Friday, February 16, 2018 7:30 PM
The Palladium Theater – 253 5th Ave. North, St. Petersburg
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 day of the show
The Tampa Bay area has a new community institution – the One City Chorus! This exciting chorus of over 100 singers was founded with the belief that singing in a group builds community and leads to a better understanding among people of differing races, cultures, creeds and communities. Their songs of social justice, civil rights, diversity and equality are just what is needed in these turbulent times. Creative Loafing has called their performances “joyous, uplifting and beautifully sung” and presented them with a Best of the Bay award for “Best Voices Raised Together in Song.” Their debut at the Palladium Theater last spring was almost sold out so getting tickets early is recommended. They’ll be joined by St. Pete’s equally exuberant Tribal-Disco-Gypsy-Bluegrass band, the uber-popular Urban Gypsies of Florida. Don’t miss this exciting evening!
One City Chorus http://www.onecitychorus.org/
The Urban Gypsies of Florida http://www.urbangypsiesofflorida.com/
More about the chorus…
The underlying philosophy of the chorus is that the world would be a better place if everyone sang. That’s why it has no auditions. It welcomes everyone – experienced and inexperienced singers alike. Since its first rehearsal at the Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum in St. Petersburg in October 2016, the chorus has grown to a group of over a hundred enthusiastic members.
The chorus’ repertoire features songs with themes of social justice, civil rights, diversity and equality – songs such as “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around”, “May the Light of Love”, “Save the Country”, “Revolution” (world premiere), “Peace Salaam Shalom”, “Turn this World Around” and “Teach Your Children.”
The group is led by Jon Arterton who holds a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and an MFA in Acting from Smith College. He was the founder and musical arranger of The Flirtations, the a cappella singing group seen in the film Philadelphia and on HBO, Good Morning America and MTV. He conducted the 150-voice Outer Cape Chorale, a community chorus in Provincetown, Massachusetts, for thirteen years before moving to the Tampa Bay area in January, 2016. This January he will again lead rehearsals of the 200-voice chorus for the Florida Orchestra’s performance of “Sing Out Tampa Bay.”