Chorale, RHS Team Up for A Cappella Concert

“Absolutely A Cappella,” a concert by the Inland Master Chorale and special guests Redlands High School Chamber Singers, will be held March 7 and 8 at the First United Methodist Church at 1 East Olive Ave. in Redlands. The Chorale invited the Chamber Singers to share the concert as way to recognize their director Kenneth Tuttle in his final season at RHS. Tuttle, who has led the high school’s choral music program for 24 years, was preceded at RHS by the Chorale’s director Roger Duffer. Duffer went on to teach and direct at Riverside City College. The a cappella, or unaccompanied, concert delivers a wide range of musical genres from spirituals to folk songs to classical music. Chorale selections include Railroad Medley, The Drunken Sailor, and How Can I Keep from Singing? They present Pilgrim’s Hymn as a tribute to composer Stephen Paulus, who passed away in 2014 and will sing a Bach piece in the jazz “scat” syllable style of singer/director Ward Swingle, who died in January. Chamber Singers pieces include O Admirabile Commerciumand Of the Father’s Love Begotten. The choirs will combine on a Czech piece for multiple choirs and a new American spiritual, Harriet Tubman. The concert will conclude with Lutkin’s The Lord Bless You and Keep You, traditionally used to close RHS vocal concerts. Individual tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door and $10 for students and children. Concerts begin at 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. Children ages 5 and under are not admitted. Advance tickets may be purchased online at www.inlandmasterchorale.org or by calling 909-798-4462. The Chorale’s 35th anniversary season concludes with “Aspects of Nature,” a musical tribute to mother nature, on May 16 through 17, 2015.