LCCC arts dean, husband excited to debut new musical project

Silenced due to the pandemic, Lorain County Community College Dean of Arts & Humanities Brenda Pongracz and her husband, Andrew, are about to finally debut their new project, Duo Kettő. "We've been married for 20 years, but this is actually the first time we performed together as a duo," said Pongracz, a soprano soloist and section leader at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Lakewood. "We're both musicians and have performed a lot, but we've just never done something for just the two of us. "We started thinking about this last fall. We were originally supposed to perform in April and obviously it got postponed due to COVID. So we've been kind of rehearsing on and off, toying with the idea since last fall." The new vocal and percussion group is scheduled to perform a free Signature Recital Series show Monday, Oct. 26, at the Lorain County Community College Stocker Arts Center's Hoke Theatre. Safety protocols have reduced the venue's capacity from 988 seats to a 130-member audience. Masks are required for attendees, who as a group will be placed in the middle of three open seats to promote social distancing. The couple's one-hour set features mostly 20th century music by local and modern composers. "We've got some pieces I wrote a long time ago for my husband that we've never performed before," Pongracz said. "We're also performing something by Clarence E. Barber, who is a native of Elyria and taught in Midview City Schools. So we have a range of things going on." That includes the world premiere of material by Brenda Wepfer and the Cleveland Orchestra's Donald Miller. While Pongracz has performed locally with Cleveland Opera on Tour, Cleveland Opera and Hiram College Opera Theater, Andrew is the timpanist with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and principal percussionist with both the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and Youngstown Symphony. The fact that the concert was previously scheduled for last April means Pongracz and her husband have been rehearsing all summer going into the fall for this show. "I think we're both much more comfortable with everything since we had the additional rehearsal time," Pongracz said. "We didn't add anything. Due to COVID restrictions, we needed to keep it short without an intermission. In fact, we ended up pulling a couple of pieces because we needed to shorten it." Considering the pandemic, the couple are just excited to get out of the house. "I normally sing in several choirs, which, obviously, have been shut down, so it's actually been nice for us to have some music to concentrate on and perform together," Pongracz said. "I'm just excited that we have the opportunity — albeit in front of a very small audience — to perform. It's exciting." Contact John Benson at Ndiffrence@att.net.