Published: December 05, 2008 12:47 am            

MUSIC: Lockport singers add their harmony to Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus

Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

Every week, when the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus meets to rehearse, a carload of singers makes its way down from Lockport to join them.

The BPC, an internationally known chorus with members from all over Western New York, has seven singers from Lockport in its ranks.

Several of the singers — Kathy Chellino-Vinchkoski, Nancy Shambach, Andrea Perry, Stephen MacDonald, Anne Lee, Silvia deRosas and Janice Adair — live within a mile of one another.

“It’d amazing that so many of us live right on top of each other,” Chellino-Vinchkoski said.

“There is more talent in this little town than people can imagine,” Shambach said. “It’s unbelievable the people that come out of this little town.

Perry said she expects there is a lot more talent waiting in the wings.

“They have to be willing to take the risk, come out and audition, make themselves known,” she said.

Rigorous rehearsals

The BPC is a non-profit organization with more than 100 auditioned voices. The chorus is closely affiliated with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and performs throughout the area at concerts all year round.

Chellino-Vinchkoski joined the chorus in August after auditioning for the chorus’ new director, internationally-known choral director Doreen Rao.

“I said, ‘I’m just gonna try,’ ” she said. “I didn’t know if they would accept me. I was actually going to cancel my audition, because I got nervous.”

She went through with it, however, and soon got the call that she was accepted.

Shambach has been with the chorus for a year and a half. She said singing runs in her family, but she “was never brave enough” to try out before.

“One of the women in the chorus sings at our church, and she said, ‘Why don’t you try out?’ ” she said. “The more I thought about it, I thought, ‘Well, that could be fun.’ ”

She sang a Barbra Streisand song at her audition — a song that had an emotional hook for her.

“I guess that’s why it worked,” she said.

Perry is in her second year with the BPC, after she auditioned twice.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”

The BPC meets for rehearsals once a week, but during busy times like the holiday season, they may meet more often. There are six concerts in December, Chellino-Vinchkoski said.

“It’s all different material, so it gets kind of crazy,” she said.

Some of the material is in German, so Rao has the BPC members taking German diction lessons on top of their usual rehearsal times.

The chorus members don’t get paid for their hard work, and they are expected to be on their toes.

“They just hand you a whole pile of music and say, ‘Sing,’ ” Chellino-Vinchkoski said. “This is the hardest part of the year, but it’ll calm down.”

Emotional experience

Along with some other BPC members, Chellino-Vinchkoski and Shambach will travel to Prague in June to perform Verdi’s “Defiant Requiem,” which was written as a memorial to singers who lost their lives during World War II at the concentration camp at Terezin in the Czech Republic.

Chellino-Vinchkoski said they will be performing the piece to an audience of Terezin survivors and more than 600 diplomats from 47 countries.

Perry said the chorus has already performed the requiem in Buffalo.

“From what I was told, after the show was over ... there wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” Perry said.

The chorus members feel the emotion sometimes, too. Chellino-Vinchkoski remembers a tribute to Irving Berlin that ended with “God Bless America,” and the crowd gave a standing ovation.

“Everybody got chills,” she said. “Even the women that have been there for years get teary-eyed sometimes. ... The voices are just so rich, and all the sound is all around you. Even rehearsals get thrilling.”

Perry, Shambach and Chellino-Vinchkoski all said they plan to stay with the chorus as long as they can.

“I’ll stay there forever,” Chellino-Vinchkoski said, laughing. “I just kind of feel like I came home. It’s almost a spiritual thing.”

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.

        

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