Students and families packed the Dalton Center Recital Hall last Thursday night to grab a first look at Gold Company and GC II at the Gold Company Sneak Preview.
The GC II Band kicked off the night with a jazzy performance, leading into GC II’s rendition of “Dial G for Gold,” which was written by Gold Company member Sean Carney.
The choir shifted into “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens,” and then performed the Bobby McFerrin number “Ziggurat,” which featured impressive vocal runs by the singers.
Throughout the night, Gold Company director Steve Zegree and GC II director Michael Wheaton hosted the companies, keeping the atmosphere laid back, casual, and over all, fun.
The GC II performance of “I Sing, You Say” saw the choir running out into the audience and performing in the aisles.
“Just when you thought it was okay to come to a Gold Company concert,” Wheaton said. “We come to you.”
Zegree made sure to point out honored audience members, including recently re-elected Kalamazoo City Mayor Bobby Hopewell, and American Idol finalist and Kalamazoo hometown hero Matt Giraud.
In a memorable exchange, Zegree and Giraud reminisced of a recent dueling piano practice. Zegree had played a chord unfamiliar to Giraud, who had then used his iPhone to take a picture of the finger placement. The moment Zegree finished telling the story to the Dalton audience, Giraud, in perfect timing, held up his iPhone with the very picture for the whole audience to see.
Gold Company continued the exciting concert with such songs as “It Had to Be You” and the overture to “The Marriage of Figaro,” which had the choir imitating the almost impossibly-fast strings of the Mozart classic.
Also showcased was a brand-new arrangement of “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo,” which featured an impressive solo from GC Band saxophonist Randy Gist.
However, both Gold Company and GC II performed more somber, serious renditions of songs, such as GC II’s beautiful version of “My Fair Lady” love song, “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” and Gold Company’s “I Dream of Jeanie,” which were both sung a capella.
The two choirs united on stage for the final song of the night, a gospel-y interpretation of Simon & Garfunkel’s classic, “Bridge over Troubled Water,” which could be heard be hummed by countless members of the audience after the show.
After the performance let out, hundreds of parents, families, students, and Gold Company members met in the lobby for a reception of sorts, which was really a gathering of friends. Mayor Hopewell and Idol Matt Giraud mingled with the crowd.
“Outstanding,” Hopewell said of the performance. “They played my song,” referring, of course, to “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo.”
