Peoria Lenten Concert

Last night, Sunday, May 7th I presented a fifty minute recital for the United Presbyterian Church of Peoria for their Lenten Concert Series. It was a wonderful evening with so many friends and family present! My pianist Becky Schaidle Mueller, was wonderful and was so gracious to accompany me. (We actually made it work with only two rehearsals)

The Concert consisted of:
Lullaby
Les Chemins de l’amour
La vie en rose
Hymn a l’amour
Once Upon a Dream
A New Life
O bei nidi d’amore
Vaghissima Sembianza
La Promessa
Danny Boy
The Galway Piper
The Last Rose of Summer
In Dreams I’ve Heard the Angels

The church provided a lovely dinner for everyone and it was great to talk with everyone afterwards!

Soloist at Lewis University

The Arts Club Benefit Gala celebrated their 23rd year at Lewis University in Romeoville, IL. Steve Heliotes and I were their entertainment for the evening! I sang One Kiss from Romberg’s New Moon and Les chemins de l’amour by Poulenc. This was a perfect fit for the evening theme of A Night at the Louvre. Steve Heliotes played Chopin’s Polonaise Opus 53, in A Major, which was outstanding. Steve and I work, or rather play together at Monastero’s Restaurant.
My sister, Meghan Christ, was my big fan and helped me prep, warm-up, and of course enjoy wine and hor’dourves.

Steve Heliotes with Buddy Charles

DePaul Prelude Choir ROCKS, literally

DePaul Prelude Choir

I direct the DePaul Prelude Choir through DePaul Community Music Division which consists of kindergarten- third grade students that interview and audition to participate in this ensemble. The kids are so wonderful and always make me laugh.

The kids sang at the METRO in Chicago which is an awesome Rock venue close to Wrigleyville. They actually started off the rock concert, which was a benefit event for Darfur, with I am but a small voice followed by Blowin’ in the Wind by Bob Dylan. The kids were all dressed in jeans and rock’n roll t-shirts. We had so much fun and the parents were thrilled to see their children on the stage!

Monastero’s Restaurant Singer

Title: Monastero’s Restaurant Singer
Location: 3935 W. Devon (Pulaski) in Chicago
Link out: Click here
Description: Come hear me sing while eating great Italian food!
Start Time: 6:30
Date: Friday March 12th and March 26th
End Time: 9:30

A few times a month I sing at Monastero’s Restaurant. I started this sometime last year after winning the Bravo Award in the Bel Canto Competition held at the Banquet Hall of Monastero’s. It is always a fun evening out at Monastero’s. Steven Heliotes is a fabulous pianist and can play just about anything!

The events calendar will help you see which Friday & Saturdays I sing at the restaurant, and it’s always from 6:30-9:30.

Hope to see you there!

Voice Band for the iPhone

My friend, Matt Werner, co-created the music app, Voice Band for the IPhone. In just two weeks, it has climbed the charts to the TOP 10 apps in the US & it’s #1 in Japan. This music application allows you to sing into the IPhone the parts of different instruments and by recording on top of each element you can create an entire song just using your voice.

They asked me to be video-taped for www.youtube.com to show the public how to use Voice Band. The process actually took us awhile, but now that I know how to use the application it’s fun and easy! Once you record one instrumental level you can either delete it or try again, but then you can’t go back and fix any mistakes. The challenge for me was lining up with the metronome as there is a slight delay, so you can’t go by the feel of the rhythm.

Check me out on my first YouTube appearance!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Title: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Location: Metamora Christian Union Church
Description: Opera Play-House Chicago begins the 2010 Peoria Area tour with a church service performance!
Start Time: 10:30
Date: 2010-01-31

We are in our final week of rehearsals and are looking forward to our first performance of Goldilocks and the Three Bears at Metamora Christian Union Church, on Sunday, Jan. 31st at 10:30am! This is my home church and they are including us in the actual service with the sermon revolving around the moral of the Three Bears story.

Mozart’s Requiem

Sunday, September 20th was Millennium Chamber Players performance of Jake Banck’s Mass for the Saints and Mozart’s Requiem. The performance was well attended with over 400 in the pews at St. John Berchman’s in Logan Square. The soloists were all friends of mine from Roosevelt University and the chorus did a great job on some rather challenging music.

French Bastille Day

Chicago celebrated it’s first French Bastille Day on Saturday, July 11, 2009. The day was full of French activities: games, food, and entertainment. I sang half an hour of French repertoire including: Hahn, Faure, Debussy, and Edith Piaf. I was accompanied by Steve Heliotes. Steve also performed French film music that he has stored in his head.

It was a lovely day and a special event in Oz Park. I look forward to participating next year!

Peoria Concerts

Singing with the Peoria Municipal Band

It was a joy to sing another summer with the Peoria Municipal Band under the direction of Dr. David Vroman. We had three concerts:

Wednesday, July 22nd on the Riverfront with the unique theme of “Halloween in July”
Friday, July 24th was held at The Shoppes of Grand Prairie
Sunday, July 26th was the final performance was at the Glen Oak Park Amphitheater with the band playing Safari Songs.

I sang four selections that encompassed the gamut of opera:
“Je veux vivre” from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette,
“Summertime” from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess,
“Think of Me” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, and closing with
“Poor Wand’ring One” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.

The band did a wonderful job and it was a joy to sing for my hometown friends! Thank you to everyone who came out to the concerts!

Hello world!

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Have a wonderful day!