The Smithsonian Encore Chorale wowed their huge audience at their Kogod Courtyard concert at the American Art Museum on Sunday, April 26, 2009.   The sixty five singers were in glorious voice and very energized.   They began the concert with a spoof on opera,   Opera non Terrore (Painless Opera) by Phyllis Wolfe-White. It is a great ice breaker and the audience loved it.   And the singers looked like they were really having a great time up there.   Carol Gilmore, a wonderful soprano from the Lorton Encore Chorale, sang the very funny I Never Did Like Opera solo and it came off just perfectly.   Next, the singers sang a beautiful and moving rendition of the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco by Verdi.    Here was the serious side of opera.   Their phrasing was musical and their Italian was great!   Then on to Lambscapes by Eric Lane Barnes.    It is composed of four historical settingx of Mary and Her Lamb, starting out with Gregorian Chant,  followed by Handel ( Hallelujah Chorus),  Schubert ( a rendition of German Lieder) and finally Verdi ( chorus was singing Mary Had a Little Lamb in Italian)!   Ms. Gilmore again entertained with her beautiful soprano voice and lots of stage presence when she sang fantastic embellishments of Mary Had a Little Lamb, including singing the words of Mary Had a Little Lamb to the aria Sempre Libra!    It was a real treat and a hoot!   The audience loved the piece.

Ching –A-Ring-Ching by Aaron Copland and the lovely Shenandoah followed and the singers showed lovely choral balance . Their sound was focused and full of energy.

The Chorale closed the concert with a high energy and beautifully sung Guys and Dolls.    The singers were obviously enjoying themselves and the audience was all smiles.   Ed Villade, Jim Kinsella, and Terry Hufford opened the piece with great solo work and then the chorus dug into the piece!   Great personality, energy and stage presence.   Adelaide’s Lament got applause when Marian Kisch sang the opening with a hysterical Brooklyn accent, complete with the nasality and the women joined in with pizzazz!   They were having a ball.  Guys and Dolls ended with a rousing rendition of Sit Down, You’re Rockin the Boat and they literally rocked the Kogod Courtyard!

With the people in the audience and all the tourists in the courtyard, there must have been 300 listening.   The singers delivered!   Brava ………Bravo!

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO BELOW TO LAUNCH SLIDESHOW OF THE CONCERT. CLICK ON RIGHT SIDE OF PHOTO TO ADVANCE TO NEXT.