Last fall the harmonic a cappella sounds of the nationally known Tonic Sol-Fa attracted 400 people to the Performing Arts Center at Annandale High School and raised around $1,200 for Annandale Youth First. This year organizers hope to do even better. The four-man group called "a vocal kaleidoscope" by the New York Times will return at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, as the main event in a season of local entertainment that will include free big-screen movie nights and a performance by the Apollo Male Chorus. "Paul Manuel, the chairman of Youth First, had gotten so many responses from people (after the concert last year) who hadn’t gone wishing they had, we brought them back," Annandale Community Education director Nicole Wilke said. The events, hosted by local organizations including the Annandale Area Community Team, the Parent Teacher Organization, Annandale Community Education and Annandale State Bank, are part of a plan to better and fully use the Performing Arts Center. Tonic Sol-Fa is said to appeal to all ages with a collage of original and cover songs that explore the styles of country, pop, gospel and blues. According to the group’s web site, Tonic Sol-Fa began at St. John’s University with Mark McGowan, who sings baritone, and lead vocalist Shaun Johnson while both were attending in the mid-1990s. Shortly after forming the group, the two auditioned for a local entertainment agency, which helped jump-start their performance and appearance schedule. Tenor Greg Bannwarth and bass Jared Dove joined soon after and completed the group. Today Tonic Sol-Fa performs approximately 150 concerts each year across 48 states to a combined audience of around 250,000. They have released six CDs, sold more than a million albums and have toured nationally and internationally. They have shared the stage with Jay Leno, Jeff Foxworthy, Garrison Keillor, Lonestar, Montgomery Gentry, Weird Al Yankovic, Neal McCoy and others. "We didn’t really know what to expect," Wilke said of last year’s concert. Although they didn’t play to a sold-out crowd, the money raised did help to support Youth First programs such as boys and girls club and Cardinal Buddies, programs that were threatened when federal funding was cut several years ago. Today Youth First depends upon local donations and grants to keep its programs up and running. Youth First also organizes Camp Eastview, Community Youth Nights, Community Clean-up Week and Centennial Villa Bingo. Friday, Oct. 2, marked the start of the free movie series at the Performing Arts Center with the family classic "Shrek 3." Disney-Pixar’s "WALL-E" will be shown Friday, Nov. 6, and with the center’s new and improved sound system, it will be almost like seeing it in the theater, Wilke said. The Apollo Male Chorus will wrap up the fall and winter events at the Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Dec. 12, with a Christmas Concert. Proceeds will also go toward Youth First. More events will be coming in the spring, Wilke said. Look for information in Community Education’s winter-spring catalogue, which will come out over Christmas break. Advance tickets for Tonic Sol-Fa will be on sale at Annandale State Bank, Annandale Community Education and at its web site. Visit www.annandale.k12 .mn.us/ and click on community education center. Tickets can also be purchased at the door.
