Civic in the studio

By Katie White
Western Herald

The holidays are a time to spread joy and good tidings, and the Kalamazoo Civic Theater is hoping to send musical merriment as well.

This holiday season, the Civic has released their very first CD, a collection of holiday tunes recorded with familiar members Civic audiences enjoy.  The CD is entitled, “A Season of Joy.”

Last April members of The Kalamazoo Civic Theater were thinking of fundraising ideas.  Ben Zylman, director of marketing and development for the theater, came up with the idea for a Christmas CD.
“Patrons always comment on the wonderful voices that our performers have,” Zylman said. “So I thought, ‘lets take this one step further and give our volunteers an opportunity to perform in a medium that they may not be used to and don’t have a lot of experience in.’”

The songs were picked before any of the actual volunteers were.  The Civic wanted the songs to be classic but upbeat.

“We actually chose the songs first that we wanted to go on the CD, then we kind of looked at our roster of talent and matched them up accordingly,” Zylman said.

All of the talent used on the album are regulars on The Civic stage.   Kylee Kynaston and Jason Nichols, current Western Michigan University students, made up the chorus.  Nichols sang “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”  Eight other WMU alumni were also involved.

Other classic tracks include “The Most Wonderful Time of Year,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Silent Night,” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

The group worked with Jim Cummings of Soundstage One out of Climax, Mich.  Cummings donated all the studio time.  He also mixed and mastered the CD.

Zylman said making the album was a wonderful experience that he hopes the Civic can continue.

“The people that have heard it, have really enjoyed it,” Zylman said. “I do think it’s a tradition that we can build upon and that, quite honestly, is our goal.”

The time taken to record and make the CD was volunteered.  All of the proceeds from “A Season of Joy” will go right back to the Kalamazoo Civic Theater to support future productions.

CDs are on sale now and priced at $10.  They can be purchased at the Civic Auditorium, online at www.kazoocivic.com, or by telephone at 269-343-2280.

Along with the WMU students on the album, the Civic is taking a lengthy Christmas break as well.  The offices will close from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2.

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Posted by heraldstaff on Dec 9 2009. Filed under A & E, Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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