Published: November 06, 2007 09:42 am         

Oklahoma at 100

Former New York opera star, local choirs create a night to remember

It’s not every day that a school choir, or even a community choir, gets to sing on stage with a star from the Metropolitan Opera of New York, but that’s what happened Monday, which is sure to be a night to remember for the more than 150 singers and musicians who performed in “Oklahoma at 100” at the Stillwater High School Performing Arts Center.

Judging from the reception the singers received, the approximately 1,000 people in the audience aren’t likely to forget the occasion anytime soon, either. The center was filled almost to capacity, and the crowd was clearly pleased.

“It was without question the largest crowd we’ve had since the PAC opened,” said Stillwater High music director Steve Maison.

The concert, funded by grants from the Stillwater Arts and Humanities Council and the Stillwater Education Foundation, featured the Stillwater Honor Choir (consisting of elementary and middle school students), the Stillwater Junior High School Choir, the Stillwater High School Pioneer Chorale and the Stillwater Chamber Singers with guest soloist Leona Mitchell, a lyric spinto-soprano and veteran of 18 years with the Met who has a long list of credits to her name, including membership in the Music Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

In keeping with the Oklahoma Centennial theme, it was an all-Oklahoma program. Mitchell, who is semi-retired, is a resident of Enid, where she was born to Drs. Hulon and Pearl Mitchell. All the composers on the program were either from Oklahoma or working musicians in Oklahoma at some point, except for Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, composers of the state song, “Oklahoma!” from the Broadway musical, and the unknown composer of the Negro spiritual, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” arranged by Margaret Bonds and performed by Leona Mitchell. Four of the composers – Patti Drennan, Brant Adams, Rebecca Groom teVelde and Betty Woodward – were in the audience and were recognized by the directors as their pieces were performed.

The program was rife with songs expressing high spirits, optimism and brotherly love, including “Blessing,” by Nancy Hill Cobb, “Sing Alleluia,” by Darla Eshelmen, “My Hope for Your Tomorrow,” by Cristi Cary Miller, and a setting of the 23rd Psalm by Thomas Matthews performed by the Pioneer Concert Chorale. The chorale was accompanied on this piece by a string quintet consisting of Scott Jackson on cello, Charlotte Kisling on bass, J.D. Henneberry on viola, and Sangeetha Komanduri and Diane Chen on violin.

The program went off without a hitch, “despite the fact that there was never a time until 4 o’clock this afternoon when all the choirs were on stage together,” Maison said after the show. The choirs had all practiced for weeks in advance separately, but they had only about an hour in which to practice singing the last three songs on the program together: “Sing Oklahoma!” by Brant Adams, a work commissioned for the Stillwater Centennial Celebration, and “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” and “Oklahoma!” by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Mitchell joined the choirs in singing these pieces, and by the finale, the audience was on its feet, clapping in time to the music. When she hit the final high note, there were shouts of “Bravo!” from the audience, and a couple of members of the Honor Choir presented her with flowers at the conclusion of the program.

“I can always tell when things go well, because I don’t have to work,” Maison commented afterward. “Everything went very smoothly. The young people did a very nice job and Miss Mitchell was wonderful. We wanted her to sing an operatic aria, but she just didn’t feel comfortable doing that. She’s had a few health problems off and on, and a person of her stature as a performer wants to be on her game when she takes on something of that magnitude.”

Mitchell was very gracious and generous, though, Maison said. After attending a post-concert reception for the musicians at the director’s home, she was scheduled to spend the night at the Atherton Hotel at OSU and give a master class for the students Tuesday.

     

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.