Episode 35
Stanley Hill | The Exciting Collaboration of Two Coachella Valley Men's Choruses Singing Together
The Desert Scene captures the essence of community and creativity as host Bonnie G. interviews Stanley Hill, the Artistic Director of Modern Men, a vibrant men’s chorus in the Coachella Valley. The conversation centers on the upcoming holiday concert, 'Home for the Holidays', which marks a significant collaboration between Modern Men and the Palm Springs Gay Men's Chorus. Hill shares the excitement and anticipation for this unprecedented joint performance, which will take place at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, and features both choruses coming together to perform celebratory pieces, including a fun rendition of 'Jingle Bells'. This collaboration not only highlights the musical talents of the groups but also emphasizes the strength of community ties within the arts.
The episode dives deep into the growth of Modern Men, which has seen its membership swell from 28 to over 100 singers in just eight years. Hill discusses the importance of this growth, not only in terms of musical output but also in fostering friendships and connections among members. The chorus has become a social hub where laughter and camaraderie thrive, particularly following rehearsals that often extend into joyful outings. Hill’s anecdotes about the members' commitment and enthusiasm paint a picture of a passionate group dedicated to their craft and community.
Moreover, Hill reflects on the broader cultural landscape of the Coachella Valley, emphasizing the richness of local arts and entertainment. He discusses how events like the holiday concert contribute to the cultural fabric of the area, highlighting the chorus's mission to engage and uplift the community through music. With a background in directing renowned choruses in major cities, Hill brings a wealth of experience and passion to his role, making this episode a heartfelt tribute to the power of music and community spirit. Listeners are left with a sense of excitement for the upcoming concerts and a deeper appreciation for the role of arts in enhancing community life.
Takeaways:
- Stanley Hill discusses the upcoming holiday concert featuring both men's choruses in Palm Desert.
- The Modern Men Coachella Valley Men's Chorus has grown from 28 to over 100 members.
- Stanley shares insights on the challenges and joys of leading a community chorus.
- The concert will feature a mix of holiday classics and original pieces by members.
- Stanley Hill's extensive background in directing prominent gay men's choruses shapes his leadership.
- The collaborative concert promises to bring a unique experience to the audience.
Transcript
In a land of sunshine where the palm trees sway There's a special show to brighten up your day.
Bonnie G.:From rockin festivals to Broadway dreams.
Bonnie G.:Tune in with Bonnie G.
Bonnie G.:It's a desert scene.
Bonnie G.:The Desert Sea with Bonnie G.
Bonnie G.:Meet the stars and feel the beat from the Coachella Valley is the place to be for all the cultural fun and harm the desert sea, yeah.
Bonnie G.:With Bonnie G.
Stanley Hill:Mutual Broadcasting welcomes you to the desert scene.
Stanley Hill:Featuring conversations with the people who make culture, art and entertainment happen in the Coachella Valley.
Stanley Hill:From local theater to live music, art exhibits to cinema and beyond, the desert scene is presented by El Portal Mexican restaurant in Cathedral City.
Stanley Hill:Now here is your host, Bonnie G.
Host:And welcome to the desert scene.
Host:So happy to have you.
Host:Very happy to welcome Stanley Hill, who is the artistic director of Modern Men Coachella Valley Men's Chorus.
Host:And they have a couple of holiday things coming up.
Host:Hi, Stanley.
Host:How are you?
Stanley Hill:Bonnie, thank you so much for having me on your program.
Stanley Hill:I'm excited.
Host:Excellent.
Stanley Hill:I don't know how you keep up with all that's going on in the valley.
Host:Well, I try to.
Host:I got a lot of contacts here and there that keep me informed.
Host:But.
Host:So this is exciting.
Host:So you've got a big holiday concert coming up home for the holidays both September 14th and 15th, but I guess there's a special, special kind of preview thing on the 8th.
Host:Tell us about that.
Stanley Hill:Well, as you know, we're blessed here in the valley to have two enormous men's choruses.
Stanley Hill:We have the Palm Springs Gay Men's Chorus and we have Modern Men, the Coachella Valley Men's Chorus.
Stanley Hill:Well, for the first time in history, we are combining the two choruses at St.
Stanley Hill:Margaret's on Sunday, December 8th at 3:00 at St.
Stanley Hill:Margaret's Episcopal Church in Palm Desert.
Stanley Hill:And we're going to end with Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells with both choruses singing at the same time.
Stanley Hill:Isn't that going to be exciting?
Host:Oh, that's great.
Host:That sounds like a lot of fun.
Host:Is that hard to coordinate all that and logistics and get everybody together and dates together and rehearsals together?
Stanley Hill:Have you ever tried herding cats?
