Rich And Julie At The Mondavi

Nice article in yesterday's Davis Enterprise featuring Rich and Julie Kulmann!

Gotta sing!
Local chorus is a 'town and gown' mix of talents

Jeff Hudson - Enterprise staff writer
Published: May 26, 2009

Not all the singers in the University Chorus are college students.

Some come from the Davis community at large, including a few who are retired. They sing with the University Chorus — including this Sunday's performance of the Handel oratorio, "Alexander's Feast" — because they enjoy the opportunity to participate in a large-scale choral concert.

Rich and Julie Kulmann, for instance, are involved with several groups. She's an alto, he's a tenor. They've sung in the choir at Davis United Methodist Church for years.

"We also sing in the Davis Chorale, and then in 1998, the University Chorus asked the Davis Chorale to help with a performance of the Berlioz Requiem at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, in Sacramento," Julie Kulmann recalled. "That Berlioz Requiem is such a huge thing."

The Kulmanns enjoyed that Berlioz performance, and liked working with the University Chorus.

"So we just stuck with it," Julie said. "We're a retired couple; we don't have to be at work at the time the University Chorus holds rehearsals, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Sunday's concert will take place at 8 p.m. at the UC Davis Mondavi Center's Jackson Hall. Tickets — $16/$14/$10 general, $8/$7/$5 students and children — are available at the Mondavi Center Ticket Office, (530) 754-2787.

"What keeps us going, through all these years," Julie continued, "is the way conductor Jeffrey Thomas approaches music, and the completeness he brings to it. And he's got a good sense of humor. And he's very respectful of the chorus."

Another community member singing with the University Chorus is tenor Peter Shack.

"It's my third or fourth year," he told The Enterprise. "Ever since the Davis Comic Opera Company folded, I decided to pitch my tent with the University Chorus."

Shack, who has lived in Davis for nearly 30 years, described himself as "mostly retired — I'm a lawyer, and was supervising deputy attorney general" with the state government in Sacramento.

"I sing a lot, and I sing all the time," Shack said.

Shack sometimes finds himself recalling his own college days, "when the choir director — actually, the glee club director — brought around what I thought were some old guys to kind of show us the ropes. Now I can inspire some of these kids to keep singing their whole lives.

"What goes around comes around."

This will be the first time that the Kulmanns and Shack have sung "Alexander's Feast."

"I'm trying to recall if I've ever sung a large secular work from the 18th Century," Shack said. "There aren't a lot of them. Most of the oratorios from that era are sacred works.

"It's wonderful music. My favorite section, I guess is 'Let Timotheus Yield The Prize,' which has these great melismatic runs. It's really wonderful, hearing all the parts go against each other."

"Alexander's Feast, or The Power of Music" was written in 1736, when Handel was transitioning out of writing operas, and finding popular success with oratorios. The piece depicts a celebration following the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. There's a huge feast, including entertainment by musicians.

"It definitely sounds like Handel," said Julie Kulmann. "It's melodious, as all his pieces are. There are hints through it of 'Messiah,' and other pieces that would come later. It's got lots and lots of long lines, with are fun to sing."