Uniting community through song
Sacramento Master Singers respond to recent violent tragedies with upcoming concert By Laura I. Winn
Mourning and healing through music are the driving forces of Love Heals, a chorale concert by Sacramento Master Singers. Created in response to recent violent tragedies in America and abroad, including the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting and the Paris Bataclan concert shooting, the concert aims to unite the community through song. With selections from Mozart, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Lennon and John Legend, and spoken word by local poet Laura Cook AKA immoBme az.i.B.we, the diverse repertoire intends to evoke both an outpouring of grief and a call for peace. Acclaimed chorale composer Jake Runestad’s song “Let My Love Be Heard” acts an inspirational guide for the twoand-half hour program held on
March 18 and 19 at First United Methodist Church. “This concert is an opportunity for the community to gather together to share grief and anger and to be soothed and comforted,” stated alto singer Carol McCormick of River Park, who first joined the chorale in 1983 and serves as vice chair on the Sacramento Master Singers Board of Directors. For people who are feeling unsettled by the tensions and stresses of current events, the event is intended to act as a sort of musical therapy – a way to process thoughts and feelings in a shared experience. “Music lets us experience emotions that are hard to articulate, even when we don’t have the words,” explained McCormick who also cited Black Lives Matter and the “senseless deaths” of black Americans as catalysts for the program.
While the program hopes to encourage action “when silence is not an option,” the event is apolitical. The multi-generational chorale is made up people from all political persuasions who come together as a musical family. Regardless of whether the members identify as Republican, Democrat or Independent, choirs tend to draw people who are sensitive to marginalized populations, McCormack said. For tenor singer Anthony Tavianini, the social justice tone of the concert comes at a time that really hits home as he has recently become more politically and socially aware. Looking to be challenged as a vocalist, the 26-year-old Midtown resident and music teacher joined the choir last August. “The group has a mindset of rising above and being at the top of the game.”
That challenge is also what drew McCormack to the group and has kept her coming back after periodic years off. Both McCormack and Tavianini have sung with other groups, but boast of the level of artistry and unity in Sacramento Master Singers. “In chorale music, you build a connection to other people. You need a sense of collaboration for success,” explained Tavianini. That collaboration is fostered through the understanding that no one singer is more important than another. The chorale experience is the antithesis to what Tavianini considers America’s obsession with stardom. The 40-plus members of Sacramento Master Singers hone their craft through hours of study and practice, both as a group and as individuals. To execute a concert that both entertains, moves and adds nu-
ance to the texts of popular hits like “Imagine,” “True Colors” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” the choir has been meeting about six times a month to practice. They are even taking on “Glory” from the Dr. King film, “Selma” with immoBme az.i.B.we handling the rap bars. In addition to the re-imagined top 40 hits, the concert will feature traditional religious choral pieces and selections from classical composers. It’s an eclectic set list the group hopes will entice the community to give chorale music a try and experience its healing powers. Love Heals is recommended for age high school and up. Showtimes are March 18 at 8 p.m. and March 19 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $22 adult, $15 senior, $10 student and available online at mastersingers.org.
A Day in the Life of a Guatemalan Immigrant By Stacy Grow
These days, life is good for Sacramento area resident Flor Rosales. She’s bilingual, owns her own housekeeping business, and her son earns straight As at UC Santa Barbara. But life was not always like this. In her native Guatemala, she was in her last year of college when she found out she was pregnant. After giving birth to her son Hugo, she began to look for work to support her family. Months passed; no one would hire her. She applied for an American visa in hopes of finding work there, but the U.S. Embassy rejected her application. Flor’s mother decided to mortgage her home to pay for a smugglerknown as a “coyote”- to take Flor to the U.S. illegally. At age 24, Flor left 9month-old Hugo with her mom, and began a 22-day bus journey to the U.S. The only woman in a group of 22 travelers, she had a childhood friend pose as her husband to protect her from sexual assault. In late December of 1997, she finally arrived in Houston. Immediately, Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.
Flor and her son Hugo on the day he graduated from high school.
she called her friend’s cousin, certain that he would invite her to stay with him in the Sacramento area. He didn’t. She went to the bathroom and cried. Flor wound up in New York City, where she lived in a cramped apartment with 22 undocumented immigrants. She spoke very limited English and had never seen a building taller than eight stories high. After adjusting to the culture shock, she found work as a nanny at a beautiful oceanfront mansion belonging to the owner of Jordache Jeans. The pay? $180 a week.
Flor laughs as she remembers her boss’s parties, where she saw celebrities like Mariah Carey, the Clintons, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Six months later, the cousin of Flor’s friend did offer to let her stay with him. She took a 3-day bus ride to Elk Grove got fake papers, and began working at Burger King. In 1999, she had finally saved enough to bring Hugo and her mother to the U.S., only to have them kidnapped by their coyote and held for a $10,000 ransom. With help from friends at her church, she paid the ransom and was finally reunited with part of her family again. When Flor began dating a man who had grown up in
Mexico and spoke no English, she assumed he was undocumented like her. The day they got married, she was shocked to discover he was technically a U.S. citizen, having been born here. That marriage later ended when he became abusive, but it did grant her the unexpected honor of finally becoming an American citizen. Flor confides that one of her proudest moments was when Hugo, always a dedicated student, was offered a fullride scholarship to U.C. Santa Barbara. Tears drip down her cheeks as she tells me, “I’m so grateful that my son has an opportunity for a better life. I feel like we’re living the American Dream.”
www.valcomnews.com • March 9, 2017 • Land Park News