PEACH WEEKENDER | MUSIC

Area barbershop performances cut above the rest

8/21/2014
BY SALLY VALLONGO
SPECIAL TO THE BLADE
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    The Southern Gateway Chorus, the Cincinnati-based men’s chorus, is to perform selections from ‘‍The Wizard of Oz’ at Sauder Village.

  • The Voices of Harmony, an award-winning chorus from Bowling Green, is to perform at the 65th annual Lakeside Barbershop Quartet Festival.
    The Voices of Harmony, an award-winning chorus from Bowling Green, is to perform at the 65th annual Lakeside Barbershop Quartet Festival.

    If you love the tight four-part harmony of barbershop singing, this Saturday presents a dilemma: two special events featuring top singing groups converging at points 120 miles apart — Archbold and Lakeside.

    Devotees can take in both, with planning, careful driving, and a full gas tank.

    Music starts at 1 p.m. in Archbold’s Sauder Village, where the Southern Gateway Chorus will take the stage inside Founder’s Hall.

    Fresh from a triumphant Las Vegas contest performance where the group sang selections from The Wizard of Oz, the 50-year old Cincinnati-based men’s chorus will bring their high-energy style to Ohio’s largest living-history destination.

    “Traditional barbershop music is a perfect fit for a special event at Sauder Village,” says staff PR specialist Kim Krieger.

    Before and after, guests can enjoy the working craft village, 20th-century farm operation, and more at this Fulton County landmark, 22611 State Rt. 2, Archbold. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sundays.

    Cost for the concert is included in regular admission, $10-16 at the door, with children 5 and under admitted at no charge.

    Then, diehard barbershop fans can jump on the Ohio Turnpike and motor east to the exit for Marblehead, near which is Lakeside, the Chautauqua community on the Lake Erie shore.

    There, it’s the 65th annual Lakeside Barbershop Quartet Festival, with three award-winning groups performing, starting at 8:15 p.m. in Hoover Auditorium.

    On the program are the Voices of Harmony, a chorus from Bowling Green, and quartets the Matinee Idols and Forte.

    The Southern Gateway Chorus, the Cincinnati-based men’s chorus,  is to perform selections from ‘‍The Wizard of Oz’ at Sauder Village.
    The Southern Gateway Chorus, the Cincinnati-based men’s chorus, is to perform selections from ‘‍The Wizard of Oz’ at Sauder Village.

    The Barbershop Harmony Society describes barbershop, which grew out of African-American music traditions, as “four-part, unaccompanied, close-harmony singing with consonant chords, understandable lyrics, and easily singable melodies.”

    What’s not to love about that?

    Admission to the concert is free with the price of entering Lakeside itself — $19.75 per adult, $13.75 per youth age 12-18. Passes are good for the entire day of purchase until 7 a.m. the next morning.

    On Friday, this year’s Lakeside Symphony Orchestra will wrap up its 51st season with a concert, 8:15 p.m. in Hoover Auditorium.

    Music director Robert Cronquist will lead the 75 musicians in a program starring pianists Emanuela Friscioni and Antonio Pompa-Balbi in the world premiere of a piece written by Italian composer Roberto Piana for this husband-wife duo.

    Born in Italy, the two pianists moved to Cleveland to live, perform, and teach after Pompa-Baldi won the 1999 Cleveland International Piano Competition.

    With themes inspired by the great French chanteuse, Edith Piaf, the work is in three movements. Piaf, who died in France in 1963, is considered one of the country’s greatest singers.

    The opener will be the overture to Carl Maria von Weber’s opera, Euryanthe. It’s rarely performed because of the difficult libretto, yet the overture is standard fare at classical concerts.

    After two Slavonic Dances by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak, the program will conclude with Capriccio Espagnole by Rimsky-Korsakov.

    Guitarist Richard Martinez and friends will perform in a Front Porch Concert to benefit the Historic Vistula Association from 4-6 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Matthew Brown House, 1107 North Superior St.

    Hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be sold.

    Admission is free but donations to benefit ongoing restoration of Toledo’s oldest neighborhood will be collected.

    Jazz in the Gardens continues tonight from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in Toledo Botanical Gardens, 5403 Elmer Dr., where 6th Edition will perform. Still to come in this popular outdoor series is Quartet Bernadette, Aug. 28, the Gene Parker Quintet Sept. 4, and Morgen Stiegler Sept. 11.

    Admission is $6 for members, $7 for seniors and students, and $8 for all others, except children 12 and under, who are free. Patrons should bring seating. Snacks and drinks are for sale on the premises, but coolers are allowed.

    If you prefer to swing indoors, Jazz on the Maumee offers pianist Kyle Turner and Friends (drummer Will Kinsey, bassist Will DeYoung) from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Aug. 27 in the Grand Plaza Hotel’s Aqua Lounge, 444 North Summit St. Coming Sept. 3 will be Steven Knurek, bassist, with friends Ruth Nichols on trumpet and vocals and guitarist Tim Oehlers.

    Admission is $10, $5 for students. A cash bar and small plate specials are available.

    Looking ahead, Ben Sidran is on tap for a Sept. 10 concert at the Toledo Club. Music starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are available through the Art Tatum Jazz Society, 419-241-5299.

    More jazz is promised in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown Concert House, 415 North Fourth Ave., when drummer Sean Dobbins gathers his trio — bassist Kurt Krahnke and Tad Weed, piano — for an 8 p.m. show Saturday. Joining the trio will be vocalist Barbara Morrison.

    Something a bit edgier is on hand in the Hearts and Minds performance at 7 p.m. Sunday in Kerrytown, when bass clarinetist Jason Stein performs with keyboard/​synth player Paul Giallorenzo, and drummer/​composer Frank Rosaly.

    For tickets and information call 734-769-2299 or visit kerrytownconcerthouse.com.

    Don’t forget the Toledo Museum of Art’s Great Music in the Great Gallery series at 3 p.m. Sunday presents trombonist Garth Simmons with pianist Michael Boyd in a program of works by American composers. Admission is free to the public. Seating is limited.

    Send News of Music items to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of the event.