This weekend, a contingent of the Skagit Valley Chorale will take a short “American Journey Tour” to the North Olympic Peninsula to sing in Port Townsend, Port Angeles, Forks and Neah Bay.
The chorale will perform at the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave. in Port Townsend, at 7:30 tonight and at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St., at noon Saturday.
West End concerts are slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Rainforest Arts Center, 35 N. Forks Ave., in Forks and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Makah Community Gym, 1394 Bayview Ave., in Neah Bay.
All concerts on the tour will be free to the public, though space is limited and interested audience members are encouraged to arrive early for a good seat.
A community choir based in Mount Vernon, the Skagit Valley Chorale dates back to 1984 and has grown to approximately 120 members.
Half of the current membership will make the trip to sing on the Peninsula.
The chorale is conducted by Adam Burdick, a 1989 graduate of Clallam Bay High School.
Grew up in Pysht
Burdick grew up in Pysht and participated in school and community vocal and instrumental music on the Peninsula, including several productions with Port Angeles Light Opera.
Later he taught voice at Peninsula College and conducted the Port Angeles Community Chorus, as well as singing occasionally as a soloist with the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra.
Burdick’s music studies took him to the University of Puget Sound, the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, and doctoral studies at the University of Washington.
Teaches music
Now he teaches music at North Seattle College in addition to leading the chorale and other musical activities.
The repertoire for this “American Journey” includes a selection of American music that organizers say is unusually wide in diversity for a choral music concert, according to a press release.
It is drawn from around the U.S. and Canada and includes folk, classical, blues, bluegrass and other popular music.
The music tells many stories about the people of the U.S., with many favorites including “Shenandoah,” “Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie,” and “Rock Island Line.”
The chorale is accompanied on the tour by percussionist Patrick Roulet, a faculty member at Western Washington University. Chorale members fill out the rest of the band and percussion corps, including a little body percussion.
Visit the chorale’s website at www.skagitvalley chorale.org to learn more about the group and this tour.
