Bella Vistans make beautiful music

SUBMITTED PHOTO The Bella Vista Big Band is committed to the preservation of music from the big band era.
SUBMITTED PHOTO The Bella Vista Big Band is committed to the preservation of music from the big band era.

Bella Vista has two bands and several singing groups, making for a great music scene.

According to Loren Wagner, the Bella Vista Big Band was created in 1989 and incorporated as a nonprofit. It is a traditional 15-piece band.

"Our purpose is to preserve music from the Big Band era," Wagner said.

The band has played concerts and dances in Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma and has played on three Caribbean cruises. They once played with famous clarinetist Henry Cuesta from "The Lawrence Welk Show,' Wagner said.

The band was invited in 1992 to Washington, D.C. to play at the Arkansas ball during President Clinton's inauguration. They were scheduled to play for one and a half hours but the crowd became so enthusiastic they ended up playing for four and a half hours, Wagner said. The band was invited back in 1997 for the same event at Clinton's second inauguration.

The band is for hire for private parties and dances. Additionally, the band has financed dances at Riordan Hall. They host an annual Valentine's Day dance, Wagner said.

Director is Charlie Danielson.

The Bella Vista Community Concert Band was formed in 1985 and incorporated as a nonprofit in 1989. They perform at Blowing Springs Park in Bella Vista. They practice at Bella Vista Community Church on Mondays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Scott Duhamel is the president.

Perfect Harmony is a women's barbershop chorus. Karen Frankenfeld said it was formed in 1999.

"There used to be a women's barbershop chorus, but the director got ill and had to return to Nebraska. Some ladies asked me if I'd be interested in starting a chorus and we started. We just kind of get together and sing. We don't charge anything," she said.

"We perform a lot in the area," Frankenfeld said. "If someone wants to donate money to us, that's fine, and we use that for makeup and costumes."

Perfect Harmony has a service project -- the pantry at Bella Vista Lutheran Church and Restoration Village, a place for women with children who are trying to get their lives together, most of whom have been abused, Frankenfeld said.

"We supply them with lotions and shampoos and we just had a panty party for them where we supplied underpants for the kids and adults."

Perfect Harmony performs about twice a month, Frankenfeld said. They rehearse on Mondays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the United Lutheran Church at Cooper Road and Arkansas Highway 279. They have about 30 members and have had as many as 45. There are no tryouts, Frankenfeld said. Newcomers are welcome to just come and sing.

"We have four parts, a tenor which sings high, the lead sings the melody, a baritone sings a harmony part, the bass sings the low part -- people who are altos usually sing the bass part. Anybody who is willing to sing or learn, we'd be happy to have them and try us out and see what we're like," she said.

The group usually sings older music from the '30s, '40s, '50s and '60s, she said.

"I love to sing. Singing is very good for you. It's a very good mental thing for memorization. Sometimes you go and you're not feeling too good, but by the time you're done you're feeling a lot better. We're quite a support group for our members."

The Bella Vista Men's Chorus has been singing since the late 1980s, according to John Matthews.

The group holds "singouts" at places like nursing homes and has three major concerts a year, Matthews said. A spring benefit for the Village House is by donation, a fall concert is the big money raiser for the group, and a Christmas concert is free.

"We also do other things. We sing for Concordia at Christmas, the Highlands Rehabilitation Center. We've sung for the Plaza and AARP. And if they pay us, we'll sing," Matthews said.

The chorus has 42 or 43 members. They sing all kinds of music, mainly secular popular, but they do sing sacred music from time to time. Their April concert was spirituals, Matthews said.

"We sing all kinds of Christmas music, popular and sacred," he said. "We have men from all walks of life, and it's really a great group. They have a really great sound."

Pride of the Ozarks Barbershop Chorus was formed in 1996, according to Jim Nugent.

He said there was a group of men who drove to Joplin every week to sing barbershop, and they figured out there were enough barbershoppers in the area to start their own chapter. Some of the original members are still active, he said.

One member, Chuck Scherz, has been singing barbershop for 65 years. He started in Davenport, Iowa, in 1953, Nugent said.

"Our director is Wayne Wentworth. He drives down from Neosho, Mo., each week. We have members from all over -- Fayetteville, Springdale, Bella Vista, Rogers. We just got a new one from Prairie Grove. It's an interesting group and a very dedicated group," Nugent said.

The group sings for a lot of assisted-living centers and nursing homes around the area as well as music classes at high schools, middle schools and elementary schools.

"In the summertime we act as choir replacements. Some churches want us to sing," Nugent said.

Pride of the Ozarks Barbershop Chorus is involved in the Kidz Sing program, which the elementary schools in Bentonville have done every year since 1999. Students learn songs from song books that the barbershoppers purchased for the schools in 1999.

The group is also involved in a youth outreach workshop every September. It will be the first Saturday after Labor Day at the Arts Academy High School. The group invites a championship quartet from the area to come and be a teaching quartet. There will be 100 or more boys and 100 or more girls. The quartet will work with the boys and four music teachers will work with the girls. At the end of the day, they will put on a concert.

"It's a very popular thing. Proceeds go to support youth outreach activities," he said.

Nugent added, "We're always looking for singers. We encourage men who like to sing to step forward and become part of it."

Grace Turley of the Bella Vista Women's Chorus said the group was founded in 1975.

"Dr. Larry Zehring is the current director. Because he is a musicologist, he has backgrounds in different types of music, classical, jazz, folk, pop, spirituals," she said.

Membership in the chorus has varied from 12 to 40 and is now at 25.

"We love newcomers and even people that don't have a musical background. We had one woman join our chorus this year that didn't know how to read music. We taught her how to read music and she took it upon herself to learn piano. She's in the mix and she's loving it. We also have very talented women who have been singing their whole lives," she said.

The group performs two or three times a month, sometimes more during the holidays.

"We sing for a variety of organizations in the area from Fayetteville up to Bella Vista. Sometimes we take special trips. We traveled to San Antonio, St. Louis, Kansas City, Washington D.C.," she said. "We sing a lot for local organizations, clubs, nursing homes, schools, retirement facilities, local charities."

One special event the chorus has been preparing for is a Veterans Day concert. They have invited the Bella Vista Men's Chorus and Perfect Harmony and the Bentonville High School Chorale. The concert will be at the Bella Vista Community Church at 3 p.m. Nov. 11.

"It's a great community of women," Turley said. "We like to do things together outside of singing. We have picnics and Christmas gatherings. It's a good social outlet."

General News on 06/28/2017