Sweet Sounding Synergy

WASILLA — Ever since it opened in 2015, the Glenn Massay Theatre on the campus of Mat-Su College has been the dream performance spot for the Valley’s many scholastic and community musicians, actors and dancers.

For the Mat-Su Community Chorus, it’s been a dream left unfulfilled, largely because the group, which usually sings at churches around the area, simply can’t afford the weighty cost of performing in the Massay.

But combined them with another musical faction, and they just might find their way on stage.

“We thought it would be fun to have another group, and honestly, it would help us off-set the costs a bit,” said chorus director Anna Crowther. “We thought of the orchestra and so we approached Kate.”

Mat-Su Orchestra director Kate Patterson said her band of more than 30 strong that books twice a year at the Massay, was eager for the collaboration, believed to be the first of its kind in the Valley.

The result is a performance called “Sweet Sounding Synergy: A Musical Collaboration”. It starts at 3 p.m. on Sunday and is free to the public with a free-will offering taken for the Palmer Arts Council and its summer camps aimed at kids.

“The performance is a mixture of different music. We do three modern pieces, they do some spirituals and a Bach piece,” Patterson said. “It’s going to be good music by members of the community wanting to do something good for the community.”

The Chorus and the Orchestra are combining on just two pieces to close the show; the rest they’ll do separately. In preparation for those pieces — “Something Like a Star” from the Frostiana Suite by Randall Thompson and the Bach number — the two troupes have crammed inside the Wasilla High chorus room, built to suit just one of them, for a pair of rehearsals, the last Thursday night.

“We’ve never worked with an orchestra and it was very fun last Tuesday to put that together and hear accompaniment that’s different than just piano,” Crowther said. “One of the pieces, most of it is the orchestra with just a little choir. That was really interesting to see how we fit into that one.”

Patterson said it’s been an enriching experience from her side, too.

“For us to play, and then them to play without us, and then coming together seeing how it fits is really interesting,” she said prior to Thursday’s final rehearsal. “Tonight’s only the second time (we’ve rehearsed). It went really well the other night.”

Crowther said that dynamic should lend itself to a broader swath of fans.

“Different cultures, different languages — things they usually wouldn’t see in just a string or just a choir performance,” she said. “I think it would appeal to a wider audience, and it benefits the Palmer Arts Council and what they do for kids.”

Patterson pointed out another, easily forgotten benefit of attending Sunday’s performance.

“It’s a free concert, so take your loved one, go to the concert and go to dinner afterwards,” she said. “Consider you’ve done your Valentine’s duty for the week.”