by Brian Hathaway
| For four decades, the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay has been an artistic force in the Tampa Bay area, whether as part of choral masterworks concerts with the Florida Orchestra or through memorable self-produced concerts that advance the art of choral singing. For many of these past forty years, the primary audience consisted largely of adult concert-goers. Although the Chorale has been engaged in supporting choral music education for students in high school, undergraduate and graduate programs all of those 40 years, about three years ago the Chorale began a concerted effort to reach out to a much younger audience. The new Education and Outreach Initiative, conducted by Deah McReynolds, is a program geared to introducing elementary aged children to live choral music performed at a high artistic level. Master Chorale singers have volunteered to sing in the Outreach and Education Ensemble, a smaller ensemble from the larger 150-voice Master Chorale, as part of that initiative and present both in-school interactive choral music education programs as well as day-time and age-appropriate professional concerts at major venues in Tampa and St. Petersburg. |    |
Most recently during the fall of 2018, the Master Chorale visited elementary schools in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties and are currently between two day-time concert presentations titled "Going to the Show." On Tuesday, February 5th, excited students came to Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg for our first of two “Going to the Show” events that we have planned this season. This concert program is now part of Mahaffey Theater's Class Acts presentations, which offers a wonderful array of cultural initiatives for children. We are thrilled to be partnered with Mahaffey Theater and Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts and most grateful for their co-production on this special program.
“Going to the Show” addressed six different standards for music education set by the State of Florida. This was done by presenting a concert program with a focus on interaction between the singers and the students in the audience. Songs presented by the Chorale's Education and Outreach Ensemble offered examples of four-part harmony through songs such as Lloyd Pfautsch’s “Consecrate the Place and Day”, Tim Osiek’s “Like a River in My Soul”, and Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run” as arranged by Craig Hella Johnson, which ended in an energetic hand-clapping recapitulation of the main theme.
| The Chorale also presented some interactive singing. With Deah McReynolds directing, along with Theresa Ancaya as accompanist and Elwood Bond on percussion we introduced three different melodies; “Swing Low Sweet Chariot”, “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “I’m Gonna Sing, Sing, Sing”. Each theme was introduced separately, then two themes were sung together by different sections, then three themes were sung together. Each section made different motions based upon the melody we were singing. We even had the children in the audience participate, having them sing “When the Saints”, marching in place as they sang. The children really seemed to enjoy it, and we all even finished together! What fun! We sang one song that I personally had a feeling would create a buzz with the children. It was “How Far I’ll Go” from the animated Disney film “Moana”. Being a grandfather to six small children put me in touch with how much children love this film. My granddaughter watches this movie every time she visits us, and even though she is not yet in Kindergarten, she knows the lyrics by heart and sings each time Moana sings them in the movie. I loved it when a loud murmur coursed through the audience once Soprano Victoria Iannuzzi began singing the solo line. I could see many children mouthing the lyrics as we sang them on stage, creating a special musical bond between us and them. |  |
| Although the Master Chorale provided adult singers for this event, Frontier Elementary was invited to bring their singers as a demonstration choir. Frontier brought a combined ensemble made up of their Honor Chorus and an ensemble with the neat moniker, “The Baby Grands”. Prepared by Chorus Conductor Kate Holmes, they sounded fantastic! They sang “Keep Your Lamps” by Victor Johnson, and then with Master Chorale Alto Kerry Mayo as soloist, they sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. |  |
For the concert finish, Master Chorale's Artistic Director Brett Karlin led the Education and Outreach Ensemble, combined with the Honor Chorus and the Baby Grands to create a combined choir for a rousing performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. The high energy finale was Edwin Hawkins’ “Oh, Happy Day” with Master Chorale Soprano Sherry Fagan Martin belting out the solo line.
We look forward to presenting this program again to elementary students in Hillsborough County at the Tampa Theatre in March.
Even though singing as an adult has brought me tremendous joy, I still recall those magic moments when my elementary school music teacher, Miss Passenger, brought out my love of music and an appreciation of the beauty that music can bring. The children who attended this event may have experienced a similar moment, either at Mahaffey or perhaps at the hands of their own music teacher. To be a part of creating one of those moments is a special honor.
The performance at Mahaffey Theater was co-produced by Mahaffey Theater and the Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts, and the Youth Initiative program is made possible through the generosity of Cynthia and Peter Zinober, donors of The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, and sponsored in part by the Tampa Bay Times (official media sponsor of The Master Chorale), the City of St. Petersburg, and by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, The Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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