Host:No, no, no.
Stanley Hill:They're very good, easy to work with.
Stanley Hill:The guys are really committed.
Stanley Hill:Both choruses.
Stanley Hill:The guys are really committed to their chorus and they sing wonderfully.
Host:So tell us about the let's talk about the Modern Men Coachella Volley men's course.
Host:First of all, how many members are there?
Stanley Hill:Well, eight years ago, there were 28.
Stanley Hill:Now we're over 100.
Host:Wow.
Stanley Hill:And the audience is growing and we're growing and we're having a wonderful time.
Stanley Hill:It's a bunch of guys who love to sing.
Host:And tell me about your, your artistic director.
Host:Have you been involved from.
Host:From the beginning?
Host:From the start of the whole group?
Stanley Hill: I came on in: Host:Okay.
Stanley Hill:And I've been there in their 11th year, and I've been with them eight years.
Host:And tell us a little bit about the.
Host:Your, your background before that.
Host:Before you became the artistic director of the course.
Stanley Hill: to: Stanley Hill: And then from: Stanley Hill:And then I came to the desert to retire.
Stanley Hill:And you know how that goes, Bonnie.
Host:Yes, I know.
Host:So many people, performers have said that came to the desert to retire, and I've never been busier.
Host:Yeah, it happens a lot.
Stanley Hill:Exactly.
Host:So tell us about the course.
Host:How many special events or concerts a year do you usually do?
Stanley Hill:We do two major concerts, one in December and one in April.
Stanley Hill:And then we have run outs and concerts like the one at St.
Stanley Hill:Margaret's where we're doing it to benefit something.
Stanley Hill:You know, we're, we're doing it as a fundraiser or we're doing it to get out into the community.
Host:And who, who decides?
Host:Is there a committee or is it just you that decides?
Host:Okay, well, this event, we're going to have sort of this kind of theme or this.
Host:We're going to choose this music.
Host:Is that all your job or do you have folks that assist with that?
Stanley Hill:Well, I come up with the theme and the music, and I like, I tell them I have an open door.
Stanley Hill:If you have a song that you want to do, I want to hear about it.
Stanley Hill:And what they do is they submit ideas and what does it look like?
Stanley Hill:And because we're at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, I have a great graphic designer who will put up onto the big screen thematic visualizations of all of the music.
Stanley Hill:And it really makes for an inclusive experience.
Stanley Hill:It's really fun.
Stanley Hill:People love it.
Host:Yeah.
Host:Now, are you going to be in the larger, the largest theater at the Cultural center?
Stanley Hill:Okay.
Host:Okay.
Host:And as far as.
Host:So do you have.
Host:You have tenor, bass, baritone, you have all parts in the course.
Stanley Hill:Four parts.
Stanley Hill:First and second, tenor, baritone and bass.
Host:Okay.
Host:And tell us about.
Host:Well, tell us about the holiday concert.
Host:The one on.
Host:That's both on the fort.
Host:Saturday, December 14th and Sunday, December 15th.
Host:Tell us a little bit about that.
Host:And I mean, there's so much holiday music to choose from.
Host:How do you sort of winnow it down, down.
Stanley Hill:I pick beautiful music and fun things.
Stanley Hill:So we're doing an incredible Hanukkah piece called We Are the Lights.
Stanley Hill:We're also doing a wonderful piece that is brand new, hot off the press called Go Said the Star, which is rhythmically outstanding.
Stanley Hill:We're doing a piece that will touch you.
Stanley Hill:It's called Our First Christmas and it's written by one of the guys in the chorus.
Stanley Hill:And we're doing the Christmas cancan, which is absolutely bananas.
Stanley Hill:It's just crazy.
Stanley Hill:It's Christmas Carol set to the can can music.
Host:And will there be some can can dancing along the way?
Stanley Hill:No, but we will have dancing in Dear Santa, Bring me a man for Christmas to the tune of its raining men.
Host:Ah, okay.
Stanley Hill:That'll be a little craziness.
Stanley Hill:We get a little serious in the second act because we are doing a tribute to our dear friend and one of the greatest composers for lgbt, LGBT music that ever lived, Bob Seeley.
Stanley Hill:We're doing a couple of his pieces which are absolutely exquisite.
Stanley Hill:And you're gonna.
Stanley Hill:Everyone who comes there is gonna go away saying, oh my God, that's the most beautiful music I've ever heard.
Stanley Hill:And we always close with why we sing, which invol the audience because we surround the audience and we sing to them because the reason why we sing is our audience.
Host:Right, Right.
Host:We need to.
Host:All right, we're going to take a very quick break here on the desert scene with Stanley Hill.
