News

Montcalm Community College’s Alumni & Friends Choir invites you to get ready for a musical experience featuring songs from renowned composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, during their “Music of the Night” concert on Saturday, April 5, at 7 p.m. at the Greenville High School Performing Arts Center.

Sponsored by the MCC Foundation Stanley & Blanche Ash Community College Enhancement Fund, the choir will be performing well-known songs from Evita, Cats, and JC Superstar, among other songs written throughout Webber’s illustrious career. The performance will feature songs from Phantom of the Opera and costumes reminiscent of a masquerade ball in 1881 Paris, France.

Audience members are encouraged to join the fun and dress up!

“We’re so excited to bring the music of this classic composer to Greenville and thought it would be even more exciting for the audience members to participate with us by dressing in decorative masks and/or costumes in the style of a masquerade ball,” said director Valerie Vander Mark.

“Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music has been in the spotlight since the 1970s, but he began composing at the age of six,” Vander Mark said.

His first work to be performed publicly, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968), was written with lyricist Tim Rice, who has gone on to work on several Disney musicals. In Dreamcoat, Webber delights audiences with its songs in several different styles: rock, pop, cowboy shuffle, 50s Rock 4’n Roll, and calypso.

“Webber found his first real fame with the Rock “opera,” Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), which began with a music album and developed into a stage show. Webber was not afraid to incorporate classical styles of music into pop culture; he even wrote a serious work in Latin for his father’s funeral, in the ancient style of a Requiem Mass (1985). Our women will be singing one beautiful song from it. From his most popular Phantom of the Opera (1986) to the smash hit School of Rock (2015), Webber has written something for everyone, and he continues to produce new works,” Vander Mark said.

The choir will also perform a heart-wrenching piece from the more recent Cinderella (2021), as well as two numbers from Love Never Dies (2010), the lesser-known sequel to Phantom.

“You won’t want to miss the gorgeous music and the fun of a masquerade ball at this concert!” Vander Mark added.

Tickets are free but reservations are encouraged. Visit https://gpac.ludus.com and click on “Buy Tickets,” or call 616-225-6109 to guarantee specific seating. For more information, email Valerie Vander Mark at valv.montcalm@gmail.com. Attendees may also donate a nonperishable food item to benefit those in need.

Director: Valerie Vander Mark, of Greenville

Instrumental Director: Matthew Reed, of Rockford

Piano Accompanist: Kathryn Glanville, of Rockford

Synthesizer: Deborah Reed, of Rockford

Guitar: AJ Mayer, of Ionia

Drums: Warren Yaw, of Stanton

Soprano: Cynthia Batchelor, of Greenville; Leighann Fries, of Greenville; Joyce Kitchenmaster, of Stanton; Michele Monroe, of Elwell; Katrina Nelson, of Howard City; Nancy Nielsen, of Edmore; Jordan Petersen, of Stanton; Sue Snyder, of Greenville; Abby Sotak, of Cedar Springs; and Kathleen Wilkin, of Greenville.

Alto: Justine Bollinger, of Stanton; Mary Cameron Mitchell, of Stanton; Sandy Cote, of Greenville; Margaret Durga, of Greenville; Pamela Masterson, of Saranac; Sally Morais, of Sheridan; Ann Mulcahy, of Cedar Springs; Jane Nelson, of Greenville; Kelly Renkema, of Grand Rapids; Frances Snyder, of Crystal; and Lynn Syrjala-Slater, of Greenville.

Tenor: Jody Butler, of Stanton; Abel Carpenter, of Greenville; James Degoede, of Greenville; Randy Masterson, of Saranac; Larry Moss, of Greenville; Jon Muilenberg, of Stanton; and Nan Riley, of Lakeview.

Bass: Ed Ford, of Greenville; John Hoppough, of Greenville; Claude Johnson, of Greenville; David Jones, of Greenville; Tim King, of Gowen; Jerry McCoy, of Gowen; Tim Mulcahy, of Cedar Springs; Joshua Randall, of Coral; and Greg Vander Mark, of Greenville.