News
January 18, 2019Octavo Singers to Hold Fundraiser Event
The public is invited to attend a dinner concert in support of the Octavo Singers on Sunday, February 10 at 4:00 p.m. at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia, NY.
Curtis Funk, artistic director, will conduct the Octavo Singers with Trevor Kalbaugh, accompanist, and a small instrumental ensemble in a program of choral selections by Gilbert & Sullivan and Leonard Bernstein. Vocal soloists for the performance will be Amy Shake, soprano; Ann Marie Adamick, alto; John Spinelli, tenor; and Siddharth Dubey, bass.
Guests will enjoy a cocktail hour with assorted hors d’oeuvres and a family-style dinner featuring three entrees. The event will be emceed by Lydia Kulbida, News10ABC and Fox 23 anchor, and includes a ticket raffle, a silent auction, and a strolling fashion show by 22 Shades of Gray.
Tickets are $65 per person and can be purchased online. The deadline for purchasing tickets is January 25.
The repertoire for this concert was selected in part because this would have been Bernstein’s 100th birthday. The group will perform a medley of pieces from his beloved “Candide” and “West Side Story.” This music is being paired with a number of humorous and artful choruses from some of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most beloved operettas. “I’ve heard through the grapevine that a number of Gilbert and Sullivan aficionados have purchased tickets, so the bar’s been set!”, quipped Artistic Director Funk.
The Octavo Singers have been performing continuously in Schenectady since 1933, when the group was started by the Schenectady Recreation Department using Federal WPA funds. Currently a non-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status, the group performs three concerts a year, with repertoire spanning the entire Common Practice Period (1600-1900), from the Baroque era to the late 20th Century.
The Octavo Singers 2018-2019 season will wrap up on May 18 at 7:30 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church in Schenectady, with a performance of Haydn’s “Mass in Time of War” and Jenkins’ “The Armed Man.”
