Orange Coast College Chamber Singers focus on ‘Requiem’ for a theme

Orange Coast College choral director and conductor Eliza Rubenstein remembers moving to Orange County in the mid-1990s.

She went to a recital for renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman at Segerstrom Hall, putting down $5 for a student ticket to see a childhood hero.

“I was walking up the stairs, and there was this old, white, rich couple walking down the stairs, all fancy,” Rubenstein recalled. “As we passed each other, the woman sort of stopped and looked at me, up and down. She turned to her husband and she said loudly, ‘She’s going to the third tier. That’s where the poorly dressed people sit.’

“I was like, ‘You don’t know it, but you just inspired my entire career.’”

Orange Coast College Choir Director Eliza Rubenstein leads students through a rehearsal of Mozart’s Requiem on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Rubenstein wants her students to know that iconic pieces like Mozart’s Requiem are for them, too, and places like Carnegie Hall in New York are not out of reach.

The OCC Chamber Singers will perform Requiem, accompanied by a full orchestra, on Saturday night, May 10 in the Robert B. Moore Theatre on campus. The show will also feature Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, performed by OCC music instructor Teresa de Jong-Pombo.

For the Chamber Singers, Saturday’s performance is a precursor to a show at Carnegie Hall on June 24, where they’ll also perform Requiem with the New York City Chamber Orchestra as part of a four-day trip.

Vincente Dang, a bassist, will be making his third trip to the famed concert hall with OCC. The group typically makes the trip every other year, and has performed works by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn in the past.

Orange Coast College choir students including Vincente Dang, center, rehearse Mozart’s Requiem on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“It’s so fun, having the experience of being on a different stage with all of the choir members that you’ve formed a bond with,” Dang said. “Being able to spend more time with them, while still practicing the music at such a prestigious venue, is just so exciting. It’s world-changing.”

Taylor Cox, also a talented pianist, is looking forward to her first performance at the venue. She was born blind and reads music with braille for the show transcribed by Beth Syverson, a faculty member at OCC and Cox’s longtime piano teacher.

Cox, from Huntington Beach, said performance gives her equal footing.

Orange Coast College choir students rehearse Mozart’s Requiem on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“It’s actually one of the few things that blindness doesn’t affect,” she said. “I have to deal with a lot of things in everyday life. I have to go everywhere with a cane, I can’t drive anywhere, but I feel like performance is where things are truly equal for me. It’s one of the spaces where there’s not a lot of judgment. I’ve had a great experience overall, people have been wonderful on the campus in general, but it’s kind of nice when blindness isn’t the first thing that people notice when someone’s performing.”

Not every member of the OCC Chamber Singers is making the trip to New York, but Rubenstein said the group has been doing plenty of fundraising to make sure as many singers can go as possible.

Mio Romero, an alto, said she is looking forward to both Saturday’s concert and the trip to the East Coast. The group has been locking in on the material since the semester started in February.

Orange Coast College choir students, including Taylor Cox, center, who is blind, rehearse Mozart’s Requiem on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“This work is just so massively famous,” Romero said. “My boyfriend heard me practicing, and he was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’ve heard that before.’ Like, yeah, it’s in this video game.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s also in this movie, and also in this other thing.’

“It’s really humbling and amazing to be able to be part of it.”

Tickets for Saturday’s show are $10 for students and $15 for the general public, and can be purchased at OCC Tickets. Free parking will be available in Lot C.

Rubenstein promises the tickets are well worth the money, adding that the choral department sings all types of music but there’s something powerful about being in the presence of someone like Mozart. As for the Beethoven piece, she called de Jong-Pombo a world-class performer as well as a great teacher of OCC students of all ages and abilities.

“This is as much great music as you will get for your $15 anywhere in Orange County,” Rubenstein said. “This is an incredible arts bargain.”

Orange Coast College Choir Director Eliza Rubenstein leads students through a rehearsal of Mozart’s Requiem on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)