn that Georgia is not a newcomer to singing. Originally from Sacramento, she tell us that “as soon as I could climb up on a piano stool, I insisted on banging on the keys, so my grandfather taught me to play at age 3.” She went on to sing with and accompany her school choirs through elementary, middle, and high school. She then got a B.A. in drama (with musical theatre emphasis) from California State University, Sacramento. Her favorite theatrical roles were Young Sally in Follies, Lili in Carnival and Claire DeLoone in On the Town (Bernstein, again!) Says Georgia: “I also love singing choral music. There's magic that happens when the multiple voices blend as one; there's nothing like it!” (In this, she’s, well, preaching to the choir….) When she’s not singing, serving as our membership director and making sure that we show up on time at the Dorothy Chandler, Georgia works as Manager of Administrative Services for Universal Creative, the division that builds the rides and attractions for Universal Studios Hollywood.