World-renowned tenor brings his talent to RMS
, Daily News Staff
11-26-2009
Nathan Granner, a tenor, and his musical partner, Beau Bledsoe, a classical guitarist, came to Richmond Middle School on Tuesday to present a Master Class/Concert to the choral classes.Sponsored by the Live! in Lexington Concert Series and the Kramer Endowment Fund, Granner sang and entertained the kids with his wide repertoire of music that ranged from the 1640s to the 20th century, with Bledsoe accompanying him on guitar.
When asked why they brought Granner to Richmond, Nekie Kramer of Live! in Lexington and the Kramer Endowment Fund said, “People in Richmond support Live! in Lexington. While Kramer Endowment is a part of Live! in Lexington, it’s the community support that makes it all happen.”
“Bringing the performers to the schools with this Star Education Program helps the kids see a different kind of role model. Not too many towns have professional performers come to perform,” said Kramer. “We want to do that for the kids.”
“The way the performers interact with kids as well as adults is an important factor in choosing acts for each season of Live! in Lexington,” she said.
Each year, two or more area schools are chosen to receive the educational and cultural experiences of these world-renowned artists. The program has brought performers to the communities of Odessa, Higginsville, Wellington and Napoleon, as well as Lexington. “We want to do that for the kids,” said Kramer.
Granner began each song with an introduction to the culture of the music and the story behind each one. He infused his introductions with humor that showed his ease in interacting with the students.
Granner told The Daily News he enjoyed participating in the Star Education Program. “It’s the kids,” he said. “Many kids will not hear this type of music again -– some will and some won’t. It allows them to learn a whole different culture, such as the Turkish music from the Ottoman Empire we’ll be performing.”
The arrangements of Bledsoe’s classical guitar combined with Granner’s beautiful operatic tenor are original, and appeared to captivate the students as soon as the performance began.
Granner sings in a variety of languages from Italian, Spanish to Turkish and German.
The first piece he performed was a lullaby from an Italian Opera by Monteverdi called “Oblivian suave,” or in English, “Sweet Dreams.”
He then sprang forward 400 years and sang a song written by Jerome Kern, an American composer in the early 1900s.
Bledsoe had the opportunity to showcase his classical guitar talents by performing a flamenco piece from southern Spain called “Happiness.”
Granner allowed the students to ask questions periodically and they asked plenty. One student asked, “What was your favorite part of the song?” [referring to one Granner had just sang from an 1860s Italian opera]
Granner replied, “You learn to like different parts of each new song. The opera represents a lot of different things – the deepest emotions of life – love, life, war.”
Bledsoe also performed on an Oud, while Granner sang the Turkish song. The oud is an instrument that strongly resembles a lute, which he called, “the grandmother of guitars – a Turkish guitar with 11 strings.” The students seemed to be fascinated by the unusual design of the oud and asked many questions.
One of Granner’s last songs turned out to be one of the most entertaining. Describing the piece as “picturing yourself on a warm summer night in Venice – the moon is shining and you’re in a gondola. The moon is shimmering across the water and the gondolier is singing.” He then proceeded to sing as he walked down the ramp along the stage area, pausing to sing to Trystan Bever, an eighth grade student who happened to be standing there. He moved along to a group of three young ladies, Mallory Cole, Taylor Rittmiller and Makenzie Turley, and even stopped by me in the back of the room, putting his head on my shoulder as he continued to sing.
The students peppered Granner with questions until he sang one more song after being asked if he could sing in English. “No!” he emphatically jested. So, he performed his final song, a German song by Franz Schubert. He was rewarded with plenty of applause.
“Oh, he was great,” said Bever, when The Daily News asked her what she thought of Granner and Bledsoe. Student Kaila Anderson said, “It was really good.”
RMS choral director Nathan Hart said, “We just need to hear more of his classical style of music. We are so embedded with modern music that the opportunity to hear this presentation is priceless.”
Originally from Iowa, Granner moved to Kansas City in 1980 as a youngster. He grew up singing in church and school choirs, and then went into the UMKC Conservatory of Music program.
He said it was this background in music, that “helped me to learn to work with people and gather the repertoire for performing.”
Granner met Bledsoe at UMKC, where he was studying classical guitar. Both have toured the U.S. and in countries around the world.
Granner is currently performing nationally and internationally with the Sony Classical recording trio, The American Tenors. Bledsoe constantly expands his repertoire with his studies of many cultures, including that of southern Spain, Buenos Aires, the Argentine Tango, flamenco, Turkey and more.
Granner summed up the morning’s experience for the kids by encouraging them to pursue music, “When you’re listening to music... you’ll find there’s a world of music out there for you.”
Photo: RMS eighth grade student Trysten Bever, shyly smiles as tenor Nathan Granner serenades her with an Italian opera song. (Photo by Liz Johnson/The Daily News)
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