Sonorous serenade

NARROWSBURG, NY — High school choruses are filled with many kids who love to sing.

While a number of them have fine voices, precious few view singing as more than a school activity. Only a small number of the most talented singers pursue their singing when they go on to college.

Four young Sullivan County singers brought their resonant voices to the Gloria Krause Recital Hall and serenaded parents and friends on June 6.

Christian Bowers and Jacklyn Clarke-Rodriguez graduated from Delaware Valley at Sullivan West last spring. Ilene Pabon graduated from Fallsburg in 2003 and her sister Christina is graduating this year. The Pabons studied at Manhattan School of Music with Lynne Vardaman and have extensive performance experience.

Ilene just completed her first year at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, and Christina will be starting at Oberlin in the fall. Bowers is currently at SUNY Purchase and Clarke-Rodriguez is at SUNY Fredonia.

Each of the four has a unique and refined voice. With piano accompaniment played by Ken Uy, the four performed solos and duets. Their concert was stirring and powerful.

Chistina Pabon opened the concert with “Aimen se non poss’io” by Bellini. “If you can’t let me be with you, let me put you in my heart so I can carry you with me on my long sojourn,” the composer writes.

Pabon, whose resume includes roles in the Delaware Valley Opera’s (DVO) production of the “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Amahl and the Night Visitors” (title role), has sung along with her sisiter Ilene with the Con Voci Bellix Trio.

A lyric soprano whose voice is still growing, Christina will follow in her sister Ilene’s footsteps and study with the renowned Marlene Rosen at Oberlin. Christina gave a stirring rendition of “Summertime” from “Porgy and Bess” and Faure’s “Les Berceaux,” which compares the rocking of cradles to the rocking of ships. She performed Mozart’s “Sull’Aria” with her sister.

Ilene Pabon is a mezzo-soprano with a powerful and lovely voice. Her rendition of “O Kuhler Wald: Op. 72, No 3” described a lovely walk in the forest. Later, Ilene delighted the audience with “The Lordly Hudson” by N. Rorem and “Voic, che sapete” from “The Marriage of Figaro.”

At Oberlin, Pabon was cast as Lady Jane in “Patience,” and she earned a role in “Orpheus in the Underworld,” to be performed next semester. After studying with Rosen this semester, she was asked to go to Austria to take master classes with Richard Miller. She hopes to do that sometime in the future, but this summer she is working in the Catskills.

She will be appearing at the Bradstan Country Hotel in White Lake, NY on June 11.

Christian Bowers is a fine baritone. His lovely voice filled the room with sad and tragic laments, including “Quando ti revedro” (When will I see you again?), and “Non t’amo plu,” which expresses the agony of a relationship. Bowers also sang “Aprile” by Tosti and “Nebbie.”

Bowers got his start in performance at age 12 at the Hortonville Talent Show when he played the fiddle. He made his singing debut as Prince Charming in the DVO production of Hansel and Gretel.

At SUNY Purchase, Bowers is studying with the school’s music director, Jacque Trussell, concentrating on music performance. Bowers appeared as Mercury in “Orpheus in the Underworld” when he was 16.

His duet with Jaclyn Clarke-Rodriguez in “Almost Like Being in Love” closed the concert on an upbeat note.

Jacklyn Clarke-Rodriguez’s voice has matured since she graduated from high school. A mezzo-soprano with great diction, Clarke-Rodriguez has developed a love of opera and musical theatre. She is considering going into teaching some time in the future. Her lovely interpretations of “Liebst du um Schonheit,” “O del mio dolce ardor” and “American Lullaby” were beautiful and moving.

All four young artists show great promise. This week’s youths in focus are bringing joy to their listeners with their fine singing.