Members of the Verdugo Hills Women’s Chorus (VHWC) will travel to Orange County where they will meet up with members of the California Women’s Chorus, Inc. (CWC) for food, fun and lots of rehearsal time. Once there, the 50th CWC Annual Scholarship Celebration will begin with almost 200 singers coming from choruses across California, from San Francisco to San Diego. The three-day event will begin May 3 and culminate with a public concert on Sunday, May 5 in the ballroom of the Double Tree by Hilton. Concert starts at 2 p.m. and tickets may be purchased at the door for $18 each.     

Ki Park, director of VHWC, will be attending her first CWC convention and concert along with 18 members of VHWC. Park had a heart for singing since childhood and most of her adult career has been performing as a collaborative pianist as well as a singer. Her passion for music led her to challenge herself as a director and VHWC has reaped the benefit of her talents.                          

The 50th celebration of convention/concert activities this year is hosted by the Harbor Singers of Orange County with Kathy Mosenko and Kathy Gast co-chairing the event. “Flashback Friday” will start the weekend with games like “Golden Oldies – Name That Tune” and “Flower Power Bingo” along with “Flashback Jeopardy.”  Singers are encouraged to recreate their favorite ’60s fashions for this fun evening.  Everyone is looking forward to this blast from the past as well as entertainment by Rob’s Kids.

Rob Blaney, director of Vocal Music at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, will be guest conductor for CWC’s concert on May 5. Blaney currently directs five choirs at Woodbridge, which was named National Grammy Signature School for excellence in music education. One of the choirs will perform at Flashback Friday, directed by Blaney. Blaney received the Kennedy Center Award for his original soundtrack for “Women in Black” at Concordia University.

Preparing for her duties as mistress of ceremonies is Shirley Stewart who joined the CWC chorus in 1971 and this year will be mistress of ceremonies for the 49th  concert. Stewart is a UCLA alumna who enjoyed a rewarding teaching career before retiring in 2016. She was honored in Washington, D.C. by Media One Cable as the Classroom Teacher of the Year after hosting five different cable shows for over 10 years. She was also named Teacher of the Year for the Downey Unified School District in 2000. Stewart has been keeper of the seal for CWC since 1979 and for over 20 years was the choreographer for NCSW.

VHWC spring performances in the Foothill and Pasadena areas are coming to a close in May. When they meet again in September, there will be a new slate of music to learn and many local organizations and communities to entertain. Membership in this musical group is open to any woman who loves to sing. No auditions required.   

If interested, call Sharon Schlarb at (626) 376-5383 or Arlene Massimino at (818) 624-1111.

Submitted by
Arlene MASSIMINO