STAFF REPORTS
| BUFFALO – The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is looking for Buffalo’s top vocal talent. The winner will perform “Over the Rainbow,” written by Buffalo native Harold Arlen, with the BPO at the “Buffalo Sings” concert on Saturday, April 14. Principal Pops Conductor John Morris Russell will lead the concert, which will feature some of the region’s top vocal ensembles.  The contest is open to anyone who is 14 or older and resides within a 60-mile radius of Buffalo. To enter, contestants must submit a video of themselves performing the song using the MIDI accompaniment available at bpo.org, along with an application. Applications must be received by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, Jan. 31. Up to twenty finalists will be selected on Feb. 19 to face off in the live finals held in Kleinhans’ Mary Seaton Room on Thursday, March 1 at 7 p.m. The Buffalo Sings champion will be selected that night. That event will be free and open to the public. All information is available at https://bpo.org/be-the-buffalo-sings-champion/. Judges for the finals include Adam Luebke, Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus music director; Mary Kate O’Connell, founder and artistic director of the musical theater company O’Connell and Company; Drea D’Nur, Buffalo-based recording artist and creator and star of the critically-acclaimed show “The Spirit of Nina”; and BPO Principal Pops Conductor John Morris Russell. The “Buffalo Sings” concert is part of the KeyBank Pops Series, and is a tribute to the power and beauty of the human voice, as well as a way of recognizing the musicality within every person. There will be a chance for the audience members to raise their own voices at the end of the concert. To purchase tickets to this unique interactive concert experience, call (716) 885-5000 or visit bpo.org. |
