The voice can be a powerful musical instrument, especially when it’s eight female voices singing in harmonious a cappella.
As part of its “Live as One” tour, the all-women a cappella group Heartbeat from Telluride, Colorado, will perform in Moab on Sunday, Nov. 18, at the Moab Arts and Recreation Center.
Heartbeat has performed regionally at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the town’s jazz festival, the Sand Island Bluegrass Festival in Bluff and the Moab Folk Festival. The group also sings for various memorials and celebrations.
“Some of our favorite concerts have been the impromptu ones, such as at the post office, the bike path tunnel, the stairwell at the elementary school and even standing in the Gunnison River singing to boaters,” singer Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer said. “I think that part of what makes our concerts so much fun is that we have a lot of energy and spontaneity every time we perform. We’re up there having a great time making music.”
Ulli Sir Jesse, of Ridgway, Colorado, founded the group 24 years ago in Telluride, where most of the members reside. The group practices once a week for two hours.
“I love to sing in harmony with other women,” said Jesse, who also teaches piano in Telluride. “There’s something about all the voices close together that is enticing.”
Heartbeat performs songs that originate from around the world, including tunes from Japan, Bulgaria, Estonia, Tanzania, Ecuador, the United Kingdom, India and more.
“We make an effort to include as many cultures and languages as we can, including Native American songs,” singer Wahtola Trommer said. She is also an acclaimed and widely published poet.
Two of her poems will be performed by the group. Jesse and fellow member Donna Burd Fernald composed the music.
“It’s fun to perform work we created ourselves,” Wahtola Trommer said. “Those songs are about being part of the land, being part of the environment.”
Heartbeat includes four of the original members, and Wahtola Trommer joined a year after the group formed. Members also include Suzan Beraza, Nancy DeCastro, Judith Kohin, Jen Sher Birrittella and Deb Stevens.
Local singer and finger-picking guitar player Connor Scaro, also known as No Show Cadillac, will open the late afternoon show.
Scaro recently recorded his first EP, which debuted in Moab during a release party on Nov. 14 at Club Rio.
He said he will also have his suitcase kick drum with him on stage.
No Show Cadillac performs a “blend of folk, rock and rag-grass” at private events and at festivals around the region. Because it’s a short set (about 20 minutes), Scaro said he will perform only original songs and no covers.
“I asked him to open the show because he plays beautiful acoustic music,” MARC director Meg Stewart said.
‘Live as One’ tour inspired by John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’
“Some of our favorite concerts have been the impromptu ones, such as the post office, the bike path tunnel, the stairwell at the elementary school and even standing in the Gunnison River singing to boaters”
When: Sunday, Nov. 18, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Where: Moab Arts and Recreation Center (MARC), 111 E. 100 North
Cost: Donation
Information: Call 435-259-6272
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