Vashon Island Chorale: Legacy – Imprinting a Past for a Future
$20 ($15 seniors, $5 students)
“Legacy” is both the title of the Chorale’s spring concerts on April 21 and 22 and the subject matter of the works to be presented. With a donation from longtime singer and Chorale president Jo Ann Bardeen in memory of her parents, the Chorale commissioned Giselle Wyers to compose a new major work. With various texts chosen because they highlight different aspects of the legacy that an individual can leave behind to the world, Wyers’s sumptuous, melodic, resonant, warm style is a perfect match for this theme. The Chorale’s singers are thrilled to be bringing a new work into the Vashon Island music world as part of their own history spanning 29 years of concerts.
The April concert program also commemorates other musical legacies including the Tin Pan Alley song Vashon Island Moon, with accompaniment by local ukulele players. Tunes of the Shaker religion, popular in the nineteenth century but now almost extinct, and two very different generational representations of African-American ancestral music offer occasions to reflect upon legacies.
The concerts also feature Kendall Campbell Davis, the first director of the group that became Vashon Island Chorale, She will sing in the soprano section and take the podium to direct one song. The McMurray Choir Club and the Chautauqua Elementary 5th grade choir under the direction of Erynne Smith also take the stage for a look at legacies yet-to-come.