Singsong wind blows a cappella concert ashore
The Western Wind to perform Sunday
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
Over centuries, mankind has created sounds with musical instruments to delight the ear, but there has never

COURTESY OF THE WESTERN WIND

been a more melodious or deeply

satisfying instrument than the human voice.

In a performance treat for islanders, The Western Wind, an a cappella sextet who treasure the pure beauty of unaccompanied song, offer the second in the Nantucket Arts Council winter concert series at the Coffin School on March 2. This will be the ensemble's sixth presentation on the island, and one its members look forward to giving.

"It is a very primal experience," said William Zukof, a founding member of The Western Wind, of a cappella music. "It is the basis of a great deal of world sacred music. We are drawn to it because the most gorgeous early music was vocal music."

The Western Wind, named after a favorable sailor's wind from an old English poem, began in 1969 with singers in their early- to late-20s who lived in the New York City area and were united by a common interest in Renaissance music. They were all participants in early music workshops or shared the same teachers.

"We are like a musical time machine now," Zukof said. "The Western Wind blows forward and backwards in time. The people who stay in [a cappella music] do it because they love it and because there is nothing else they can do. It's a very tricky professional path."

Zukof, a countertenor, and Elliot Levine, a baritone, are two of the ensemble's original members. Zukof has been a soloist with the Roger Wagner Chorale and Handel and Haydn Society of Boston along with many other accomplishments including performing the Bach Magnificat under Leonard Bernstein's direction at the Vatican in Rome. Levine has extensive teaching credits, has been a soloist in Europe and is cantorial soloist at Temple Emanuel in Great Neck, N.Y.

The remaining four members are soprano Kristina Boerger, who holds a degree in Choral Conducting and Literature from the University of Illinois; soprano Laura Christian, who has performed principal roles in opera and nearly all the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas; tenor Todd Frizzell, featured on Nightline singing music from a Mass written in the first millennium; and tenor Richard Slade, who has performed with the New York City Opera and New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, among many others.

The Western Wind members have achieved international acclaim and enjoy many types of music from early periods to '50s rock, jazz, folk and medieval carols.

Of their 19 recordings, the first - "Early American Vocal Music" - was produced in 1973.

The ensemble rehearse at least once or twice a week, and is developing a fully staged, two-part musical theatrical performance called "Boat from Venice to Padua" and "Juke Box in the Tavern of Love," which will run a week in Manhattan in May before going on tour. Further, they are recording a 40th anniversary program for public radio called "Oh, Beautiful American Music."

The sextet hosts workshops that draw singers from around the world, creates new works and has an arts education program in New York public schools as part of their nonprofit mission. On March 3, The Western Wind will give a workshop for Nantucket High School musicians. The best thing for them, however, may be the singing itself.

"Singers are often being conducted, but we are all the conductors - we are all the directors," Zukof said. "We have developed an interpretation working together based on a dialogue and consensus. It's a great opportunity for singers to be commanders of the ship."

The Western Wind has performed in numerous prestigious venues in America, such as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan, Frick and Jewish Museums, the Library of Congress; in Europe; and elsewhere. For Nantucket's audience, Zukof said the group will present a variety of music including some of his personal favorites, which are pieces written just for the ensemble by living composers William Bolcom and Phillip Glass.

The Western Wind perform at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 2 at The Coffin School at 4 Winter St. Tickets are $20 for Arts Council members and $25 for non-members. Students will be admitted free of charge. Tickets for this performance and the series are available at Bookworks, Mitchell's Book Corner, Dan's Pharmacy and the Nantucket

Arts Council office. I