Chorus of Young and Old Voices Wednesday, May 27, 1998 - By Allison Freeman ![]()
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Soloist Molly Friere, age 14, of Cranford will " Sing the Body Electric" from the movie " Fame" while Danny Butchko, 12, of Cranford, will sing Harvey Berrnard's solo in "Bye, Bye Birdie" at the concerts in Linden. Molly, an eighth-grader at Hillside Avenue School in Cranford, said it is fun learning to sing so many songs from movies and then singing some of them with adults. She said she likes the way the choirs sound when they join together. "It can be hard sometimes especially since there is just one director trying to talk to all of us at the same time but it is a lot of fun," she said. When the children sing, it sounds really nice, but when the adults join in, " there is more to it " because you have tenors and bass in addition to the sopranos and altos, she said. Danny, a seventh-grader at St. John the Apostle School in Clark, said he is also enjoying learning different dance steps. The enthusiastic alto said the chorus has also helped him overcome his shyness, he said. In the first act of the program, the adult Celebration Singers perform alone. Then the children join them and there is an intermission, Molly said. In the second act, the children perform and then the adults join them again for several songs and the finale. Tom Pedas, who directs both choirs, said when the two groups come together it is a "true intergenerational experience that moves our audiences to tears." The children's choir is composed of 40 children ages 9-13 from Union and Middlesex counties. It is sponsored by the adult choir and is tuition-free.
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