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YOUNGSTOWN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA NEW YORK VOICES will fill auditorium
By John Benson
There aren’t too many acts that last a quarter of a century.
Just ask Grammy Award-winning vocal group New York Voices — Kim Nazarian, Lauren Kinhan, Darmon Meader and Peter Eldridge — which for the past 25 years has been awing audiences with unique four-part harmonies that bend genres with hints of jazz, Brazilian, R&B, classical and pop music.
“None of us thought we’d be together 25 years,” said Nazarian, an Oberlin resident and artist-in-residence at Bowling Green State University, via Skype from Latvia. “I think we’ve lasted because of a mixture of things: We’re all good friends, we have a mutual respect for each other and we always believe the music comes first. We’ve been embraced by the universe, and whenever we think we’re done, something else amazing comes along.”
Currently, that something else is a tour that will bring the quartet to Powers Auditorium on Saturday to accompany the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra in its holiday pops concert, “A Tuneful Holiday.”
“I worked with the New York Voices last December at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony,” said Randall Craig Fleischer, music director of the YSO. “They were fabulous. So I booked them right away for the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra.”
Invariably, New York Voices exists in a unique musical space. The outfit provides a contemporary flair to classical material — without garnering a novelty tag — while appealing to the mainstream. The notion of the latter was evident on the foursome’s 1997 effort “New York Voices Sing the Songs of Paul Simon.” Then in 2001, the group released “Sing! Sing! Sing!,” which explored the Big Band song book.
Over the past two decades, the quartet has released seven studio albums; however, it wasn’t until this year that the New York Voices made its first foray into holiday music with “Let it Snow.”
The group created a Christmas album that celebrates beloved traditional and sacred classics, as well as secular favorites in their trademark extraordinary vocal style. The vibe ranges from big band and swinging tunes to lush orchestral pieces and emotional a cappella songs.
“One of my favorite arrangements is ‘Let it Snow,’” Nazarian said. “Also, ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ has a weight of its own in the jazz history of kind of having that Count Basie influence and a little bit of improvisation. The two Christmas ballads are just really pretty and make you pause and listen. And the arrangements on ‘We Three Kings’ get my Armenian blood going. It’s so much fun.”
As for the upcoming show at Powers, the YSO’s Fleischer added, “I love their tight, inventive harmonies, their impeccable blend and their fun, easy manner with the audience. Just great voices, amazing harmonies, gorgeous arrangements. This will be the perfect feel-good holiday show. You’ll recognize every song, but the arrangements and the singing will dazzle you.”