For the first time in its thirty-three-year history, the Larimer Chorale finally was able to come to Estes Park last Saturday night. One reason it has not come before is that, like Estes Park’s own Oratorio Society Chorus, it usually performs with an orchestra. Of course, Estes Park has no facility that will accommodate both the 106-voice Larimer Chorale and the Fort Collins Symphony, which usually accompanies it. This winter, though, the Larimer Chorale’s programming made it more mobile because it was singing Rachmaninoff’s “Vespers,” which was written for an experienced chorus without accompaniment. Its director, Dr. Michael Todd Krueger, said that he was finally able to take the chorale “on the road.” Fortunately, an Estes Park destination was his first choice.

 

Unfortunately, he had very little choice of venue within Estes Park. As often happens, Mountain View Bible Fellowship (MVBF) offered the most suitable performance space. In lieu of a performing arts center, the Estes Park community relies on its churches; and of those churches, MVBF has the largest sanctuary. Even without the customary accompaniment of the Fort Collins Symphony, however, Dr. Krueger was just barely able to squeeze his 106 singers onto the dais at MVBF.

 

After weeks of rehearsal, the Larimer Chorale singers proudly presented the very difficult and moving “Rachmaninoff: Vespers (All-Night Vigil), Op 37.” The potential Estes Park audience members who were scared away by the “…(All-Night Vigil)” part missed a rare opportunity to hear this beautiful composition in the original Russian . The concert was only an hour in length, so sleeping bags and pillows were completely unnecessary after all.

 

As Estes residents are aware, Dr. Krueger is not the only director who has tried to solve the local concert-venue problems by appealing to MVBF. This gracious congregation has opened its doors to all kinds of performances from “Estes Park Sings” to the Colorado Music Festival Chamber Orchestra (no room for the full orchestra) to the tri-annual Oratorio Society concerts. As a matter of fact, MVBF sometimes finds two groups competing for space at the same time; for example, Raven Crest wants to have its Christmas Program on December 5, the same afternoon that the Oratorio Society performs Handel’s “Messiah.” This is a typical problem for locals to have to work out.

 

“Isn’t MVBF an adequate solution, then, to the performance- venue problems as long as the performing groups are not too large?” one may ask. Well, no. Church sanctuaries are made for church services, not for concerts. The carpeting and upholstery soak up much of the carefully produced, tuned, and balanced, musical sounds. MVBF is one of the few that has a good sound system, but it was designed for individual speakers and soloists, not for large choruses and/or orchestras. Furthermore the performers, themselves, cannot hear each other in that sanctuary. Similarly, the lighting system was meant to highlight speakers facing the congregation, not the musical conductor’s face and hand for the musicians to follow. It was obvious that some of these same problems were plaguing the Larimer Chorale during its concert. Only the performers know what holds them back from a better performance.

 

The time for holding back one’s financial support is over. It is time, instead, for all of the members of the Estes Park community, both fulltime and part-time, to imagine how more groups like the Larimer Chorale, or maybe the banjo pickers from the Lyons Blue-grass Festival will offer to come to Estes when they see the new performing arts center that SOPA has planned, dedicated uniquely to enhancing their performances. In fact, many have already asked SOPA for an invitation. SOPA and the Town of Estes Park invite everyone to join the 440 contributors who have already shown their support. For more information, please visit the SOPA website at www.estesparktheater.com; or call 481-6630. Better yet, simply send a check to SOPA at P.O. Box 3077/ Estes Park, CO 80517