American Style

From Big Bands to Broadway

Performed by the Eugene Concert Choir, Vicki Brabham with Big Band Combo, and celebrity guests Evynne Hollens and Calvin Orlando Smith!

Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Hult Center Silva Concert Hall

Synopsis

​A retrospective of American styles of music – from Big Bands to Broadway. This upbeat concert will take the audience through toe-tapping swing hits like In the Mood, Tuxedo Junction, Take the A Train, and Sing, Sing, Sing, plus nostalgic songs from the War years such as Boogie, Woogie Bugle Boy and I’ll Be Seeing You. Hits from great musicals over the years will draw from The Music Man, They’re Playing Our Song, Wicked, Les Miz and Waitress.

Performers: ​Eugene Concert Choir with an instrumental combo led by Vicki Brabham, featured local celebrity guest soloists Evynne Hollens and Calvin Orlando Smith, an award-winning barbershop quartet Social Insecurity and South Eugene High School's Jazz Choir, The Dorians.

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Calvin Orlando Smith, Guest Artist

Performer Bios:

Vicki Brabham: is a local pianist, vocalist, music educator, and arranger. She teaches in the music department at Lane Community College and is the Lower School Music Specialist at Oak Hill independent school. Vicki accompanies the Women’s Choral Society, is an original member of the Emerald City Jazz Kings and serves in music ministry at First Congregational Church. Her love for musical theatre dates back to working with Eugene legend Ed Ragozzino, and for almost 30 years she has participated in local high school and community theatre projects as accompanist, vocal coach, and conductor. Her long association with Diane Retallack and the Eugene Concert Choir has been a professional and personal highlight.

Evynne Hollens: is a Broadway singer and YouTuber primarily known for her online videos & live performances. With over 39 million views on YouTube, she releases music videos every month; frequently popular music & Disney covers. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she resides in Oregon with her husband Peter Hollens and is a Mom, a performer, and artistic director. In 2001 she co-founded Divisi, the University of Oregon’s award-winning female a cappella group, featured in the best-selling book & inspiration for the hit feature film “Pitch Perfect". In the 2017 holiday season, Evynne made her Broadway debut in Home for the Holidays, a LIVE Broadway Christmas Concert event featuring winners of American Idol, The Voice, America's Got Talent, and The Bachelorette, at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway. A proud member of Actors' Equity, Evynne is currently writing her first musical entitled MILAGRO with Portland-based singer-songwriter Anna Gilbert, coming in 2020.

Calvin Orlando Smith: completed his Bachelor of Arts Degree at Keble College, University of Oxford, England in 2000, while studying abroad with the University of Georgia.  Nationally, he has appeared on Broadway at both the Lunt-Fontanne and Minskoff theaters as Cecco in the Tony-nominated production of Peter Pan. Other roles include Colonel (Evita), Oliver Hix  (Music Man); and Steward (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), as well as roles in My Fair Lady and Fiddler on the Roof.  Regionally he has performed in ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Cats, The Producers, Threepenny Opera, Amadeus, Forum, Aida, The Full Monty, Five Guys Named Moe, Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore and Annie Get Your Gun, among others.  Calvin has shared the stage and television screen with such artists as Isaac Hayes, Ruth Buzzi, Ben Vereen, Florence Henderson, Patrice Munsel, R.E.M., Jane Pauley, Bryant Gumbel and The New Kids On The Block. He recently starred as Captain Phoebus de Martin in The Hunchback of Notre Dame on Maui, Hawaii, and in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also made history when he became the first African American to be accepted into the Department of History of Art and to graduate with a Master of Philosophy Degree from Hughes Hall, Cambridge University in 2004.

Social Insecurity: American Style will also feature Gary Raze, Marty Anderson, Kevin Stephens and Bob Martindale, who make up the barbershop quartet Social Insecurity! This amazing group just took 10th place in the senior division at a competition in Nashville, Tenn., where the group performed at the Grand Ole Opry!

SEHS Dorians: South Eugene High School's jazz choir, The Dorians, represents grades 9-12 and is an advanced ensemble of 16 singers and four instrumentalists. The Dorians will be performing the wonderful "Alexander Hamilton" from Hamilton with featured soloist, Calvin Orlando Smith!

Date and Time

Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Hult Center Silva Concert Hall