MARGARETVILLE - The Community Chorale of the Catskills, under the direction of Richard Tucker, will present performances of its spring concert “As Time Goes By” on Friday, June 16 in Roxbury and Saturday, June 17 in Margaretville. The Chorale, comprised of residents from Delhi, Jefferson, Hobart, Stamford, Andes, Margaretville, Fleischmanns and Roxbury, will perform an eclectic mix of music featuring jazz, the timeless music of Burt Bacharach, a group of inspirational songs, and a tribute to composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lloyd Webber’s hit musical “Phantom of the Opera” closed on Broadway in April after a 35-year run, the longest running show in Broadway history. The tribute is a 14-minute medley which will include songs from many of the hit shows during his long and illustrious career.
The Chorale has delivered high quality choral programs since it was founded in 1974 to a perform a concert for the Christmas season. Tucker organized the group and that concert at the request of the Fleischmanns/Margaretville Interfaith Council and the success of the first concert in one of the member churches led to a second concert in 1975 in the Fleischmanns Methodist Church. The American bicentennial celebration in 1976 was a catalyst for the volunteers to continue their efforts and expand them beyond the Christmas offerings. The rest, as they say, is history.
The group expanded to three concerts a year and by the 1980s, with its solid popularity and longevity, the group incorporated as a non-profit organization. It has covered music from sacred to secular, opera to pop, Broadway stage and folk. The group made numerous appearances on stage with the Belleayre Music Festival and participated in the Belleayre Opera productions of Puccini’s Tosca, Rossini’s Barber of Seville and more. The Chorale was also part of the inaugural concert for the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice.
For the 2023 Spring Concert, the jazz numbers will include “A Foggy Day” by George and Ira Gershwin and Herman Hupfield’s “As Time Goes By,” made famous in the movie “Casablanca.” The section of the program devoted to Burt Bacharach, who passed away in February, will include four familiar songs, among them “I Say a Little Prayer,” arranged for the women in the Chorale, as well as a new arrangement of “What the World Needs Now is Love.”
The inspirational segment of the June concert will include “O America,” originally written for, and performed by Celtic Woman as well as “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a much loved hymn premiered in 1900 that has continued to increase in popularity and “Anthem” from the musical “Chess.”
The Chorale vocal presentations will be enhanced by Dan Chien on drums, Carl Tucker on bass and alto sax, Gray Mason on synthesizer and Rebecca Maeder Chien on percussion.
The Friday, June 16 performances will be held in the Roxbury Central School cafetorium and Saturday, June 17 the Chorale will perform at the Margaretville United Methodist Church. Both programs will be at 7:30 p.m. A free-will donation will be accepted at each program, and the community is cordially invited to come and share an evening of choral music.
