Pair giving Mother's Day concert

By DAVID GUNTER

Feature correspondent

SANDPOINT — The voices have a decided characteristic of bright stars tumbling to Earth from the firmament itself. Overblown hyperbole? Not after you’ve heard these two boy sopranos sing.

In music history, the timbre of a young male singing in this highest of vocal registers became a much-prized gift. True, it was the early church’s misogyny that pushed women and girls out of performance roles, creating the necessity of an all-male choir. Wrong on many levels, the church got this much right in that closed-minded approach to gender — it stumbled upon the pure, soaring tone that is the very description of the boy soprano.

All of which is lost upon 12-year-old Cody Moore and 11-year-old Andrew Lapadat, who will appear together for a free Mother’s Day concert presented by the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint. Asked how much they knew about the history that precedes them, they answered with unfettered honesty.

“Zero,” said Andrew.

“Pretty much nothing,” Cody agreed.

That is not to say that the boys have not been well trained in all other aspects of this rare corner of vocal prowess. They know their stuff, as handily witnessed by their easy stage presence and natural singing. Between church music and the MCS Children’s Choir, both have been making music for a while. In that latter group and other conservatory classes, they have sung together for the past three years.

Last December, they discovered they were kindred artistic spirits when they shared the lead role in the MCS production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” — a Christmas chestnut in the form of a one-act opera by Gian Carlo Menotti. Each singer took the spotlight for one of the two performances and had a chance to appreciate what the other had to offer.

“He was better at singing,” Andrew said. “But I was much better at acting.”

It wasn’t until Andrew announced that his family would be moving that the notion of a boy soprano concert took shape, primarily due to the involvement of MCS co-founder Karin Wedemeyer. When she broached the subject of a performance that highlighted the boys’ skills as soloists and as a duo, the response was mixed.

Andrew shook his head in a dramatic “no” to re-enact his initial reaction to the idea. Cody, meanwhile, shrugged and said, “Sure, OK.”

Their responses were more sanguine when they found out how much music they would have to prepare for the Mother’s Day show. Though the program will feature eight demanding selections totaling about 45 minutes on stage, the singers readily launched into a twice-a-week rehearsal schedule that started in February.

“We have a Welsh piece, Italian, English — it’s a nice variety,” Wedemeyer said. “It’s a challenging repertoire that shows that they’re both good musicians.”

Some of that talent might have rubbed off on the boys from their mothers, as it turns out. Ada Lapadat grew up singing in choirs and remains an avid music lover. Heidi Moore has played flute since elementary school band and continues to play today. On Mother’s Day, she will accompany her son on the Camille Saint-Saens composition, “The Invisible Flute.”

Quizzed on whether there is any parental pressure to pursue music as a possible career, the boys’ replies were unequivocal and immediate.

“Yes!” they answered as one.

A bit early in the curve, perhaps, but both singers plan to follow that tuneful path through life.

“I want to go around the world and do music,” Andrew said.

“My plan is to go to college, get a 4.0 and take music classes,” said Cody.

Given their respective ages, the vocal range they have now could be a thing of the past at any moment, though Wedemeyer suspects that these two instruments are unique to the point that the upper range might not abandon them with age. No matter the outcome, her work as vocal coach and musical mentor made it easy for the boys to embrace the rare gift of the male soprano while the voices still claim that upper territory on the treble clef staff.

“I was like, ‘Cool — I can sing really high. Why don’t I do that?’” Andrew said.

A sneak preview of the Sunday concert will take place this Wednesday, May 10, when KPBX-FM/Spokane Public Radio host Verne Windham features the boy sopranos on his “Classical Moments” program that day at 10 a.m.

Along with the above-mentioned Saint-Saens piece, next Sunday’s concert will include highlights such as a duet arrangement of “Panis Angelicus” by César Franck, along with the “Amen” from Stabat Mater by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and Felix Mendelssohn’s “I Waited for the Lord,” performed as duets.

Also featured in the concert will be piano accompanist Tom Rodda.

“This is going to be a treat for the community, because you don’t get to hear these voices very often,” Wedemeyer said. “And this was an opportunity for the two of them to work together and build a memory.”

“Two Boy Sopranos in Concert” will be held on May 14, at 5 p.m., in the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church, located at 417 N. Fourth Ave., in Sandpoint. The concert is free and open to the public, though donations will be gladly accepted.

For more information, contact the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint by calling 208-265-4444 or visit online at: www.sandpointconservatory.org