Music students win at casino

Most high school students don’t know who Sonny Turner is.

Somewhere in the back of their minds, they may recognize songs like “The Great Pretender” and “Only You” and dozens of others released by

The Platters when rock ‘n’ roll and Motown were on the rise in the 1950s and 1960s.

After Thursday, about 100 students from Willows, Colusa and Arbuckle will know Turner well.

“I had the opportunity to meet Turner in Las Vegas,” said Mike Phenicie, the Colusa High School music director. “I’ve talked to my students about him and played his CD. They’ve heard the songs, so they are pretty excited to see him.”

Turner, the former lead singer for The Platters, will be performing with the 35-piece American Metrople Orchestra at the Colusa Casino Resort on Thursday and Friday.

The public concert is part of a three-day program offered by the casino to allow music, audio-visual and production students an educational, entertainment and fundraising experience.

Colusa Casino is donating 50 percent of the proceeds from the tickets the students sell to their school’s music programs.

“My students are really excited,” said Ellen Pastorino, the Willows High School music director. “This is so very generous on the part of the casino. It’s a really neat opportunity.”

The program begins Wednesday, when members of the production will work with students at Willows, Colusa and Pierce high schools, said Katelyn Davies, marketing director for Colusa Casino.

“These workshops are designed to provide students and teachers with sort of a mentor to teach them about their roles in the Legend in Music Concert Series,” Davies said. “These workshops will include production, marketing, writing the orchestration and preparation for the concert.”

Davies said the Legend series will continue later with country music singer Lynn Anderson in December and Paul Williams in early 2010.

“We hope to get even more students, including those from Maxwell and Williams, involved in those concerts,” Davies said. “It really is an educational opportunity of a lifetime.”

On Thursday, the music students and teachers will be taken to the Colusa Casino showroom, through a side entrance, for a late afternoon production preview, including seating, sound, and lighting preparations, followed by a full rehearsal and a meet and greet with Turner and orchestra conductor Keller Coker.

The students will have dinner in the Seasons Buffet and then attend Turner’s concert as members of the audience, compliments of the casino.

In a rare opportunity, Colusa High School student and oboe player Lupita Ramos and Phenicie, on the French horn, have been selected to play as members of the orchestra.

“This will be Lupita’s first professional gig,” Phenicie said. “She’s really excited.”

FOR INFORMATON
What: Sonny Turner in concert
When: 8 p.m., Oct. 22 and 23
Where: Colusa Casino Resort, 3770 Highway 45, Colusa.
Tickets: $25; $35 (preferred seating)
Purchase of tickets from Colusa, Willows or Pierce High School music students
benefits music programs in the schools.
Contact:
Mike Phenicie, Colusa High School, 458-7631
Ron Rector, Pierce High School 476-2277
Ellen Pastorino, Willows High School 934-6611.