Stillwater Junior High School choir concert presenting 'Song of America'

October 12, 2011

Stillwater Junior High School choir concert presenting 'Song of America'

By Silas Allen sallen@stwnewspress.com The Stillwater News Press Wed Oct 12, 2011, 10:56 AM CDT

STILLWATER, Okla. — Stillwater Junior High Choir will present “Song of America: A Choral Revue Celebrating Our Home, Our Hope and Our Freedom” at a concert this week.

The concert will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Stillwater High School Performing Arts Center. Admission is free.

Choir director Teresa Nokes said the concert is a six-part medley of songs celebrating several facets of the heritage of the United States. The medley features brief selections from many well-known songs, she said.

The first of those segments includes patriotic songs, including sections of “God Bless the USA,” “This Is My Country,” and the Neil Diamond hit “America.”

The second section, called Songs of the Past, features American tunes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Included in those songs will be “Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal” and “Polly Wolly Doodle.”

Next will be a section called Songs of the Soldier, which will feature well-known tunes such as “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” and “White Cliffs of Dover,” as well as the official songs of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

The choir will then move into a section called Songs of our Homeland which includes more recent selections as well as older tunes that highlight a number of American cities and states. Included in the section will be the 1973 hit “Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight and the Pips, “Living in America” by James Brown and “Kansas City” from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical “Oklahoma!”

The fifth section, called Songs of Hope, will include Jerome Kern’s “Look for the Silver Lining,” the American standard “From a Distance” by singer-songwriter Julie Gold, and a reprise of “God Bless the USA.”

Capping the medley will be a final section featuring the 1968 song “People Got to Be Free” by New Jersey-based band The Rascals, as well as a final reprise of “God Bless the USA.”

Nokes said the piece is specifically arranged to be used for young voices. The concert features lively, rhythmic music, she said, and is sure to be a crowd favorite.

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