Host:We'll be right back.
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Host:And we're back on the desert scene with Stanley Hill, who's the artistic director of Modern Men, Coachella Valley Men's Chorus.
Host:They've got a big holiday concert coming up on both Saturday December 14th and Sunday the 15th, Advocate Palm Springs Cultural Center.
Host:So did you start out as a singer yourself way back when?
Host:Is that how you got involved in music in general?
Stanley Hill:A million years ago?
Stanley Hill:Yes.
Stanley Hill:I was a singer from 8 years old.
Host:And what, what at some point did you find that you had sort of the leadership quality, the organizational ability to sort to be artistic director?
Host:That that was really where your, your path was?
Stanley Hill:Well, the trial by fire is teaching in the public schools.
Stanley Hill:I had two 100 voice girls, seventh grade girls, glees.
Host:Wow.
Stanley Hill:And that burnt out the fuse in my brain about names.
Stanley Hill:So I had 25 Suzies and 15 Janets.
Stanley Hill:And it was crazy, but I got through it.
Stanley Hill:I was there 11 years in the Anaheim school district.
Stanley Hill:And then I got my master's and doctorate and went to San Francisco as the artistic director.
Host:Excellent.
Host:Let's talk about tickets, how people can find out.
Host:Let's first, let's talk about the thing of December 8th at St Margaret's what time is that and how can people find out?
Host:And how can they go.
Stanley Hill:It's at 3:00 at St.
Stanley Hill:Margaret's that's out on Highway 74.
Host:Okay.
Stanley Hill:And they can get tickets by going to.
Stanley Hill:This is a little confusing, but I'll spell it out.
Stanley Hill:Joint 24H, J O I N T.
Stanley Hill:24.
Stanley Hill:And that takes them right to the ticket site.
Host:Okay.
Host:And then the one at the cultural center is that I see on some information I have here, it says ticketsodernmen.org where would people find the tickets?
Stanley Hill:That's it.
Host:Okay, super.
Host:And let's talk about how many regulars do you have?
Host:The folks that are gentlemen that are in the course now, how many of them would have been there, you know, five, six, seven, eight years?
Host:Do you have a lot of turnover?
Stanley Hill:Oh, not so much turnover as it continues to build.
Stanley Hill:You always have.
Stanley Hill:We have some snowbirds that can only do the April show and we have.
Stanley Hill:Because we start in January for the April show.
Stanley Hill:And we have.
Stanley Hill:Yes, we have about.
Stanley Hill:Of the original.
Stanley Hill:We probably have over a dozen of the original charter members of the chorus still singing with us.
Host:That's excellent.
Host:That's nice.
Host:I imagine some great friendships grow out from that, that whole experience.
Stanley Hill:There's several reasons to join a community chorus, but one of them is, besides singing and having fun, is the socialization.
Stanley Hill:I mean, we have such a good time.
Stanley Hill:I for one, cannot go home and go to bed.
Stanley Hill:After a rehearsal, we get out at 9:30 and I am wired.
Stanley Hill:I'm so excited.
Stanley Hill:Through a rehearsal.
Stanley Hill:So we end up going out and 30 to 40 of us go out, we have a cocktail together and we tell jokes and we laugh and we have a wonderful time.
Stanley Hill:It's a great bunch of men.
Host:That's fabulous.
Host:I just want to read one thing before we go.
Host:I hear I said our values include.
Host:I want to read one of them.
Host:We embrace the uniqueness that different cultures, ideas and people bring to our group, knowing that together we become richer and stronger.
Host:I love that.
Host:That's a great.
Host:Well, Stanley Hill, congratulations.
Host:Keep up the good work.
Host:The holiday concerts again, Saturday, December 14th and Sunday the 15th at the Corner Cultural Center.
Host:And that preview, 3pm at St.
Host:Margaret's Church on Highway 74.
Host:December 8th.
Host:Thank you so much for bringing some great music to the Valley.
Host:We really appreciate it.
Stanley Hill:Bonnie, thank you so much.
Stanley Hill:And you have yourself the best holiday ever.
Host:All right, you too.
Host:All right.
Host:Thank you, Stanley.
Host:And we'll see the rest of you the next time.
Host:On the desert scene, the Desert Sea.
Bonnie G.:With Bonnie G.
Bonnie G.:Meet the stars and feel the beat from the Coachella Valley.
Bonnie G.:It's the place to be for all the culture, fun and harmony.
Bonnie G.:The desert scene, yeah.
Bonnie G.:With Bonnie G.
Bonnie G.:The desert scenes where you belong with Mutual Broadcasting's Bonnie G.
Bonnie G.:Just sing along.
Bonnie G.:Just sing along.
