Santa Barbara Symphony to perform annual New Year’s Eve concert
It’s hard not to start doing a fast waltz when you hear “I Could Have Danced All Night.”
That’s the power of Broadway.
And it’s part of the magic of the Santa Barbara Symphony’s New Year’s Eve concert, set for 8:30 to 10 p.m. at The Granada.
Guest conductor Bob Bernhardt will lead the orchestra at the concert, which will feature a James Bond medley, a Beatles medley and soprano soloist Mela Sarajane Dailey singing Broadway hits with the symphony. And she’s a fan of songs such as the upbeat “I Could Have Danced All Night” from Lerner and Loewe’s classic musical “My Fair Lady.”
“It’s hard not to want to get up and dance,” Ms. Dailey told the News-Press by phone from her home in Austin, Texas.
She’s looking forward to an evening of Broadway hits.
“It’s kind of like having all your favorite songs in one concert,” Ms. Dailey said. “It’s the best songs from every Broadway show I love. It’s the best form of greatest hits!”
It wouldn’t be a greatest hits of Broadway without Rodgers and Hammerstein classics, and Ms. Dailey will sing a medley from “The Sound of Music” and a song from “Carousel.”
She described Rodgers and Hammerstein’s songs as beautiful melodies that will last indefinitely. “I think there will be sopranos singing their music for the next hundreds of years because it’s something that will be passed from generation to generation.”
At left, Mela Sarajane Dailey looks forward to singing Broadway hits with the Santa Barbara Symphony at its New Year’s Eve concert. At right, Bob Bernhardt will conduct the Santa Barbara Symphony during its annual New Year’s Eve concert.
Ms. Dailey also will sing a song that’s normally a duet, “All I Ask of You,” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera.”
“I had it reconfigured as a solo because it is my favorite song from the show,” she said. “It completely works as a solo.”
She also noted she will sing a “surprise” number. Stay tuned.
The enthusiastic singer added that she loves performing with orchestras around the world. “There’s nothing like it. And to get to hear it with the symphony on the stage and not in the pit — that sound envelops you.”
“Your hall is gorgeous, and the acoustics are fantastic,” Ms. Dailey said about The Granada.
Ms. Dailey, who performed once previously with the Santa Barbara Symphony during a New Year’s Eve concert, has performed both concert versions of Broadway music as well as played the characters on stage.
She said that even in the concert versions, she performs with the mindset of the Broadway character. “But instead of dressing like the character, I get to wear gorgeous gowns that sparkle. It makes it a little bit more fun for me and the audience.”
Of course, New Year’s Eve brings a special vibe to the concert.
“I think it’s absolutely a celebration, and the music is the vehicle for the celebration,” said Ms. Dailey, who started singing solos in her church when she was 5 years old and growing up in Jacksonville, Texas. “It feels like champagne: bubbly and full of joy and hope.”
Ms. Dailey, whose multiple degrees include a master’s in opera in 2003 at the University of Texas, has performed in 18 operas but loves variety. She said her New Year’s resolution is to keep expanding her repertoire “and do something that scares me. If I’m not challenging myself, I don’t feel like I’m growing. If it scares me a little bit, I’m on the right path.”
Ms. Dailey, whose husband Peter Bay conducts the Austin Symphony, has worked frequently with Mr. Bernhardt, the guest conductor of the Santa Barbara Symphony concert.
“I always say Bob is my favorite ‘work husband’,” Ms. Dailey said. “He is such a great collaborator and musician. He’s also really funny. I enjoy everything about working with him. He makes a job that could be stressful be really enjoyable.”
The admiration is mutual.
“She and I go back probably 15 years,” Mr. Bernhardt told the News-Press. “She sings everything from opera to American standard to Broadway to jazz. She’s a Grammy-winning artist of amazing scope.
“She also happens to be a wonderful person,” Mr. Bernhardt said.
Mr. Bernhardt added he got his first taste of Broadway as a kid hearing the music in movie adaptations.
“I saw the movies first — ‘The Sound of Music,’ ‘South Pacific’ and ‘My Fair Lady,’” he said.
In addition to Broadway music, the New Year’s Eve concert will include a medley of hits from the James Bond movies, including Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” from the movie of the same name; “Nobody Does It Better,” which Carly Simon sang in “The Spy Who Loved Me”; and “For Your Eyes Only,” which Sheena Easton performed in the movie of the same name. Of course, the medley includes Monty Norman’s James Bond theme with the fast electric guitar.
Mr. Bernhardt said the symphony will also play a Beatles medley featuring classics such as “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” “Eleanor Rigby” and “Yellow Submarine.”
“It ends with ‘Hey, Jude,’ so we go ‘na, na, na, na, na, na, na’ into the night,” Mr. Bernhardt said, referring to the classic’s closing notes.
The concert will also feature selections from the musicals “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Chicago.”
The audience will get to sing with the orchestra and Ms. Dailey as the evening wraps up with “Auld Lang Syne,” and for the occasion, Mr. Bernhardt chose the full orchestral arrangement heard in the movie starring Jimmy Stewart: “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
email: dmason@newspress.com
FYI
The Santa Barbara Symphony will perform its New Year’s Eve concert from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Dec. 31 at The Granada, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara. Tickets cost $55 to $250. To purchase, go to granadasb.org.
The evening will include champagne, noise makers and party hats.
For more about guest conductor Bob Bernhardt, see a follow-up story that will be published next week in the News-Press.
