A rewarding week of community engagement

"The Tree of Life" stained glass window by artist Keiko Miura. Commissioned for Bayview by Daniel Parks to honor his wife who loved trees. Photo courtesy of Bayview, used with permission.

By Sonia Fang, Director, Magnolia Chorale
 
It's been a busy and rewarding few weeks for the Magnolia Chorale. On Sunday April 14, our assistant conductor Yuly Kopkin directed the debut performance of our "Voices Raised" concert at Bayview. We were grateful for the opportunity to share our music with such a lovely and attentive audience in such a warm and beautiful space. We were so touched by the heartfelt, positive feedback from audience members, and were awed to be singing next to this beautiful piece of stained glass entitled “The Tree of Life” by artist Keiko Miura. Many thanks to Mary Body for helping coordinate our visit.

​The Magnolia Chorale has a long tradition of performing outreach concerts at venues such as Mirabella Seattle, Aegis Living, and Horizon House as a way to make our music accessible to the greater community. We look forward to these concerts every year and it's one of the highlights for our singers.

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Better Together Not-for-Profit Expo
On Tuesday, April 16, the Chorale had a booth at the Magnolia Better Together Not-for-Profit Expo. The goals of the event were to highlight the different non-profit organizations serving the Magnolia and Interbay area, and to brainstorm how we could collaborate with each another to improve the community. The event was sponsored by the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce and Peoples Bank, and our booth was sponsored by Washington Federal. Washington Federal also generously supported our induction into the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce for the year.

​Betty, Darrel, and I had so much fun representing the Chorale at the event.  We played a recording of our fall concert "Common Ground" repertoire (featuring Robert Ray's Gospel Mass and Jason Robert Brown's Chanukah Suite) in the background, and displayed some of Magnolia Chorale's first concert programs, courtesy of Pat Gaffney.  We discussed our upcoming concerts with passersby and hopefully convinced some of our community members who love to sing in the car, that the Magnolia Chorale is always looking for more singers! We also had a chance to check out some of the other booths and were inspired by all of the good work being done in our community.  Please visit here to learn more.  
 
This week we're gearing up for our "Voices Raised" Spring Concert on April 27 and 28. From the soaring tones of Joy (Hans Bridger Heruth), to the nostalgic melodies of The Sound of Music and Feelin' Groovy, we're creating a joyous celebration of singing...about singing.  If you haven't already purchased your tickets, get them now!

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