Oriana Chorale gives voice to San Benito County
Barbara Nicoara was born to sing.
The child of two professional classical musicians, Nicoara grew
up in the theater. Her parents would take their daughter to nightly
rehearsals, and she would fall asleep to the sounds of their music.
When she grew older, Nicoara used her voice to express the love of
music she inherited.
Oriana Chorale gives voice to San Benito County
Barbara Nicoara was born to sing.
The child of two professional classical musicians, Nicoara grew up in the theater. Her parents would take their daughter to nightly rehearsals, and she would fall asleep to the sounds of their music. When she grew older, Nicoara used her voice to express the love of music she inherited.
Today, after years of singing in school and church choirs, Nicoara is an alto with the Oriana Chorale, San Benito County’s only local singing group that presents a regular schedule of annual concerts. But for many of its members, Oriana is more than just a club – it is a way of sharing the joy of song with others.
“I can’t imagine my life without music,” Nicoara said. “Music is a part of my life.”
Nicoara is a founding member of the Oriana Chorale, which was established in 1985. The idea to start a community choir belonged to Jeanna Balda, a local resident who at the time was the finance director at Hazel Hawkins Hospital and a cantor at Mission San Juan Bautista. Balda had grown up in Scotland, and had enjoyed listening and singing in choirs in her hometown.
Balda decided to name the choir Oriana after Queen Elizabeth I, and enlisted the help of her friend Nettie Fields, another local who had graduated from the Julliard School of Music, to get the choir off the ground. Fields served as the group’s first piano accompanist, and her husband, John, became the choir’s first director.
Twenty-three years later, Oriana Chorale boasts about 35 members, including Nicoara and her friend, Adele Pimentel, who joined the choir as a soprano about six years ago at Nicoara’s urging.
“Barbara and I sing together with our church choir,” Pimentel said, who sings each week at the Hollister United Methodist Church. “I went to a performance once, and I really enjoyed it. Then Barbara asked me to come, and I’ve been here ever since.”
Rehearsals are held each Monday while the group is working on an upcoming performance, and while the mood is usually light – current director Bruce Olstad, a vocal coach and rehearsal pianist with Opera San Jose – peppers his directions with small jokes and funny comments, singing with Oriana is not for the casual singer.
Most of its members have some sort of musical background – tenor Court Nichols, who has been with Oriana for 22 years and served as the group’s treasurer for the past 10, sang with a community church choir as a boy and joined his high school choir several years later. Pimentel has sung since she was a child, was an all-state choir member while attending high school in Connecticut and still makes her living as a piano teacher.
“We just love music,” Pimentel said. “I sing at home; my stereo is on all the time and I’ll sing along. I don’t know how much my neighbors like it, but I love it.”
It is a love they take seriously. Rehearsals are spent working on various harmonies, and many members take on the responsibility of solos or duets. The group performs a wide range of songs, such as Broadway show tunes, gospel music and popular songs. Selections from Handel’s “Messiah” have become a Christmas tradition.
“We try and perform really accessible music that people are bound to already know and love or will love when they hear it,” said Olstad, who has been with Oriana as its accompanist for four years and recently took on the additional role of director. “I think we have fun, and the audience will feel that.”
Oriana is always looking for new members, and Pimentel said the group would love to recruit a few high school students. Even though the harmonies of many songs Oriana performs can be a bit tricky, both Nicoara and Nichols said long-time members are always available to help newcomers.
“Many people come and try to start with the ‘Messiah’ and that is a very difficult piece,” Nicoara said.
“The first time I tried to sing it, I hit just two-thirds of the notes, and I was told that was pretty good,” Nichols added. “But the people next to you will help you. You just need to listen to what they are doing.”
For many of its members, Oriana is more than just a community choir – it has become a touchstone for lasting friendships and wonderful memories.
“When we are all working together, there is a camaraderie we all feel,” Pimentel said. “We are all striving to find something in ourselves. When you put that into a performance, and everything clicks, all the hard work is worth it.”
“Part of it is the music, but a big part of it is the friendships you form,” Nicoara added. “It is for the pleasure of making beautiful music together.”
Spring concert
Oriana Chorale will present its annual Spring Concert in two performances, on Saturday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 18 at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 2066 Cienega Road. The chorale will be singing a medley of Broadway show tunes and “Frostiana,” by Randall Thompson. New members are always welcome and anyone interested in joining the chorale is encouraged to attend rehearsals, which are held Mondays at 7:15 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 2300 Airline Hwy.
