Pianist Sanford Moore brings last year’s sold-out My First Loves concert back to the Capri Theater “Legends” series at 7 p.m. Saturday, January 9 and 3 p.m. Sunday, January 10. Tickets are $25 for Saturday or $20 for Sunday. Order online at thecapritheater.org.
Moore says the concert spans the musical genres that are his “first loves.” Greta Oglesby, who won an Ivey Award for her starring role in the Guthrie Theater’s 2009 production of Caroline, or Change, will join Moore in selections from both musical theater and classical genres. Yolande Bruce, a featured vocalist in Moore by Four, covers jazz and blues, and Tonia Hughes presents gospel.
“Sanford Moore was a huge hit last year,” says Capri Theater artistic associate Dennis Spears, who is the artistic director for the Legends series. “Audiences will enjoy the program even more this time around, because of the sound and lighting renovations that were completed last spring. The program covers everything from Bach to Gershwin to Thomas Dorsey. The music is amazing and the performances are perfection.”
As a composer, arranger, musical director and pianist, Sanford Moore’s prolific career has included founding the internationally acclaimed vocal jazz ensemble, Moore by Four. He is currently director of the University of Minnesota Gospel Choir and is Minister of Music for Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in North Minneapolis.
“In my musical career, I have established a relationship with each of my three co-stars,” Sanford says, “and people will see this connection in both how we interact and what we convey through the music. The format for this concert is perfect for me. It’s the variety in the music that keeps me working!
The Capri Theater is owned and operated by Plymouth Christian Youth Center (PCYC), a non-profit human services organization that serves North Minneapolis children and families through education, community programs and community development. Visit www.pcyc-mpls.org.
In addition to the Legends series, Oglesby’s association with the Capri includes conducting theater arts workshops for students at PCYC Arts and Tech-nology High School. “I really like the intimacy of the space at the Capri Theater,” Oglesby says. “It is an acoustically elegant environment for the music we will be presenting.”
Hughes is also familiar with the Capri because her two daughters are participants in the Capri’s Children’s Summer Theater program. Great Is thy Faithfulness is one of the gospels songs she plans to sing because “it is perfect for the space at the Capri. It is about my faith, which has helped me through many things that have happened in my life” including the death of her husband and grandmother. “It helps express how I have come through these things with my faith,” she said.