A weekend for the arts

When you watch TV or a DVD movie or listen to a CD or iPod, it's a passive activity. Sure, you can hit "pause" or "stop" or "fast forward" or "shuffle" or whatever. Doesn't matter. It's all one-way communication, with you as recipient.

Not so at a "live" performance. You get the whole visual and aural package with whomever is on stage. You read their face and body language as they sing a song, coax a note from their instrument or suck you into their make-believe world as actors. The engagement is wonderful and so worth it in terms of what you get back as a member of the audience.

And so it was this weekend.

On Saturday night, we went to Simone's final performance of the season with Consonare Chorale, a co-ed ensemble of young to middle-aged adults that does four concerts a year in Portland. The group performed more than a dozen songs taken from Appalachia and the traditions of American folk music and earned a standing ovation.

Artistic Director Georgina Philippson has done wonders working with this eclectic ensemble of about three dozen men and women, leading through a 2 1/2-hour rehearsal every Tuesday night. During the four seasons, we've been exposed to every musical genre imaginable but I think I may have enjoyed this one the most, for its simplicity and small-group arrangements and the sheer joy evident on faces of the choir members.

The next day was even more satisfying. We used a gift certificate from last year's Dougy Center auction to snag two tickets to a Sunday afternoon performance of "Gracie and the Atom" at Artists Repertory Theatre -- and, as part of the package, had a marvelous seafood dinner at Southpark.

In an intimate theater where no one is more than six rows from the sunken stage, it's a wonderful place to see actors laying it all on the line. Again, it is the sheer joy of performing, evident on the faces of the cast members, that is so infectious. Well, that and the plot itself. Gracie is a non-Catholic who's dropped into a Catholic girls' high school after the death of her father. She abruptly has to figure out everything -- religion and theology, from stern Sister Francis; mind-stretching physics taught by the exuberant Sister Lidwina; and school traditions, hilariously explained by her classmates -- while also trying to learn more about the mother she never knew.

This ain't no dour drama. It's a musical, written by McKinley, a member of the local band Dirty Martini, and there are enough songs in the 2 1/2-hour show go around for each of the cast members as a group and individually. And the cast is more than up to it. They act, sing, dance -- and act, sing and dance some more -- in a show that anyone who's attended Catholic school or is even halfway acquainted with catechism would appreciate.

Gracie and the Atom from Artists Repertory Theatre on Vimeo.

The cast is fabulous -- with Beth Sobo, Marissa Neitling (University of Oregon graduate), Brooke Markham (current Portland State student), Melissa Murray and Kylie Clarke Johnson (Western Oregon University graduate) as the schoolgirls and Emily Beleele and Mary Baird as the nuns.

Listen to a couple of the songs here: http://www.gracieandtheatom.com/ And, if you can break away, go see it yourself. It runs through May 30.

The gift of song

Saturday night brought the opportunity to hear some lovely vocal music and then go out for a delicious post-concert meal.

The occasion? Consonare Chorale, a community choir that includes our favorite soprano, Simone, was presenting the second concert of its fourth season: "Of Love & Beauty." The program featured 12 selections, including some sung in Spanish, German and Hebrew.

It's always a pleasure attending one of these concerts. You never know what range of music you'll hear that's been selected by artistic director Georgina Philippson, below.

But you can always count on a high quality of musicianship, both from the co-ed choir and the accompanying instrumentalists (which last night included a cellist, violinist and pianist).

Saturday's program, focusing on songs of love, was one of my favorite concerts. I enjoyed the melding of male and female voices, the melodies and how the compositions were tied together with such an appealing theme. It's nice that Simone can continue her involvement this way, having sung in high school as well as playing the violin and piano.

Afterward, it was a treat of a different kind. We walked down to the Country Cat on Southeast Stark and 79th Avenue in the Montavilla neighborhood and indulged in some tasty and fancy drinks. (Well, everyone else went for the fancy drinks. I was content with a tall can of Tecate.)

The next concert is Saturday, May 22, at Westminister Presbyterian Church at Northeast 14th and Hancock. Georgina promises an evening of mountain music from Appalachia and American folk traditions, so it ought to be very different.

From left, Kyndall Mason, Simone Rede, Lori Rede, Megan Andricos and Carrie Valentine.

Music to soothe the soul

As much as I enjoy music, there are two things I can't do: sing or play a musical instrument.

So it's nice to have at least one family member who does them both -- and does them well. Saturday night, Lori and I attended a concert presented by Consonare Chorale, a coed group of 30 singers made up of adults, young and old, from the Portland-Vancouver area. Our daughter Simone is an alto who's been singing since elementary school and who also plays violin and piano.

I'm one of those people who couldn't define clef, octave or pitch if my life depended on it. Nor could I tell you the difference between an A, C or D note. But I do enjoy the emotional release that comes from hearing a group of different voices blending together in the joy of song. Directed by Georgina Philippson, a redhead who defines vivacious, the choral group presented a program called "Reflections at the Water’s Edge."

It was a lovely evening, with all of the songs tied to the theme of water. Simone was part of a quartet that was featured during the song "Down to the River to Pray."

Consonare's next concert is May 30 at Parkrose United Methodist Church. Listen to some song samples here.