2011 Conductors Richard Alston, Peri Smilow, Tina Marshall, Vicki Carter, Ahmondhylla Best, and Cantor Perry Fine
Locals who love to sing produced some amazing music at the Burgdorff Tuesday night. The 2011 Two Towns Sing-ins concluded with a review of all the music offered by the guest conductors in prior weeks. All six conductors joined in for the final sing-in and the evening was full of good fellowship, laughter, and some great singing. All the participants left having made new connections with people they didn’t know before and having learned new music—including how to make some very interesting sounds!
The conductors brought so much knowledge and talent to the Sing-ins this year. Ahmondhylla Best and Vicki Carter took the singers away from sheet music and got them to stretch their voices to produce unfamiliar sounds and rhythms. Ahmondhylla is a composer, performer and teacher who uses several African percussion and woodwind instruments; she taught the singers to combine singing with the single-note flute-like sound of the hindewhu, an instrument used by the BaBenzélé people of Central Africa. Vicki Carter, a musical director, conductor and teacher, gathered the group for some circle singing using the improvisation techniques she learned this past summer from Bobby McFerrin. It was remarkable how singing five or more harmonies and rhythms all at once using the words “Maplewood,” “South Orange,” and “Community” produced such a moving sound.
Peri Smilow, performer and composer of Contemporary Jewish Music, is also a teacher and community activist. She taught the group a few pieces in Hebrew and expanded participants’ knowledge of some Jewish rituals and prayers and how music is used in Jewish worship. Hava NaShira—or Come Let Us Sing—was a favorite and its words certainly captured the mood. Vocalist, songwriter, and minister of music Tina Marshall shared her gospel tradition. With only a sheet of words and the guidance of Tina’s voice, the singers harmonized ‘good news’ songs, including a soulful rendition of Amazing Grace.
Cantor Perry Fine, who has a long career as a cantor, is a teacher at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and is a leader in community singing efforts like our own Voices in Harmony, led the group in two songs—one in Hebrew and the other in Yiddish. As the singers learned the harmonies, Cantor Fine drew connections between words in other sacred music traditions and explained the history and meaning of the pieces. Richard Alston, professor of music, masterful pianist and soloist, is committed to sharing music to enrich the lives of others. The singers were all smiles when Richard was leading; he has infectious warmth that gets people to have fun using their voices. The group sang a series of songs about unity and community. When singing ‘Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand), Professor Alston made the singers be true to lyrics!
Vicki Carter leads one group in circle singing
