A full house was in attendance at the Wrightwood Community Building to experience an enlightened concert titled “An Afternoon with Rodger & Friends.” The performance took place on Saturday, April 6th. It featured Wrightwood resident and classical pianist Rodger Whitten, as well as other talented local musicians, including Craig Kupka on Trombone, John Burcher on saxophone, flute, and clarinet, Toby Williams on drums, Leroy Speaks on bass, and violinist Jingyu Lou.
The musicians captivated the audience as they performed a variety of musical genres. The concert began with Rodger Whitten’s piano serenade of classical pieces by such greats as Chopin and Debussy. Whitten was then joined onstage by violinist Jingyu Lou, and the two continued the classical themes while sprinkling in songs from recognizable movie soundtracks such as John Williams’s famed score from the 1993 film “Shindler’s List.” The duo also performed the Love Theme from the 1990 Oscar-winning film “Cinema Paradiso.”
While the rest of the musicians (Craig Kupka, John Burcher, Toby Williams, and Leroy Speaks) joined on stage, the movie motif continued with a self-composed piece written by Rodger Whitten from “Fiddler on the Roof”, a medley which was personally requested by the shows’ promoter and Wrightwood resident, Rita Bemus.
The remarkable night ended with a standing ovation after the group performed several jazz and swing songs from influential music legends such as Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, and Glenn Miller.
If you missed this event, don’t worry. There is more music and fun coming to Wrightwood, as trombonist Craig Kupka returns with his big band, The KupkaSonics, for the 2nd Annual Big Band Bash at The Wrightwood Place. Read more about that event here on website www.4newsplus.com/big-band-bash-is-back/
