What a privilege to be able to sing with the likes of Yoichi Udagawa and his Cape Ann Symphony over this past Thanksgiving weekend.
There are so many glittering jewels in the crown that is Cape Ann and the Christmas/Holiday show is clearly one of them. This year racked up three sellouts for three shows: one in Ipswich and two in the cavernous Manchester Essex Regional High School auditorium in Manchester-by-the-Sea. What terrific audiences greeted us in eager anticipation of the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons. It was clear they were ready to celebrate and it was a party mood they were in, especially on that final performance on Sunday afternoon. Yoichi has a way bringing that out. The audience seemed to be belting it out even louder than the choir in the sing-along carol section at the end. Everyone was into it.
Yoichi commands the symphony with an unwavering seriousness in his standards and execution. He has a wonderful omniscient persona as he conducts and listens. Reviewers have called him “astonishing and fearless,” “powerful and emotionally evocative” and noted “his relaxed manner and ability to speak from the podium have helped new audiences as well as enthusiasts gain a greater appreciation for symphonic music.” He has a thousand colors in his palette.
And speaking of that, his sly and infectious humor dominates the second half of the program when the chorus takes over. That Yoichi grin spreads a mile wide on his face as the choir takes off — the way-smaller choir which has an even bigger sound than the previous larger ones. For decades, the choir was directed by the amazing Wendy Betts and numbered between 80 and 50 members. But she stepped down and her equally amazing daughter Brittany Betts took the reins. But Brittany held rigorous auditions and slimmed down the group to 32, eight each in the soprano, alto, tenor and bass sections. Then she drove the group hard for 12 long rehearsals, focusing on every darn difficult detail. She was relentless but it paid off. Yoichi said it all after the first number of the dress rehearsal: “Wow, wow, wow! What a difference!”
And it stayed that way. Our 32 and his 75 instruments crowded onto the stage made up a band of over 100 — that’s a big band and a lot of music. From the first notes in the program, it felt like we were in a Disney movie. It was such a huge sound, but our intrepid choir kept up and held up our end. Brittany had prepared us for that. The sold-out crowds propped us up even more. We killed. And the orchestra gave us a standing O at the end for extra icing on the cake. So did the crowd.
Brittany has been asked to conceive and direct the next Musicians Unleashed concert, a Salute to Broadway, sponsored by the symphony, on Sunday, Feb. 9, at the St. Paul Lutheran Church Concert Hall, 1123 Washington St. in Gloucester’s Lanesville section (to keep it local). Four of us were selected to be in that show — two guys, two women — and we are going to be ready to rock it. Some terrific songs Brittany has chosen from musicals new and old. Your erstwhile columnist will be one of them and so will Britt herself who is a Broadway belter supreme. Come and belt some with us in the sing-along section. You might even get to meet the legendary Yoichi himself. Perhaps he’ll even get up and belt one himself. He can do anything, so no one would be surprised. He is a genuine Cape Ann treasure that all of us should experience.
Gloucester resident Gordon Baird is an actor and musician, co-founder of Musician Magazine and producer of “The Chicken Shack” community access TV show.