By Carol South, Special to the Record-Eagle
Voices will harmonize Friday to raise money for the Northwestern Michigan Children's Choir.
Pure A Cappella will both celebrate vocal performance and support the powerhouse vocal training ground for youth. To be held at the Milliken Auditorium, the concert is hosted by the Trillium Singers, whose founder and director, Candice Wallace, conceived the festival.
Wallace was concerned that cuts to the arts were limiting opportunities for youth training and development to only higher-income families. She decided to make a difference. Friends with the director of the Northwestern Michigan Children's Choir, the lifelong educator and choir director wanted to boost that choir's scholarship program.
Celebrating the a cappella genre offered the perfect venue.
"Anyone of any age can sing anytime without backup; groups can get together and sing without instruments," Wallace said. "God has given us a wonderful gift, and I want to encourage the use of that gift in its natural form."
Pure A Cappella festival proceeds will also benefit participating guest choirs. Ensembles include the Overtones, the event's co-host; the Traverse City Central High School Choral-Aires; the college's Jazz Choir; Tone Soup; and the Benzie High School Treble Makers.
The Trillium Singers and the Overtones will sing in both halves of the concert. The other four groups will each present about ten minutes of music.
Musical styles at the event will range from jazz and rock to folk, doo wop and classic favorites. Singers also span the spectrum from high school students to parents to busy retirees.
Illustrating the vocal variety, Tamara Grove, director of choirs at Traverse City Central High School, is having her 16 Choral-Aires members sing two Beatles songs, a classical piece and a "fun one for younger audiences."
"It is important for local groups to collaborate and combine their talents to raise money for a good cause," said Grove, an enthusiastic participant in the a cappella festival. "And to just celebrate the joy of making music."
Junior Alec Reznich, a member of Central's Choral-Aires, trained with the Northwestern Michigan Children's Choir for three years. His participation in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades gave him solid musical training on which he continues to draw.
"It can't be emphasized enough how great those instructors were in laying a foundation to build off of and use when you come into a high school choir," he said.
"I love a cappella, especially some arrangements that are more popular, versus the classical genre that we normally sing," Reznich added of the concert.
Tom Hoxie and his fellow Overtones appreciate the chance to help younger singers. The six-member group began in the 1990s when they all sang together under the direction of Thomas Stokes at the former Traverse City West Junior High School.
"These are our roots; we've been singing together since the eighth grade," said Hoxie. "We started off in Men of Note and we sang in the Choral-Aires; now that group will be performing as well.
"This is a way for us to give back," he added.
Wallace envisions the a cappella showcase as an annual event, each year featuring the Trillium Singers and Overtones plus guests.
"We can have it every year and audition groups to sing in it," she said.
Wallace was concerned that cuts to the arts were limiting opportunities for youth training and development to only higher-income families. She decided to make a difference. Friends with the director of the Northwestern Michigan Children's Choir, the lifelong educator and choir director wanted to boost that choir's scholarship program.
Celebrating the a cappella genre offered the perfect venue.
"Anyone of any age can sing anytime without backup; groups can get together and sing without instruments," Wallace said. "God has given us a wonderful gift, and I want to encourage the use of that gift in its natural form."
Pure A Cappella festival proceeds will also benefit participating guest choirs. Ensembles include the Overtones, the event's co-host; the Traverse City Central High School Choral-Aires; the college's Jazz Choir; Tone Soup; and the Benzie High School Treble Makers.
The Trillium Singers and the Overtones will sing in both halves of the concert. The other four groups will each present about ten minutes of music.
Musical styles at the event will range from jazz and rock to folk, doo wop and classic favorites. Singers also span the spectrum from high school students to parents to busy retirees.
Illustrating the vocal variety, Tamara Grove, director of choirs at Traverse City Central High School, is having her 16 Choral-Aires members sing two Beatles songs, a classical piece and a "fun one for younger audiences."
"It is important for local groups to collaborate and combine their talents to raise money for a good cause," said Grove, an enthusiastic participant in the a cappella festival. "And to just celebrate the joy of making music."
Junior Alec Reznich, a member of Central's Choral-Aires, trained with the Northwestern Michigan Children's Choir for three years. His participation in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades gave him solid musical training on which he continues to draw.
"It can't be emphasized enough how great those instructors were in laying a foundation to build off of and use when you come into a high school choir," he said.
"I love a cappella, especially some arrangements that are more popular, versus the classical genre that we normally sing," Reznich added of the concert.
Tom Hoxie and his fellow Overtones appreciate the chance to help younger singers. The six-member group began in the 1990s when they all sang together under the direction of Thomas Stokes at the former Traverse City West Junior High School.
"These are our roots; we've been singing together since the eighth grade," said Hoxie. "We started off in Men of Note and we sang in the Choral-Aires; now that group will be performing as well.
"This is a way for us to give back," he added.
Wallace envisions the a cappella showcase as an annual event, each year featuring the Trillium Singers and Overtones plus guests.
"We can have it every year and audition groups to sing in it," she said.
http://record-eagle.com/herald/x1796675041/Pure-A-Cappella-to-help-raise-vocal-scholarships
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