The Choraliers: 'From Beach to Broadway' Concert on Sunday

For more than 30 years The Choraliers have been around in one form or another, and Sunday afternoon one form of today's assemblage can be enjoyed at in Cupertino for the choir's "From Beach to Broadway" fundraising concert.

Some in the choir have been singing their whole lives, and for others The Choraliers is their first choir, says Ellen Rose, who manages the volunteer group.

"We're about seniors reaching out to seniors through song," Rose says.

"It's about having the heart to want to be a community, be with the people you are singing with and bring that music to people in these senior communities."

Choir members come mostly from Cupertino and neighboring communities such as Campbell, Los Altos, West San Jose, Mountain View and Saratoga, and they perform in retirement homes, convalescent hospitals and senior nutrition centers in the same surrounding towns.

They hold 12 to 15 performances throughout the year, and about once every three years they hold a fundraising concert such as the one on Sunday which begins at 3 p.m.

As a non-auditioning choir, anyone can join the group at any time, which holds weekly practices on Monday mornings at the Quinlan Community Center.

The majority of the singers are over 55, and a good portion of that group is probably over 70-years-old, Rose says.

"Our director, Laura Green, has been with the choir for over 10 years. She believes strongly in choral singing as a brain fitness activity, and we're willing to go along with her on that," Rose says.

They typically perform to a similar age group so they perform songs that resonate with their audience.

"We like to do popular music of the 30s, 40s, and 50s," she says. "We'll do some Broadway tunes, some Irving Berlin, some Elvis Presley. We're actually going to do in this show 'Surfin' USA.'"

"We feel the audiences can relate to us and we relate to them. We enjoy these classic pop pieces of music."

The concert's theme, "From Beach to Broadway," may be considered a compromise of sorts.

"Our director, Laura Green, seems to have a fascination with New York City, while several of us have a fascination with California," Rose says.

And they throw in a few patriotic songs for the places in-between, she says.

Included in the song list are: California Dreamin', California Here I Come, Lullaby of Broadway, Ain't Misbehavin', Stars and Stripes, and American Tribute.

They may be considered an organized group, but that doesn't mean they are stuffy and formal, Rose says. Sometimes the singers make mistakes, sometimes an audience member doesn't know protocol, stands and sings with the singers, or shouts from the back of the room, "I love that song," but The Choraliers sing on.

"We're unpretentious," Rose says.

Tickets, which can be purchased at the door, are $12 for adults, $8 for children. Doors open at 2:30 p.m.