Valley Voices takes stage for spring concert

The Valley Voices Community Choir is finally performing a concert that has been three years in the making.

The concert “Music! Who Could Ask for Anything More?” is a selection of music initially rehearsed in 2020 but was never performed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the choir is finally performing the music for its spring concert on April 29 and 30.

“It includes patriotic songs, show tunes, sentimental pieces, and music just for fun,” says David Vale, who sings bass in the choir. “I love the variety. One minute I’m singing a sturdy patriotic song and the next a gentle love song.”

Some community choirs faded away during the pandemic, but this one held together.

“I credit our director, Allyson Kuechmann, for providing the glue that kept our group together,” says Jim Vashro, vice president of the choir. “I remember getting together to sing outside in Lawrence Park during the peak of the pandemic, a space big enough that we could social distance.”

“I’m really pleased at how well the choir has maintained its sound after being shut down for so long,” said Allyson Kuechmann, the director. “After the Christmas concert to warm up, this choir is presenting the music this season with renewed enthusiasm.”

And the title of the concert? “It’s a variation of the lyrics from a Gershwin song,” says choir president Rosella Thompson: “I got rhythm, I got music, … Who could ask for anything more?”

Gershwin is indeed part of the concert as the choir does a medley of a dozen of George and Ira Gershwin’s songs. But it also includes almost a dozen other pieces in their full versions including “Bring Him Home,” “Go Down Moses,” “Over the Rainbow,” and “This is Me.”

The concert is at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 29 and again at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 30 in the auditorium at Flathead High School in Kalispell. Admission is free and everyone is invited to attend.