Gualala Arts Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961
After brunch or before dinner, why not treat Mom, Grandma, Wife, or Sister to a special High Tea and Concert on Mother’s Day? The weather will be beautiful (we’re predicting) and you’ll hear a variety of tunes, some favorites and a couple of things you may have never heard before. Please join us to celebrate all mothers and all people with maternal instincts!
Former conductor of the Coastal Singers, Carolyn Steinbuck returns to Gualala Arts with her a cappella women’s group, “In the Mix”. They will present several standards including Embraceable You and Night and Day.
The Coastal Singers, under the new direction of Sue Bohlin, will perform a short Ave Maria by the Spanish composer, Javier Busto, a popular arrangement of Route 66, and an a cappella tune by the Bay Area/Brazil-based singer and composer, Sandy Cressman amongst others.
The Coastal Singers are a group of community members who have been singing together for many years.
Sue Bohlin conducts and Mary Mackie accompanies the choral group this year. Mary Star of the Sea church has been generous in offering their venue for rehearsals.
America’s unofficial national anthem was composed by an immigrant who left his home in Siberia for America when he was only five years old. The original version of “God Bless America” was written by Irving Berlin (1888–1989) during the summer of 1918 at Camp Upton, located in Yaphank, Long Island, for his Ziegfeld-style revue, Yip, Yip, Yaphank. “Make her victorious on land and foam, God Bless America…” ran the original lyric. However, Berlin decided that the solemn tone of “God Bless America” was somewhat out of keeping with the more comedic elements of the show and the song was laid aside.
In the fall of 1938, as war was again threatening Europe, Berlin decided to write a “peace” song. He recalled his “God Bless America” from twenty years earlier and made some alterations to reflect the different state of the world. Singer Kate Smith introduced the revised “God Bless America” during her radio broadcast on Armistice Day, 1938. The song was an immediate sensation; the sheet music was in great demand. Berlin soon established the God Bless America Fund, dedicating the royalties to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America.”
The Saturday program will include a Berlin medley, beginning with “Give us your tired, your poor” – part of the poem engraved on the Statue of Liberty, given to the American people by the people of France. Also on the program will be:
Ave Maria by Javier Busto (1992)
Fair Phyllis by John Farmer (1599)
My Mother’s Day by Sue Bohlin (1994)
Route 66 by Dick Averre (1946)
When the Night by Sandy Cressman (2001)
About Conductor Sue Bohlin
Sue Bohlin is Associate Conductor of the Performing department for Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choirs, and enjoys a busy career as an accompanist, conductor, composer, arranger, adjudicator, and vocal coach. A music performance graduate of the Music Conservatory at University of the Pacific, she had a professional career as an oboist for several years and was a music director and performer with George Coates Performance Works Theater for a decade. Ms. Bohlin has worked with numerous Bay Area arts organizations and performed on stages throughout the world. Since 1984, she has worked extensively with artistic director Robert Geary’s professional choir Volti and the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir. Ms. Bohlin is a recipient of PEBCC’s prestigious Founder’s Award. Her choral pieces are published by Alliance Music and Santa Barbara Music Publishers, and her new work You Can Fly was recently premiered by San Jose’s Vivace Youth Choir. Sue founded the Anchor Bay Children’s Choir, which was active on the coast for several years. She and her husband, Bob Geary, live part-time in Anchor Bay.
About In the Mix
“In the Mix” is a women’s a cappella vocal sextet based in Fort Bragg, California. They are known for popular songs sung in close harmony from every decade from the 1920’s to the present.
The group was formed in January 2009 as an off-shoot of the Gloriana Carolers. Some of the carolers had so much fun singing together, they didn’t want to stop. These carolers brought in a few friends, who brought in a few more friends, and In the Mix settled into a group of women who blend well vocally and personally.
In the Mix has three sopranos and three altos. Their songs are generally arranged in four parts: high soprano, low soprano, high alto, and low alto.
Nancy Severy, one of the carolers who founded In the Mix, has sung in a cappella groups for 20 years here on the coast. She is the director of the Fort Bragg Food Bank when she is not singing. Nancy sings high alto.
The group’s two low altos (affectionately referred to as the basses) are Cathy Boxell and Darcie Mahoney. Cathy and Darcie have both arranged songs for In the Mix. Cathy has an extensive background in music from early childhood and plays clarinet and piano. She is a professional cook when she is not singing. Like Nancy, Darcie has sung in musical groups on the Coast for many years and works in forestry.
The sopranos are Robin Knutson, Kathy O’Shea, and Carolyn Steinbuck. Robin and Kathy usually sing high soprano. Carolyn sings low soprano and sometimes high alto. Robin is a piano teacher and an accompanist, as well as the organist for St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Fort Bragg. Kathy has arranged songs for In the Mix and plays French Horn with the Symphony of the Redwoods and piano. Carolyn has also arranged songs for In the Mix and is a concert pianist and accomplished choral and orchestral conductor.
In the Mix has performed at the North Coast A Cappella Summit, at Symphony of the Redwoods’ Pops concerts, at Mendocino Stories, in Gloriana Musical Theater’s productions “Way off Broadway” and “Rock & Roll Revue 3.5”, at The Woods, at the Point Arena library, at the Mendocino Music Festival, for the Mendocino Study Club, at the Gualala Arts Center, and for private parties.
Tickets
Tickets are $15 Advance, $5 more day of performance, youth 7-17 free with adult
For advance purchase, visit Brown Paper Tickets or call them at 1-800-838-3006.
To purchase in person, visit the Gualala Arts Center or Dolphin Gallery in Gualala.