Our First Year

from the Arizona Daily Star, Nov 10, 2011

Chorus to hold debut concert

Vail Chorale’s free show to be at Academy Village

  • Submitted by Valerie Anderson Academy Village Volunteer
Chorus to hold debut concert
Fred Reinagel leads members of The Vail Chorale in a rehearsal at Empire High School. The chorus has about 35 members.COURTESY OF MARCIA REINAGEL

The Vail Chorale, a new community chorus in southeast Tucson, will hold its debut concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Great Room of the Arizona Senior Academy at Academy Village.

Sponsored by the senior academy and Vail School District, the chorale holds weekly rehearsals at Empire High School.

Approximately 35 area singers, including several high school students, participate in this unique community outreach program. The members’ enthusiasm for singing is reflected in their motto, “Live for Singing! – Sing for Life!”

The chorale is directed by Fred Reinagel, Arizona Senior Academy coordinator of musical events and a community chorus and church choir director with many years’ experience. Melissa Hale is the assistant director and Marilee Leishman is the group’s accompanist.

Reinagel said the chorale offers opportunities for student and community singers to hone singing skills, learn basic music theory and perform pieces representing a wide variety of musical styles and periods.

The chorale welcomes new members, especially males.

The chorale will perform music from the classical genre of Bach-Gounod, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Elgar. It also will perform American favorites including a traditional spiritual, music of Stephen Foster, Samuel Ward’s “America the Beautiful” and Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from “The Sound of Music.”

The concert will conclude with the seasonal anthem “Prayer of Thanksgiving.” The program will also feature a piano solo.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Academy Village, an active-adult community, is located off Old Spanish Trail six miles southeast of Saguaro National Park East.