Sunday concert From Italy, With Love

By LINDA M. LINONIS

linonis@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

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WILLIAM D. LEWIS | THE VINDICATOR The Mahoning Valley Chorale rehearses at Good Hope Lutheran Church, Boardman, for their April 26 concert.

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WILLIAM D. LEWIS | THE VINDICATOR Mahoning Valley Chorale piano accompanist is Dominic DeLaurentis. With him, from left, are soloists Heather Trowbridge, Alexis Musgrove, Sierra McCorvey and Kiyan Taghaboni, who will be featured in their April 26 concert.

In the collective memory of Mahoning Valley residents, Brier Hill is known as “Little Italy,” site of the city’s first Italian settlement on the North Side; home to the Brier Hill Italian Festival, and namesake of the appetizing Brier Hill pizza.

The 45-member Mahoning Valley Chorale will pay tribute to that heritage when it presents From Italy with Love, a concert planned Sunday at Brier Hill Cultural Center. It will feature Italian opera, love songs and folk tunes.

Kris Harper, chorale director, said the concert is significant because it “remembers the Italian culture which helped to shape the Mahoning Valley into one of the most culturally diverse areas of the country.”

The director said the chorale performed an Italian-themed concert about five years ago, and it was a success. The first half of the concert will showcase Italian opera. Harper said the opening chorus will be from the opera, “Nabucco,” based on the biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar. He said this was Verdi’s first successful opera and included the chorus, “Va, Pensiero,” that was sung by Jews as they lamented their Babylonian captivity and loss of homeland.

“For the Italian people, this was a symbol of longing for political freedom. It is known as the unofficial Italian national anthem,” Harper said. “People will recognize it.”

The concert also will highlight opera arias by Donizetti, Leoncavallo, Puccini and Verdi.

The second half of the concert will include love songs and folk selections such as “O Sole Mio,” “Santa Lucia” and “Torna a Surriento.”

Soloists will be Kiyan Taghaboni and Sierra McCorvey, voice performance majors at Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University; Heather Towbridge, recent graduate of Kent State University; and Alexis Musgrove, voice performance major from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa. Antonie Jackson, senior trumpet performance major at Dana, will perform. Chorale accompanist who plays oboe and piano is Dominic DeLaurentis, a music education major at YSU.

There will be a cameo performance by Bernadette Nolfi, Youngstown native.

Harper said Brier Hill Cultural Center “was the right venue” for the Italian-themed event. “The Italian songs have wide-ranging appeal,” he said. “The Valley still has a large population of Italian heritage and others who just love the music.”

Sandra Cika, executive director of the Brier Hill center, said she and Harper were acquainted through St. Patrick Church, where he is music director. She joined the parish after St. Casimir Church, now the home of the cultural center, closed. She explained the chorale performed at the “kolachi and koledy” event between Christmas and New Year’s at the center. “The event keeps up the tradition of singing Polish and English carols by the choir,” Cika said, noting the choir still sings together.

She said Harper and chorale members “loved the space and the acoustics.”

In between the first and second segments of the concert, the audience will break for wine and hors d’oeuvres.

THE CONCERT

When: 3 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Brier Hill Cultural Center, 145 Jefferson St., Youngstown.

Tickets: $10 a person and includes wine and hors d’oeurves by Christopher Bonacci of Christiopher’s Downtown. Tickets may be reserved by calling 330-707-2144; tickets also will be available at the door.