\u201cThe Spice of Life\u201d often follows the words \u201cVariety Is.\u201d So, Valley Harmony, a male a cappella quartet, with the intent of demonstrating that they don\u2019t just sing barbershop, decided to title their 13th annual community concert \u201cThe Spice of Life.\u201d The concert will take place on Saturday, June 3, at 7 p.m. at the Newark Valley United Church of Christ, located at 32 S. Main St. in Newark Valley.<\/p>\n
Valley Harmony does not abide by simple labels. They are drawn to all sorts of music. The concert will begin with \u201cOver the Rainbow,\u201d a ballad from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz<\/i>. Then right off the bat comes a jump to the ever-popular doo-wop with the 1957 hit \u201cSilhouettes.\u201d Take doo-wop\u2019s popularity, add the Beach Boys and you will expect to hear Valley Harmony singing \u201cIn My Room,\u201d and, of course, they will. But then it\u2019s time for another switch. <\/p>\n
So why not get serious. Kurt Bestor\u2019s \u201cPrayer of the Children\u201d (1995) reveals the shared feelings of confusion and sadness felt by the innocent children of Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian ethnic backgrounds, living in the war-torn former Yugoslavia. Valley Harmony chose it because it so moving and the harmonies are stunningly beautiful.<\/p>\n
For this concert, Valley Harmony\u2019s music ranges from a spiritual like \u201cSoon Ah Will Be Done\u201d and the Shaker hymn \u201c\u2019Tis a Gift to Be Simple\u201d to the Pentatonix hit \u201cRun to You\u201d (2013). And the style ranges from Jamaican calypso, \u201cThe Banana Boat Song,\u201d to James Taylor\u2019s 1981 hit \u201cThat Lonesome Road,\u201d to a showtune, \u201cTill There Was You,\u201d to Elvis Presley\u2019s 1960 hit \u201cSwing Down Chariot.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the variety does not all come from Valley Harmony. Special guest vocalist and song writer, Tracey Steinkamp Cucci, will perform one of her own songs, \u201cIt\u2019s All in the Journey,\u201d accompanying herself on the mandolin, while Rhonda Moulton returns for a second time to accompany woodwind-ist Laurie Holdridge and Anne Austin in addition to her own piano solo, Stephen Sondheim\u2019s \u201cSend in the Clown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valley Harmony members include founder George Lohmann from Berkshire, Randy Kerr from Newark Valley, Mike Sheldon from Berkshire, and J. Ladd Yost from Nichols.<\/p>\n
For a free will offering you can enjoy all sort of music, surely something to please.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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