VERO BEACH — When Jose Daniel Flores raises his baton at the Concert for World Peace on Friday, the sound that will follow has its genesis in him.
Flores is founder of both community singing groups scheduled to perform: The Atlantic Children’s Chorale, comprising top school-age singers from Indian River and St. Lucie counties; and the Atlantic Schola Cantorum, a volunteer chorus of music professionals including church choir directors, music teachers and performing professionals. The sweetness of the music in the Community Church sanctuary, where Flores serves as full-time music director, will no doubt make him proud.
A rehearsal last week demonstrated that as he led both groups through selections from the concert. But it is one particularly difficult piece, “Painting Eden,” that will touch the director’s heart. It was written by Flores’ son Carlos Daniel Flores, 22, as the score for his latest independent film.
“It is a piece for choir, vocal quartet and wind orchestra, with a violin solo Carlos will be playing himself,” says Flores. “He wrote this piece for his film knowing we were going to adapt it for this concert. He added text that would relate to the theme of peace.”
The performance Friday will be recorded for use in the film.
Carlos Flores, born in Puerto Rico, moved to Vero in 2003 from New Mexico.
He graduated third in his class from Indian River Charter High School and summa cum laude from Florida State University. He is currently living in Vero, producing his film from his family home.
Beyond Flores père, the exquisite voices and earnest faces of the children’s choir will likely melt hearts in the audience.
Flores selects his singers on strict terms. Before they audition, each must have a strong academic record and have their music teacher’s recommendation.
He also requires that they remain in their school or church choirs despite a heavy rehearsal schedule with Atlantic.
”This is a two-way relationship,” he says. “I am appreciative of the recommendation from the teachers and I would hope those schools would gain by the training these kids are getting.”
The children rehearse one afternoon a week for two hours plus a monthly 3-hour stint on Saturday mornings.
Ranging in age from 9 to 18, the ensemble has grown to 24 from its six members in 2006.
“Originally we stopped at eighth grade,” says Flores. “But as the kids got older, the kids didn’t want to leave.”
In terms of talent, Flores says it is his strongest group to date.
Three of his students are considering majoring in music in college, including Mariel Dos Santos, a Vero Beach High School student who is also the youngest singer in the Atlantic Schola Cantorum.// That group of 21 voices came about as Vero’s music directors came to know each other, and many wanted to perform themselves.
Setting down their own batons to sing to Flores’, they too crowd rehearsal time into work weeks that for many include nights and weekends.
Carlos Flores will not be the only composer to hear his own work at the concert.
A distinguished American-born composer, Francis Schwartz, will be arriving from his home in Sarasota, for a performance of his contemporary composition, “Paz En la Tierra,” a work whose notation on paper consists of graph-like bars rather than musical notes.
The innovative Juilliard-trained composer earned a doctorate from the University of Paris, and was awarded a top French honor, the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. A work he composed, described as “polyartistic,” involving aromas, temperature changes and electronic sounds, premiered in 1979 at the Pompidou Center and was later installed at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.
He has composed for Andres Segovia and Thomas Bacon, among many other celebrated musicians. In November, a new commission will be premiered at Carnegie Hall.
In Schwartz’s signature style, “Paz en la Tierra” is expected to engage the audience in its presentation. It begins as a traditional work would, then, as choir members fan out into the sanctuary, members of the audience are incorporated into sound-making, using the spoken word and singing.
Schwartz was dean of humanities at the University of Puerto Rico in a career there that spanned 33 years. The work to be performed was written during his tenure there and is a tribute to a famous Puerto Rican journalist and human rights advocate, Manuel “Eddie” Lopez, Schwartz’s close friend, who died at the age of 31.
“I heard this piece performed by the University of Puerto Rico chorus, and it made such an impression on me,” says Flores. “It is very avant-garde, and very effective in transmitting a lot of emotion, from joy, to anger, to concern for the lack of peace on earth.
“And some people will not know what to think,” he adds with a knowing look, anticipating the response.
Another local premier will be of “Mass of the Children,” one of the best-known works of the modern English composer John Rutter. That work will incorporate passages from masses in Latin and Greek along with the poetry of William Blake and others.
Other pieces in the concert of multinational origin will bring to mind victims of war and hopes for peace, the theme for the evening.
The concert, part of the Community Concert Series, will donate proceeds to local children’s charities through Songs for Peace, an initiative begun by retired Vero orthodontist George Barkett.
The concert is Friday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Church, 1901 23rd Street in Vero. Tickets are $10 for students; $25 for adults. Call 772-778-1070 for information, or go to www.communityconcertseries.org.
