What The World Needs Now... Program Book September 2021

What the World Needs Now… The Las Vegas Men’s Chorus – Fall 2021

The World needs more Singing…

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Sing (from Sesame Street) How Can I Keep from Singing?

The World needs more Unity….

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He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother § Featured Ensemble: Stand By Me

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Soloists: James Koperski & Stephen Trumble

Featured Ensemble: Imagine Soloist: Matthew Vance

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Sisi Ni Moja

The World needs more Hope….

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Found/Tonight (from Dear Evan Hansen & Hamilton)

Soloists: Mark McCreery & Graham Bates

Lean on Me/We Shall Overcome ***There will be a 10 minute Intermission***

The World needs more Light….

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The Dawn’s Awake Light (from Next to Normal)

Soloists: Juno Buendia & Chris Doucette

This Little Light of Mine/Shine on Me § Featured Ensemble: O Lux Beatissima

The World needs more Love… § • • •

Featured Ensemble: I’ll Be There

Soloists: Jonathan Tuala, Cherokee Hines, & Gregory Acosta

Put a Little Love in Your Heart I’ll Cover You (from Rent)

Soloist: Bernie Russell

(Encore) What the World Needs Now

Tenor 1 Chris Doucette Mark Haynes James Koperski Ryan Miller Michael Morell Chris Perez

Tenor 2 Gregory Acosta Isaac Burkholz Marcos Chaljub-Zambrano TJ Dahna Eric Endy Christian Garcia Chris Petallano Jay Regala Stephen Trumble Jonathan Tuala

Baritone Daiki Anjiki Frank Coombs Cesar Galaviz Jim Long Mark McCreery Reed Merrell Justin Reed Daniel Sanchez Aaron Valentine

Bass 2 Graham Bates Juno Buendia Cherokee Hines Bernie Russell Aaron Schave Matthew Vance Tim Vogl

LAS VEGAS MEN’S CHORUS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Bernie Russell Vice-President: James Koperski Secretary: Ryan Miller Treasurer: Marcos Chaljub-Zambrano Member-At-Large: Jonathan Tuala

JOIN US!! FOLLOW US!! @LVMensChorus

@LVMensChorus1

@lasvegasmenschorus

Las Vegas Men’s Chorus

WEBSITE: WWW.LVMENSCHORUS.ORG

Artistic Director – Ryan Duff Ryan is a 2001 graduate of Ball State University. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Choral Music Education. He also completed a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Southern Utah University in 2017.

Ryan is a proud member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the Nevada Music Educators Association (NMEA) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He has served as the Chair of the CCSD Honor Choir since 2015, and currently serves on the Nevada All-State Choir Committee. Duff also served as the 2020 Western Region ACDA Honor Choir Chairman. Currently, Ryan serves as the AllConference Sing Coordinator for the 2022 Western Region ACDA Conference, and as a member of the Western Region’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force. He has served as President of the Nevada ACDA chapter, and currently serves as the Nevada ACDA Men’s Choir Repertoire & Resources Chairman.

Before his career as a teacher, Ryan worked as a Professional Singer and Entertainer. Outside of Las Vegas, he worked for Holland America Cruise Lines, Busch Gardens Theme Park Entertainment, Cedar Point Amusement Park Entertainment, and Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. He has worked as Musical Director for several Professional Regional Musical Theatre Productions including "The Wiz," "Fame: The Musical," "Peter Pan," "Fiddler on the Roof," and "The Taffetas."

His Las Vegas performing career as a singer and musician has included "Tony & Tina’s Wedding" at the Rio Hotel & Casino, "The Can-Can Cabaret" at the Paris Hotel & Casino, and performing as a Singing Gondolier at the Venetian Hotel & Casino.

Pianist – Laurence Sobel A pianist, music director/arranger, and vocal coach. In Las Vegas, he has periodically played keyboard for Mamma Mia!, The Lion King, The Phat Pack, and Jersey Boys. He has performed in various venues including at the Palms, Caesar’s Palace, and the Hard Rock Hotel.

In addition, he has played at numerous cabarets and nightclubs in New York City. He has also played for national tours including “Song and Dance” and “A Funny Thing… Forum.” Laurence served for 11 years on the faculty of the American Musical & Dramatic Academy in New York City. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from Harvard University, and also studied at the Manhattan School of Music and Tanglewood.

About the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus….

The Las Vegas Men’s Chorus was established in the early 1990’s by a small group of men looking for camaraderie and to bring the unique sound of a Men’s Chorus to the Las Vegas Valley.

Our Performance history has included performances for Golden Rainbow, Las Vegas Prime-Timers, Las Vegas Pride, World AIDS Day, and the Gateway Arts Foundation.

Every year, in conjunction with the Clark County School District, we perform at “Real Men Sing,” a Men’s Choral Festival intended to bolster confidence and a lifelong love of singing in our community’s young men. As a GALA Chorus, we had the honor of attending the 2016 GALA Conference in Denver with over 125 other choruses from around the world.

Open Rehearsal/Auditions for our upcoming Holiday 2021 Concert will be held on Sunday, September 26, 2021. We meet from 1:00pm – 3:30pm every Sunday at the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada (401 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89101).

Please follow us on all of our social media, reach out to a current member, or visit the website for more information. We would LOVE to have you add your talents to our ensemble.

On behalf of our Artistic Staff, the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus Board of Directors, and our entire ensemble, we want to thank you for spending your Sunday evening with us and we sincerely hope that you enjoy tonight’s show - our first since December 2019! Your support here today means everything to us all; we hope that you enjoy the concert, as much as we have enjoyed sharing it with all of you.

SAVE THE DATES: LAS VEGAS MEN’S CHORUS HOLIDAY CONCERT 2021: Sunday, December 19, 2021 – 4:00pm, FLAMINGO LIBRARY LAS VEGAS MEN’S CHORUS SPRING CONCERT 2022: Sunday, May 1, 2022 – 4:00pm, FLAMINGO LIBRARY LAS VEGAS MEN’S CHORUS PRIDE CONCERT 2022: Friday, June 3, 2022 – 7:00pm, FLAMINGO LIBRARY

Amazon Smile will donate 0.5% of all eligible purchases to the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus when you set-up and shop from smile.amazon.com! What a great way to give when shopping from home.

Donate anytime to us via Venmo!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & OUR HEARTFELT THANKS The LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada The Clark County Library Staff & Technicians Isaac Burkholz, LVMC Secretary: July 2020 – September 2021 Stephen Trumble, Social Media Manager Darren Abell, Website Sectional Rehearsal Hosts Ushers & LVMC Volunteers All of our supporters, musicians, current members, and alumni who have helped us get back to performing today!