PORT ANGELES — Kyle Sholinder, the Port Angeles teenager behind the successful “Save the Dog” campaign of 2013, will give his senior recital — an evening of song and percussion, classics and musical theater — tonight.
The public is invited to the 6:30 p.m. recital at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave., where admission is free.
Sholinder, now 17, organized a benefit concert two years ago to raise money for his dog Max’s surgery.
The German shepherd cross suffered from “wobbler disease,” caused by a slipped disc in his spine, and needed a $6,000 operation.
‘Save the Dog’ campaign
Sholinder’s concert featuring the Port Angeles High School Jazz Band and other local musicians raised more than $2,600, while his family’s “Save the Dog” Facebook page helped bring in the rest.
Today, Max is “alive and well and loved,” Sholinder’s grandmother Marcy Peters reported.
“He’s getting a few gray hairs,” added Sholinder, “but still playful and happy as a puppy.”
As for the teenager, he has followed his passion for music: singing in the choir; playing alto saxophone, timpani and marimba; lettering in band; and winning awards locally and at the state level.
He plans to go this fall to Western Washington University, where he’s been accepted into the vocal and percussion program.
First, though, he’ll sing and play marimba in tonight’s recital.
The program reflects his versatility, ranging from Mendelssohn and Mozart to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “All I Ask of You” from “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Gershwin’s “Nice Work If You Can Get It” and Giacomo Carissimi’s “Vittoria, mio core!” (“Victory, My Heart!”) are also on the itinerary this evening, as is Blake Tyson’s “A Cricket Sang and Set the Sun.”
“It will be a fun event that he has worked hard to put together,” Peters said.
“It would be wonderful to let those who supported him before know so that they have the opportunity to come enjoy some great music.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
