Valley Harmony’s ‘Good Life’ Concert planned for May 11

Valley Harmony was unanimous in its decision to ask Elmira College freshman, Farrah Fiacco, to return for a second year as their guest soloist. Little did they know that besides a dynamic soprano voice, she would also have a particularly good suggestion on hand for the concert’s theme. 

“I figured,” she said, “that it might be a good thing, in light of today’s political climate, that all our songs focus around positivity and goodness.”

Valley Harmony’s 11th annual community concert, titled “Good Life,” will do just that and will be performed at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 11 at the Newark Valley United Church of Christ, located at 32 S. Main St. in Newark Valley. The title is taken from a song popularized by American pop rock group NewRepublic, recorded in 2008, and which Valley Harmony had been rehearsing at the time of Fiacco’s suggestion.

The a cappella quintet found plenty of songs focused “around positivity and goodness,” ranging over the past 240 years. Probably the oldest is “Amazing Grace,” which dates back to 1779, but “Come Thou Fount” is almost as old and almost as popular. 

Besides “Good Life,” Valley Harmony will also sing Jason Marz’s “I’m Yours,” which was also released in 2008. Sandwiched between the oldest and the newest songs are one from the nineties, Sting’s “Fields of Gold; four from the seventies, including John Denver’s “Annie’s Song and James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain”; and four from the sixties, among them the Turtles “Happy Together” and Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” but using the arrangement written for the Pentatonix.

Elvis’ music will help bridge the songs between the old and the new with his version of “Swing Low Chariot,” which he popularized in 1960. The audience will surely tap their feet and clap their hands to that number! Other spirituals will include “Deep River” and “Ev’ry Time I Hear the Spirit.”

Fiacco, a Newark Valley resident, has selected “Count on Me,” “Seize the Day” from Newsies and “Papa Can You Hear Me?” from Yentl. She will be accompanied by Endicott pianist Aric Phinney, who will also play two piano solos, along with accompanying woodwinds by Laurie Holdridge of Johnson City and Anne Austin of Endwell on several numbers, particularly “Deep Peace.”

Valley Harmony is pleased to announce the addition of its newest member, Steve Palinosky of Owego. With a BA in Applied Music, Palinosky served as a musician in the U. S. Marine Corps for 22 years before returning to Owego to work for Tioga County.  

Laurie Holdridge is a retired engineer and is now spending as much time as possible playing music, singing and playing tennis and skiing (weather permitting). She started playing clarinet and singing in elementary school and never really stopped, although music took a back seat while work took priority. She picked up the recorders in the late 80’s. She now plays and sings in church and community choirs and is a member of the Maine Community Band and Ain’t Misbehavin’ Band.       

Valley Harmony includes Mike Sheldon (Berkshire) singing tenor, George Lohmann (Berkshire) singing bass, and Randy Kerr (Newark Valley) and J. Ladd Yost (Nichols) alternating baritone and tenor. This all male quartet has done countless engagements throughout the Southern Tier since their founding in 2007, including church services and church and secular events in Newark Valley, Berkshire, Richford, Waverly, Owego, Apalachin, Endicott, Vestal, Candor, Spencer, Ithaca, Greene, Binghamton and Athens, Pa. Their repertoire, as you might gather from the songs mentioned above, consists of all sorts of a cappella music. They enjoy singing folk songs, spirituals, barbershop, swing, pop, rock, rhythm and blues, show tunes, sacred, and even classical music.  

A free will offering will be taken. Concert proceeds will benefit outreach programming at the Newark Valley United Church of Christ.