SALUTE TO THE SEA
An aquatic-themed program will close Long Beach Chorale's season at Aquarium of the Pacific
The Long Beach Chorale & Chamber Orchestra is ending its season with an ocean splash as the ensemble heads to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach for “Celebration of the Seas” on June 11.
“You're going to hear a little bit of everything; this is typically a lighter performance as far as the music. We have some Disney tunes; we have some sea shanties,” said Matthew Martinez, the conductor of the Long Beach Chorale.
The aquarium will be a fitting venue for the show, as the 50-member chorale will be inside the Honda Pacific Visions Theater, right by the ocean and the aquatic animals that inspired the songs on the program.
“All of the music has to do with bodies of water or its inhabitants — the seas, the oceans, the rivers. These are things and ideas that have inspired composers and poets for centuries, so there's a lot of variety in this performance,” Martinez said.
The night will open with Billy Joel's “The River of Dreams.”
“It's a really infectious, wonderful, gospel-like tune,” Martinez said.
Attendees can also expect to hear upbeat family classics like “Under the Sea” from Disney's “The Little Mermaid.”
“This is a tune we grew up knowing. It's one of those songs that just stays with you and puts you in a good mood,” he said.
The chorale will be getting the crowd moving, too, since it is performing a jazz arrangement of Bobby Darin's “Beyond the Sea.”
“It's a neat stretch for us and it's going to show the variety of music we can perform in this setting,” Martinez added.
There will also be songs meant to help people reflect on the environment, including “Silent Sea,” a poem by British poet and author Rachel Boast that's about climate change.
“The night is fun and adventurous, but we think it's really important to touch on how important the oceans are to the environment and the unfortunate impact that man is having on that,” Martinez said.