[Sep 8, 9]
The Ukiah Symphony Orchestra presents the first concert of its 2018-19 season, "Kick Off Your Shoes!" featuring vocalists Roseanne Wetzel and Pedro Rodelas singing from the Great American Songbook in this Big Band-themed concert. Performances are Saturday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 9 at 2 p.m. at the Mendocino College Center Theatre. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors age 65 and up, and free for ASB card holders and everyone under 18. Tickets are available at the Mendocino Book Company at 102 S. School St. in Ukiah or online at www.ukiahsymphony.org. Season tickets, which provide four tickets for the cost of three, are also available online. For further information please call the Ukiah Symphony hotline at 707 462-0236.
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The Ukiah Symphony Orchestra opens its 2018-19 season with playful panache on the weekend of September 8-9 with a Big Band-themed concert, "Kick Off Your Shoes!" The concert reunites popular local songstress Roseanne Wetzel with Bay Area crooner Pedro Rodelas for a celebration of an important part of the Great American Songbook.
"Crooner" describes a style of singing popularized by vocalists, typically male, in the Big Band era, popular in the 1940s and 50s. Electrification made possible a style of singing more intimate and thoughtful, since the singer did not have to project his voice to fill the entire room unaided. The suave, typically tuxedo-clad presence of crooners such as Gene Kelly, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and others depended on this intimate atmosphere and the undeniable appeal it generated in some female fans. (Not for nothing was Sinatra known as "The Sultan of Swoon.") Small differences in timbre and tone could register in the voice of the miked singer, conveying vulnerability and yearning and increasing the cachet of the singer along with the appeal of Big Band and jazz music in general.
Vocalist Pedro Rodelas welcomes the opportunity to extend his repertoire by performing songs in the style of Sinatra, along with duets including "The Girl from Ipanema" with Wetzel. He jokes that his role is "the ultimate karaoke" with the orchestra providing most of the heavy lifting. Although it is true the orchestra will be well-prepared for the occasion, with conductor Les Pfutzenreuter increasing the brass section (saxophones, trumpets, and trombones) and providing prominent roles for piano, bass, drums and guitar, Rodelas will more than hold his own. Trained as an opera singer with a master's degree in vocal performance from the University of Maryland, he studied acting, scene design, and several languages in order to become the "well rounded singer and actor" that the opera world requires.
While opera remains a great love of Rodelas's--he sings with the San Francisco Opera Chorus, among other vocal gigs--he enjoys the playfulness and lightness of mood that Big Band music conveys so well. "I get to sing in my natural voice--more like Pedro as opposed to an opera singer," he says of the crooner persona. "I can let the mike do the work for me" by carrying his voice at a softer level that conveys nuance and allows further "stylistic originality such as swooning from one phrase to another," a technique common among some crooners and known as portamento in opera.
Roseanne Wetzel also carries a wealth of talent and enthusiasm over from other parts of the musical spectrum. A graduate of Ukiah's SPACE program as well as the San Francisco School of the Arts, Wetzel has performed in musical theater from a young age and continues to do so in and around Ukiah, when she is not performing with her new "folkgrass" band called the Back Porch Project, or presiding behind the desk at the Ukiah Library. She and Rodelas have sung together accompanied by the Ukiah Symphony for such favorites as "Annie Get Your Gun," and "South Pacific." "I get to showcase a different part of my personality every time I go onstage," Wetzel comments, noting--like Rodelas--that she enjoys the chance to sing without being in the guise of a character. Since her childhood watching old musicals on TV, Wetzel has loved Big Band music, commenting, "I'm looking forward to getting into the swing of it with Pedro." Rodelas assents, adding that he's eager to break the "fourth wall" between singer (or crooner) and audience, engaging folks in banter and receiving instant feedback. All that and an orchestra too.
"Kick Off Your Shoes!" will be presented Saturday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 9 at 2 p.m. at the Mendocino College Center Theatre. The Theatre is wheelchair accessible. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors age 65 and up, and free for ASB card holders and everyone under 18. Tickets are available at the Mendocino Book Company at 102 S. School St. in Ukiah or online at www.ukiahsymphony.org. Season tickets, which provide four tickets for the cost of three, are also available online. For further information please call the Ukiah Symphony hotline at 707 462-0236.
The concert is sponsored by Gudrun and Guilford Dye, Monte and Kay Hill, and Realty World/Selzer Realty.
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