W-b Wooing New Cinema, Says Source Close To Plot

Adele Dopko 
February 21, 1998 
Adele V. Dopko, 80, A Former Resident Of Joseph's Lane, Wilkes-barre, And 
Currently A Resident Of Schooley Avenue, Exeter, Since Moving From 
Wilkes-barre In 1990, Died Saturday At Highland Manor Nursing Home, Exeter.

By MARY THERESE BIEBEL; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Tuesday, February 24, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1C 





Take away the murmuring customers and tellers. Remove the furniture and
empty the vault. Then what can you do with a cavernous marble bank building? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Fill it with music and friendship, and you have a different kind of
treasure. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; You also get great acoustics. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Friday afternoon, the Wyoming Seminary Madrigal Singers and their guests
for a week, the Chamber Choir of Scheyern, Germany, rehearsed a program they
will present during the Ash Wednesday noon service this week at St. Stephen's
Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Clear young voices soared through Seminary's new music hall, the former
Kingston National Bank near Kingston Corners, as the students shared
conductors and culture. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn," the German students sang a
composition by their late countryman, Johann Sebastian Bach. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "To thee will I cling, until I am blessed," the American students sang the
translation in reply. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By the end of the piece, all 60 students were singing the German words.
Visiting conductor Karl Sondermann played the piano, stopping every few
measures to help the Americans with pronunciation. "Ah, ah, ah," he said,
pointing to his rounded mouth. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wyoming Seminary music director John Vaida smiled at the international
group, which he will conduct again this summer when he takes the Wyoming
Seminary singers to Germany. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "By the time we perform this in June," he said. "it will be wunderbar." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In June the Wyoming Seminary students will join the German singers at a
choral festival to be held in a Benedictine Abbey in Scheyern, a small
Bavarian town north of Munich. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For the past two decades, Vaida has taken Seminary choral students abroad-
to sing in Italy, France, Greece, Hungary, Germany and other foreign locales.
In turn, he and his chorus host international visitors in a cultural exchange. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Making arrangements is not difficult, said Vaida, who, as American
representative to the International Choral Network, has plenty of contacts.
"The mission is wonderful, to spread singing throughout the world," Vaida
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Friday afternoon, music was already forging a bond among the young
performers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When the Wyoming Seminary students showcased an American spiritual, "City
Called Heaven," the German students sat down to listen appreciately. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Sounds cool," said visitor Florian Weber, 20. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As the last notes faded, Sondermann pulled soloist Remeredzai
Mawokomatanda, a Seminary student from Zaire, forward to take a bow. The
visitors applauded with enthusiasm. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 American spirituals are popular in Germany, Weber said after the rehearsal.
In fact, he sings with a German group that specializes in that art form. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He and several of his friends said they want to continue choral singing
long after graduation from the gymnasium, which they attend from fifth-
through 13th-grade. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Not as a job, because it is so hard to get a job in music," said
16-year-old Raphael Quandt. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But certainly as an avocation, said Quandt, who prefers to sing the most
complicated compositions. "They are more difficult. You can get more out of
them." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In contrast to the seriousness of their devotion to music, the German
visitors have a secondary, more light-hearted mission here in the United
States. It concerns a rainbow-hued, fruit-flavored candy that one of them
discovered on a previous trip. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're buying tons of Skittles," Weber said. "You can't get them in
Europe." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 IF YOU GO &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 WHO: The Chamber Choir of Scheyern, Germany, and the Wyoming Seminary
Madrigal Singers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 WHAT: Ash Wednesday service. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 WHEN: noon Wednesday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 WHERE: St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Wilkes-Barre. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ADMISSION: Free to the public. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER PHOTOS/FRED ADAMS &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Agathe Burek, 15, a student

Youth Forge A Worldly Bond Through Music