PORT ANGELES — In a major production, the Empire Trio, the Port Angeles High School choirs and the Port Angeles Symphony plan on entertaining a crowd this Friday night.
It’s something far out of the ordinary: a custom-made show, said Kyle LeMaire, executive director of the Juan de Fuca Foundation for the Arts.
JFFA will present the Empire Trio in its Season Concerts series at 7 p.m. Friday at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave.
Tickets are available at JFFA.org, Port Book and News in downtown Port Angeles and at the door, while information awaits at 360-457-5411.
“Hooray for Hollywood” is the theme of the night, with the ensemble performing a glittering string of blockbuster hits, said Erin Shields, a founding member of the New York City-based Empire Trio.
Among the numbers she looks forward to the most: a medley of songs from “Singing in the Rain;” Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” and trio baritone Adam Cannedy’s performance of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” from “Blue Hawaii.”
“We even go as far as ‘As Time Goes By’ from ‘Casablanca’ … and we do a really cool James Bond medley, with ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Nobody Does It Better,’” Shields promised.
The show travels from 1930s cinema on up to the 1990s, she said, with “My Heart Will Go On” from “Titanic.”
Shields, whose family tells her she was singing well before she learned to talk, began her stage career as Dorothy in a school production of “The Wizard of Oz.” She grew up in a town not unlike Sequim in its size: Oglesby, Ill., population of a few thousand. Chicago was about an hour’s drive away, so Shields got to go see big, inspirational touring musicals such as “Cats” and “42nd Street.”
David Shenton, the Empire Trio’s arranger and multi-instrumentalist — and Shields’ husband — now creates touring shows to include school choirs and musicians. This enabled LeMaire to invite Port Angeles High School’s choir and orchestra to participate in Friday’s performance.
“David has scored and arranged the night’s music to match the student ability and showcase those students. You aren’t going to find that just anywhere,” LeMaire said.
Both the Vocal Unlimited group and the Symphonic Choir at the high school have been learning the charts Shenton has sent them. Once the Empire Trio arrives in Port Angeles, they will get together for both rehearsals and clinics with the students.
Also joining the trio, choirs and senior chamber orchestra players: musicians from the Port Angeles Symphony. Concertmaster and solo violinist Jory Noble, cellist and music teacher Traci Winters Tyson, violist Morgan Bartholick-LeMaire, cellist Jesse Ahmann, bassist Clint Thomas and violinist Amber Roskamp will fill out the show’s orchestral element.
“Together with some 40 choir members, four chamber orchestra students and the Empire Trio, these symphony members will make Friday night a memorable experience,” LeMaire said.
Port Angeles High choir director John Lorentzen, meanwhile, is thrilled for his students.
“This is a real-life musical experience for the PAHS Choir,” he said.
“They are learning traditional backup vocals with oohs and ahs, featured four-part chorus sections, and many entrances within the context of the pieces. The music is beautiful — the songs are all famous,” he added.
These numbers, Lorentzen said, “are a nice contrast to the classical literature we’re working on to perform in Carnegie Hall,” where the Port Angeles High School band, orchestra and choirs will go during the last week of March.
The school’s music department, which hasn’t traveled since 2019, will participate in the WorldStrides Festival at the storied hall March 24-27.
“My goal is to expose my students to a wide variety of musical experiences — some that are outside the box of traditional high school music programs,” Lorentzen said, expressing thanks to LeMaire for inviting the dozens of teenagers to participate in the Empire Trio concert.
Parents of both the choir and orchestra will be at Friday’s concert, providing information and doing some final fundraising for the music programs at PAHS.
“Come down, view these incredible artists, see the next generation of music lovers, and help get the funds needed to continue the wonderful music programs PAHS provides,” LeMaire said.
“Let’s fill this beautiful auditorium and give these students the audiences they deserve.”
