Join the Metropolitan Master Chorale for Winter Songs on November 19, 2022!
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Los Angeles Valley College Recital Hall, 5800 Fulton Avenue, Valley Glen, CA 91401
Parking is available near the Recital Hall in Lot B and in the parking structure.
Click here for a map.
The the Metropolitan Master Chorale is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and the City of Los Angeles Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs.
Soloists for Winter Songs
Kevin Alvarez is a Bass/Baritone who is currently enrolled in the Applied Music Program at Los Angeles Valley College. Kevin is majoring in voice performance under Diana Tash and plans to transfer soon to a four-year college. He has performed with the MMC for the last three seasons and sung at LAVC in the chamber ensemble for nearly three semesters.
On tour with Bob Dylan in utero,
Andi Gibson was born into the arts. With director Kenny Ortega, her acting career began at age two in Fleetwood Mac’s music video "Gypsy." At age seven, Andi began her singing career recording for Warner Brothers. She has performed at the Staples Center behind Barbra Streisand, Universal Studios Japan, the Pasadena Playhouse and Alliance Theater with
Sister Act: The Musical, Celebrity Cruises, and the Disneyland Resort. After 18 years of live performing, Andi started voiceover work for commercials and videogames. Andi can also be heard singing on episodes of
Duncanville,
Archibald's Next Big Thing and
ThunderCats Roar, including the main theme song. In addition, Andi sang on the premiere episode of
Hacks for HBO and most recently
Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo. In front of the camera, Andi was the Witch for Google Nest’s Halloween campaign. Check her out on YouTube.
Lisa Margaroli is originally from New York and holds a B.S. in Music from Hofstra University. Lisa has performed in choirs at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, on tour throughout the pacific northwest, and most recently at the Hollywood Bowl singing Wynton Marsalis's "All Rise" with Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and LA Phil. Lisa also sings with California Philharmonic Chorale and the gospel choir RAISE. Lisa is an active session and live singer and has performed live background vocals for Lou Gramm, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Linda Perry, Juliette Lewis, Joe Perry, Johnny Depp, Nancy Wilson, Tiffany, Corey Taylor, on recordings for Seal, Jeff Beck, Harry Nilsson, and most recently for FX's
What We Do in the Shadows. Lisa is the lead singer in several bands including It's So Easy - A Tribute to Linda Ronstadt. Lisa performed as an Andrews Sister and soloist in the national tour of In the Mood, a 1940s big band revue celebrating the music of WWII. Thank you, Glenn Carlos, for this wonderful opportunity! @lisamargaroli www.lisamargaroli.com
Holly Pitrago is from a small town in Michigan where she grew up studying music through private lessons and with her father who was a band director in the local schools. She took up piano at the age of seven and followed in her father’s footsteps with the bassoon at age eleven. She later became first chair with the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra. After receiving her M.A. in Theatre Arts, Holly pursued a career of singing and acting in various musical theatre roles in New York, in dinner theatres and aboard Premier’s S.S. Seabreeze. Since moving to Los Angeles, Holly’s live singing has included concerts, churches, synagogues, and touring with New Directions Veterans Choir. Holly also works as a session singer and can be heard on film, TV, and sound recordings. Recent TV singing roles include the voice of Principal Perry on Disney XD’s
Lab Rats and Paige in Sue’s uncut a cappella group on ABC’s
The Middle. As a vocal contractor on TV shows, Holly has performed on Netflix’s
Alexa and Katie, Disney’s
Raven’s Home, and Netflix’s
No Good Nick. www.hollypitrago.com
Born and raised in Los Angeles,
Rebecca Ramirez grew up surrounded by multiple genres of music. Raised by a professional musician, she naturally began to pick up melodies, harmonies, and rhythms, which led her to begin both piano and violin lessons when she was child. She continued to play the violin throughout her adolescence with her school orchestras. Rebecca shifted from instrumental to vocal music after she took her first voice class with MMC Artistic Director, Glenn Carlos, at Los Angeles Valley College in 2008. After completing the Applied Music program at LAVC, she transferred to CSU Northridge. During her time at CSUN, she studied privately with Diane Ketchie, sang with the Northridge Singers, and participated in multiple school performances. She completed her studies at CSUN with both a Bachelor of Music degree and a Master of Music degree in vocal performance. Rebecca is currently a full-time educator, teaching music, mathematics, and language arts to students ranging in age from four to eighteen. She is in her fifth season with the MMC.
Ravi Raval sang with the Ragazzi Boys Chorus from 1998 to 2006. Through Ragazzi, Ravi had the privilege of singing with the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera. He majored in music at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he was the student conductor of several choirs, including one he founded. He then sang in Ragazzi Continuo, the alumni group of his boy choir, and served as director for two seasons. Outside of singing, Ravi is an Engineering Manager at WorkRamp, a tech startup.
Harry Schlager studied music at Casper College in Wyoming, then received his Bachelor of Music degree in Musical Theater Performance from Arizona State University. He has performed in productions at many theaters in southern California including San Gabriel Civic Light Opera, San Bernardino CLO, and Long Beach CLO among others. Harry was privileged to perform alongside stars of stage and screen, Donald O'Connor, Carol Lawrence and Sandy Duncan, to name just a few. His favorite role was Count Philippe in the Yeston/Kopit version of
Phantom. Other productions include
Jesus Christ Superstar,
Camelot,
The Desert Song,
The Student Prince,
Kismet and many more. Harry has also performed in a professional Christmas caroling group for more than thirty years! Harry is thrilled to be a part of this concert of
Winter Songs. He has been singing with the MMC nearly four years and he wishes to thank everyone involved in putting together this show of gorgeous music and for the privilege of singing with this talented group of musicians! He is featured in "Welcome to all the pleasures".
Rebecca Simon is a historian of piracy and a professor at Santa Monica College. She has published two books,
Why We Love Pirates: The Hunt for Captain Kidd and How He Changed Piracy Forever and
Pirate Queens: The Lives of Anne Bonny & Mary Read. Rebecca has been studying voice and singing in choirs off and on since 1999. She sang with MMC for the 2017-18 season and is very excited to be singing with the group again!
Natasha Sydor grew up in Randolph, New Jersey and is a recent LA resident. She graduated from Rutgers University where she double-majored in English and French Literature with a minor concentration in Music and Theater. Natasha has been singing since a young age and has been part of the Rutgers University Choir, West Village Choral in NYC, and Harmonium Choral Society—New Jersey's leading choral arts organization. Natasha is a Senior Brand Manager at Amazon Studios in Culver City. She enjoys singing in multiple genres but mostly listens to classical, electronic, electro swing, and neurofunk music.
At the age of nineteen,
Adrian Torres is the Assistant Band Director of the Instrumental Music Program at Van Nuys High School, so there's something to be said about his skills as a musician. Adrian loves to dabble in anything that involves music and has training in guitar, percussion, bass, and piano. Lately Adrian has taken an interest in music engineering and production. He is very grateful to be accepted as a part of the wonderful Metropolitan Master Chorale only seven years after first singing in a choir in school.
Tenor
Jeff Wang is the Founder and Director of WEL-JVG STEAM Center, an education center in Rowland Heights. He is a member of the National Association of Teachers Singing (NATS), and in 2016 he received the First Place Adult Division award at the NATS National Student Audition. Jeff sings with the LA Opera and other groups in Los Angeles. He sang roles in
Madame Butterfly directed by Lee Blakeley and
On Gold Mountain by Nathan Wang. He directs an orchestra and a Chinese choir, which sang in
Noyes Flood and
The Three Women of Jerusalem directed by James Colon.