LCCC chorale and vocal ensemble returns after pandemic layoff

Little at the time did the Lorain County Community College's Collegiate Chorale and Vocal Ensemble director Mark Jessie know a December 2019 holiday concert would be the student group's last show for 16 months. That the chorale's memorable version of The Beatles' "All My Loving" would be the lasting echo heard through a pandemic. Now that silence finally comes to an end with the vocal outfit, reduced from its normal 31-member size to a 13-person music majors ensemble, scheduled to perform Thursday, April 29, at the Stocker Center's Hoke Theatre. "We were actually going to do a version of this program when things closed down last year," Jessie said. "While we're finally doing a show on April 29, it's not as long as the original program because they want everything to be an hour or less with no intermission. So I pared it down to the things that I was most excited about." Its repertoire includes musical selections from "Ragtime" ("Make them Hear You"), "Oklahoma" ("Out of my Dreams") and "The Music Man" ("Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little"). While there are also men's and women's barbershop pieces and vocal jazz selections, the centerpiece of the evening will be a memorable medley from an already popular musical that after streaming on Disney+ last summer found folks singing along from sea to shining sea. "We have a nine-minute medley from 'Hamilton,'" Jessie said. "They're very excited. Everybody loves this. They're doing a fantastic job with it because they're so passionate about the music. Pretty much everybody already had the whole musical memorized anyway." Due to state-mandated protocols, the 988-seat Hoke Theatre can host 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. In addition to the audience members being masked, Jessie said, surprisingly, the same goes for the performers. "The college purchased these singers' masks, which were designed by someone from Broadway," Jessie said. "We experimented to see if the sound was any different while singing and it really wasn't. "Because it has a frame, the fabric protrudes and doesn't get sucked into your mouth when you breathe. Overall, I would say we liked them." Obviously excited about the upcoming return to performance, Jessie is hopeful for 2021-2022 the Collegiate Chorale can enjoy its normal winter and spring show calendar. "We're certainly hopeful with the way things are going that we can do it," Jessie said. "If nothing else, I hope we can do something similar to what I'm doing now having a smaller group wearing masks. "I've also already been reaching out to area high school directors asking for names of their graduating seniors who are planning on coming here so I can contact them. I'm going to be optimistic and proceed with my normal spring recruiting for the fall. Then, we'll see what we have." Contact John Benson at Ndiffrence@att.net. WHAT: Lorain County Community College's Collegiate Chorale WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29 WHERE: Lorain County Community College's Hoke Theatre, 1005 Abbe Road North, Elyria TICKETS: General admission tickets are $9 for adults; $8 for LCCC students, staff and seniors INFO: (440) 366-4040 or stockerartscenter.com