In what promises to be a “blast from the past,” Los Cantantes del Lago is already in great voice and well into rehearsals for its Spring Concert “Love & Peace,” which will showcase many of the baby-boomers’ all-time pop favorites from the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Scheduled to take place at the Auditorio de la Ribera on March, 16, 7 p.m. and March 17, 4 p.m., this self-indulgent trip down memory lane will include hits from the Supremes, the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, the Hollies and many more.
Musical Director Timothy G. Ruff Welch was on good form at Tuesday’s rehearsal and time flew as the choir, accompanied by Eleanor Stromberg on piano, honed their well-chosen concert pieces to perfection.
Their performance of Jay Althouse’s arrangement of “Homeward Bound” by Marta Keen is rich and warm. It’s extremely beautiful and their harmonies are guaranteed to be free-range goose-bump material.
So too is 18-year-old soloist Hugo Ramos’ remarkable voice. His gloriously round and mellow baritone does full justice to the very sad and moving “Dying Soldier” by Nigel Short and Mack Wilberg. He is accompanied only by the harmonious voices of the choir, initially with non-lexical vocables and only a few conventional lyrics towards the end.
Written for the musical “Hair,” the evergreen song “Aquarius” by James Rado, Gerome Ragni and Galt MacDermot, topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts for six weeks, before eventually being certified platinum.
Cantantes do Greg Gilpin’s arrangement of this major hit full justice, so that trying to stop oneself joining in, demands enormous willpower!
As with all their other concerts, Love & Peace is a fundraiser to assist some Los Cantantes members meet next year’s tour costs, so there was great excitement when, following a break in rehearsals, Welch announced the next tour destination – Cuba from April 11-21, 2016.
Amid great excitement and members rushing to sign up, he added that thanks were due to Graciella and Alberto Costales, who had organized everything in Cuba, including the invitation from the Cuban choir, Cantores de Cienfuegos.
Welch added that in November 2016, 24 Cuban choir members will make a reciprocal visit to Ajijic, with their travel generously sponsored by Graciella and Alberto. Here, they will be housed, fed, transported and looked after by Los Cantantes members.
Tickets for Love & Peace are 250 pesos at Diane Pearl Colecciones, Mia’s Boutique or from the website, www.loscantantesdellago.com.