Music for a Sunday
More than two dozen island women from many walks of life gather once a week through fall, winter, and spring to sing together, and at 4 pm this Sunday, June 15, they will lift their voices and share their music in a concert at the Unitarian Church, 11 Orange Street. Suggested donation is $10 at the door.
Marcia Hempel founded the Women’s Chorus of Nantucket in February 2006. “I love the sound of harmony sung in that voice range,” she explained, “and I wanted to do choral music that was non-classical. [The chorus] gives me the opportunity to do my own kind of music and to listen to it in a treble range.”
Women in the chorus vary in age, and some have sung professionally and others just for pleasure. Though many of them work, they still take the time to rehearse and perform. Most of the original members are still singing with the chorus. Many feel as new member Linda Sonnostine does, who said “The rehearsals provide a great release at the end of a busy day...you’ll make some wonderful new friends.” Hempel agrees: ”They do have fun...Some of the music is challenging, so they work hard too. I’m happy that they make the comittment.”
Included in Sunday’s program will be Sergio Mendes' "Mas Que Nada,” jazz classics "Route 66" and "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie,” Patsy Clines' "Walkin' After Midnight," the Beatles’ classic "If I Fell,” Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927," Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind,” and the 50s tunes "Baby I'm Yours” and "Sincerely.”
Womens' Chorus of Nantucket by Yesterday's Island Staff: Top Row (l to r), Jackie Peterson, Linda Sonnostine, Nancy Rappaport, Miki Lovett, Jill Mooradian, Anne Sutherland, Amanda Torchia, Carrie Hunter, Bottom row: Debby Merrit, Nancy Tobias, Karen Gibbs, Marcia Hempel (director), Martha Grangrade, Lousie Martling, and Meg Hunter .
Director and accompanist Hempel has created three new arrangements for the chorus - an arrangement of "Grey Funnel Line” as sung by June Tabor and Maddy Prior, the Linda Ronstadt song "Adieu False Heart,” and a song from the Canadian group "Finest Kind" titled "No More Fish No Fishermen" about the collapse of the fishing industry in Newfoundland.
The June 15 concert with be the group’s fourth performance. Comprised of up to 30 year-round Nantucketers and seasonal residents, the chorus includes experienced as well as new singers. There are usually 18 chorus members on-island at any one time. New members are welcomed.
After this concert, the chorus will break for the summer and begin rehearsing again the week after Labor Day. Their next concert is planned for October.
The chorus is funded in part by grants from the Nantucket Arts Council as well as donations from chorus members and the island community. Rehearsal and performance space is donated by the Unitarian Church. For more about the chorus, contact Marcia Hempel at 508-228-3802 or hempelm@earthlink.net.
