Los Alamos Community Winds during a 2023 rehearsal at Crossroads Bible Church. The Community Winds will return to Crossroads along with the Los Alamos Choral Society and Soprano Louise Mendius for its concert, ‘A Vocal Celebration’. The concert is 7 p.m. Saturday, March 9. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
Los Alamos Choral Society during a 2023 rehearsal. The Choral Society will join the Los Alamos Community Winds during its concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 9. Courtesy photo
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
The upcoming concert of the Los Alamos Community Winds is not just a celebration of music but song.
At 7 p.m. Saturday, March 9 at Crossroads Bible Church, the ensemble will present “A Vocal Celebration” and they will not be alone. The stage will be shared with Los Alamos Choral Society and Soprano Louise Mendius.
The program features, among other pieces, Alexander Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances”, Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise” and John Philip Sousa’s “The Triton”.
“We wanted to make this concert a vocal celebration, all the music on this program has a vocal component or connection of some sort. The only piece that doesn’t is the march by Sousa,” Community Winds Director Ted Vives said.
To collaborate with the Choral Society and Mendius just enhances the concert, he said.
“It is always fun to do these kinds of collaborations,” Vives said. “The music itself is a combination of tunes that have vocal parts to it.”
For instance, he noted that the Rachmaninoff’s piece is wordless – it is just a series of sounds that the singers perform. Another piece by Alan Hovhaness’ “Prayer of St. Gregory” is named after the saint who is responsible for the Gregorian Chant.
“Basically, how this concert came about is it was a way to showcase our local talent … I am always amazed at what we are able to do here in this town with the talent we have,” Vives said. “We have a lot of talented and enterprising people … I enjoy presenting that to the greater community and they appreciate what we have here in terms of artistic talent.”
This is not the first time the Community Winds and the Choral Society have performed together, Vives said.
In fact, he explained, the symphony and the choral group have collaborated during the past 20 years.
“It was so much fun doing those combined performances,” Vives said.
Choral Society member Marilyn Doolen agrees.
“Los Alamos Choral Society is delighted with the invitation from Ted Vives, the Los Alamos Community Winds Director, to be the vocal ensemble for the Alexander Borodin work Polovtsian Dances,” she said. “This is a joyous dance. It will be sung in English so the audience can better enjoy the sentiment expressed. In the lyrical score, the sopranos and altos yearn for former days, living freely in their homeland. In contrast, the tenors, baritones and basses sing out praises to the Khan Konchak with a robust outburst of song along with the brass and the wind instruments. The glorious finale is played and sung forte fortissimo and in perfect harmony among the 30 vocalists and 46 instrumentalists. This performance will be a musical treat for music lovers of all ages. The audience will leave humming a familiar melody.”
Soprano Louise Mendius
Likewise, Vives said the Community Winds has showcased Mendius’ singing talents, too. He noted in past concerts, Mendius has sung selections from various operas and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9”.
“She has such a powerful voice,” Vives said.
He encourages the community to come out and see what all these music entities can do when they join forces.
“I think … it allows people in the community, particularly the performers, to do something that they might not do otherwise,” Vives said. “…It gives people whether they are instrumentalists or vocalists that moment where they are able to say, ‘This is my talent, this is what I can do.’ And hopefully get the feedback from the audience that they can, in fact, do that.”
Vives added to show off “an ensemble is very fulfilling for me, and I hope it is fulfilling to everyone else.”
He said he hopes all the performers think to themselves “I did this, and it makes me feel good to be able to do that. It makes me feel affirmed to be able to do that.”
Admission to the concert is free but there is a $15 suggested donation.
For more information, visit www.LACW.org.
