Services at the 1848 Shaker Meeting House in Colonie used to be a huge draw in the Capital District. People curious about the Shakers’ traditions, which were heavy with dance and music, would turn out, with authors Herman Melville and James Fenimore Cooper among the crowds.
Hoping to reignite people’s interest in the meetinghouse, the Shaker Heritage Society is marketing the space as a venue for concerts. It will host a Saturday, June 12, show featuring Albany Pro Musica, a 60-member semi-professional choral group that is trying to expand its appeal as well. Taking a break from its standard classical numbers, Albany Pro Musica will perform a mix of show tunes, songs from the ’50s and ’60s and do-wop numbers in a Pops Night Cabaret slated for 7:30 p.m.
`It’s fun, a little different,` Albany Pro Musica’s executive director, Jean Leonard, said. `It’s fun to do songs you know people will automatically recognize.`
The chorus does have some recent experience in that area ` in October, it did a selection of patriotic and folk tunes called `America’s Song.` Looking for a local historic venue to fit the theme of the show, group officials checked out the meetinghouse but decided it would be too small since the Capital District Youth Orchestra was sharing the stage.
But Leonard and David Griggs-Janower, the group’s conductor and artistic director, realized the meetinghouse could be a great fit for the cabaret night.
`It’s a pretty amazing building,` Griggs-Janower said.
`The acoustics are fantastic,` Leonard said. `It’s a big, open room, and it’s an easy place to put out tables and chairs. It will be perfect.`
That’s a message Starlyn D’Angelo hopes other groups hear loud and clear. The executive director of the Shaker Heritage Society, D’Angelo called the meetinghouse one of the area’s `hidden jewels.`
`We see it as a natural oasis,` she said, adding that the heritage society takes great pride in the meetinghouse’s place in history. Located on land that was considered home to the first Shaker settlement in the country, the building was central to a group of people who envisioned a utopian society.
`They had a tremendous influence on decorative arts and music,` D’Angelo said.
While she hopes that the concert will pique people’s interest in the Shakers and the meetinghouse, Griggs-Janower similarly hopes it will create some new Albany Pro Musica fans.
`It might introduce us to some people who wouldn’t come out for Bach,` he said with a laugh.
That’s not to say Albany Pro Musica’s regular repertoire lacks an audience. Back in 1981, some friends approached Griggs-Janower about forming a chamber choir since there wasn’t one in the Capital District.
`I was always game to start something,` Griggs-Janower said.
There were two things that set the group apart: its small size and the quality of the singers. Although Albany Pro Musica is a volunteer group, music is a career for many members, who teach and direct throughout the area.
`They just simply have music as their passion,` Leonard said.
`It’s not a social group,` Griggs-Janower said. `It’s a musical group. These people really devote themselves.`
One of the devotees is Ann Derrick, a soprano who directs the choirs at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School. After majoring in voice and piano in college, Derrick did some teaching, then branched out into performing. She was in a number of theatrical shows around the country before settling in New York City. She met her husband there and they later moved to the Capital District, where Derrick heard about Albany Pro Musica through friends.
`I thought, ‘This would be fun,’ ` she said, and her four years with the group have proved to be just that. Derrick said she thrives on the passion everyone brings to Albany Pro Musica.
`It is fantastic,` she said. `I can’t even describe anything else in my life that’s even close to it.`
She’s gotten to share that passion firsthand with her students, who performed with Albany Pro Musica at Troy Music Hall in April as part of the group’s `Adopt a Choir` program.
Derrick said performing at the music hall was a thrill, and she’s equally excited about taking the stage at the meetinghouse.
`It’s such a unique little place,` she said. `There’s not anything else like it in the area.`
Derrick is also looking forward to reaching out to people with a different style of music.
`It’s territory we’re not used to,` she said.
The concert offers a rare chance for chorus members to `show off,` according to Leonard, with several having solos or singing in small groups. Derrick will perform a duet of `All I Ask of You` from `Phantom of the Opera` and be part of a quartet singing `Route 66.`
`I love the jazz style,` she said.
Leonard, meanwhile, still sings with the group, which she joined in 1997 after moving to the Capital District. For the cabaret show, she will duet on `Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better.`
Griggs-Janower, who also serves as the director of choral music and teaches at the University at Albany, said the chorus has toyed with the idea of a pops concert for a while, with some fans of the group urging one.
`I think they’re looking forward to hearing pop music done at the level we usually perform at,` he said.
The show should also be a treat for Albany Pro Musica’s members, he said.
`We spent so much time trying to do classical music,` he said. `This is a chance to reminds ourselves we can loosen up. It really gives them an outlet.`
Admission is $10, or $5 for students. Leonard advised people to buy tickets early as a big crowd is expected. They are available on Albany Pro Musica’s web site www.albanypromusica.org. Food and drinks will be available.
The meetinghouse is at 875 Watervliet Shaker Road, Colonie. For information on the meetinghouse and the Shaker Heritage Society, visit www.shakerheritage.org.“