The voices of spring are here!
When the Minnesota Twins play their home opener on Thursday, look for 10,000 people in the stands, and listen for the National Anthem sung by Natalia Romero Arbelaez. She's a St. Olaf grad who directs choirs at St Paul Harding High School, and sings professionally with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Border CrosSing, one of Classical MPR's Class Notes Artists.
One of the great voices of pop music celebrates her 70th birthday Wednesday. Janis Ian was only 14(!) when she recorded her first hit single, "Society's Child," about a forbidden interracial romance, yet decades later the racial themes still resonate today. "Society's Child" became a national hit in 1967 after Leonard Bernstein featured it in his TV special called Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution. Bernstein invited the teenage Janis Ian on the show to sing her song, and you can watch her performance and Lenny's introduction here.
Meanwhile, just a couple weeks ago, Janis Ian posted a shout-out to the Minnesota Chorale and several other choral groups who arranged their own versions of Ian's new song "Better Times Will Come." It's part of Ian's "Better Times" Project, and you can watch the Minnesota Chorale's concert here.
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