Dear Friends,
Good morning. In a moment, I’ll let you know who our daughter Anne and I are favoring in the Democratic presidential race. But first, last weekend, I attended the Summer Harmony concert at St. John’s UCC in Richlandtown.
Founded in 1991, Summer Harmony is a men’s chorus of about 40. They sing very well. Vincent Trovato is the conductor and is accompanied by Michael Krenpz on the piano. Many of you know Larry Benner who is the organist and choir director at St. John’s. He also sings and conducts at Summer Harmony.
The church was packed and enthusiastic for a concert. Summer Harmony didn’t disappoint. The concert began with Martin Shaw’s “With a Voice of Singing,” an old chestnut that every church chorister knows by heart.
Lauren Curnow, a mezzo-soprano provided a nice contrast to the male chorus. She is a Curtis and Juilliard grad with a fine voice and excellent stage presence. In her rendition of the “Habanera,” she played Bizet’s “Carmen” seductively. She sang and moved provocatively though the pews, toying with the men in the congregation. Were their wives amused?
Larry Benner sang a solo, “I Only Have Eyes For You,” one of Mighty Betsy’s and my favorites. The chorus backed Larry quite well. Summer Harmony sang several spirituals, one of them, “Soon I’ll Be Done with the Troubles of the World,” many of us sang during our high school and college glee club days.
Lauren Curnow returned in the second half of the program to sing the famous Lida Rose number from “The Music Man” with a Summer Harmony quartet providing the counterpoint. The audience was charmed. The performance ended with a stirring rendition of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” with the audience joining in.
Summer Harmony rehearses weekly starting in May. It’s final concert will be Aug. 25 at Christ Lutheran Church in Allentown (13th and Hamilton). Tickets are $20. For more information about this male chorus go to SummerHarmony.com
And now to politics. Mighty Betsy and I have two strong-willed daughters, Anne and Catherine. No surprise … they have their mother’s genes. While we were discussing the women’s tournament at the World Cup, Anne told us that she had narrowed down the Democratic-presidential field to Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.
Anne wants the Democratic ticket to be Harris for president and Warren for veep.
I am surrounded by Democrats! MB, Anne and Catherine are registered Democrats. Some of our favorite friends are Democrats too ... gadzooks! As you know, I’m not a Democrat, although I am hardly an enthusiastic Republican.
I’ve been touting former Vice President Joe Biden and Anita Hill as my dream ticket. Unfortunately, that idea may not get anywhere. So I’m beginning to shift to a ticket of Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete Buttigiev. She’s an African-American female and he is gay.
While I think that might play well on the East and West coasts (the right and left coasts as some of my pals say), that duo might fail in the middle of America and Alabama.
Readers, tell me what you think.
Sincerely, Charles Meredith
P.S. Last week, I reported that Jared Wolf of Quakertown would donate one of his kidney’s to his brother, Jeremy. Larry Benner told me that the operation at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) went very well. Both brothers are recuperating nicely.
