As the Kiwanis Club of Kirkland gears up for its May 28 Annual Pancake Breakfast to be held the Peter Kirk Community Center from 7 a.m. to noon, local youth musicians are tuning up for the occasion. This is the fourth year that music has been part of the fun at the breakfast. Six separate musical acts are ready to perform. All proceeds from the breakfast are donated to Attain Housing, (www.attainhousing.org) to help with homelessness in our area.
Leading off the entertainment will be Kiwanis Club of Kirkland member, Hal Bomgardner from 7:30-8 a.m. He is a member of the Seattle Symphony Chorale and the Kirkland Choral Society. For the second year in a row, he will be playing some easy listening “breakfast music” to get everyone in the pancake eating mood.
The first youth entertainer of the morning is Alison Banchero from 8-8:30 a.m. A Seattle native, Alison is a singer/songwriter and pianist who has distinguished a uniquely soulful and stripped-down style of music. Her writing has been influenced by a variety of musical genres including jazz, pop, musical theater and classical. She creates her melodies with specific emphasis on the power lyrics have to impact a song. She is an up and coming artist who is new to the scene, but is very excited to be releasing her first EP “STAY” on June 11 with the help of YMCA’s KTUB. Through this opportunity, Alison has been able to record and produce an album that shows her individual style and gets “connected” with her audience. The journey of this musical process has deeply ignited the passion she has to keep writing. As she looks to the further, she is excited to be able to give back to the community that has helped her get to where she is now.
It is a privileged to have Lena Hou perform from 8:30-9 a.m. She is a seventh grader at McKnight Middle School in Renton.
Watching the sing-along videos and listening to her dad sing helped her build an interest in singing at an early age. Lena started voice lessons to train for classical and opera singing when she was 7 years old. At the age of 9 Lena became the youngest soloist to sing the National Anthem at the State Capitol’s House Chambers when she was invited by Gov. Jay Inslee to perform at his inauguration in Olympia. Since then, Lena has proudly performed the Star Spangled Banner and songs of various genres at numerous community and fundraising events. She is also one of this year’s winners in the “Oh Say Can You Sing” National Anthem singing contest. She will be performing at the Puyallup Fair in September as a show opener at one of the concerts.
The Juanita High School Jazz Choir will perform from 9-9:30 a.m. for the “breakfast bunch.” This 12-girl ensemble meets at 6:55 a.m. every school day for practice. Auditions are open to the whole school, but just a few are willing to make this commitment and they definitely have to be early birds. They are one of two choirs at Juanita High School and are joined by two orchestras, four bands and several piano and guitar classes to make up the JHS music department better known as the JHS Rebels. In the past the choir has performed for the Rotary of Kirkland Downtown organization, the Redmond Senior Center Holiday Luncheon and at person residences during the holidays.
Next up is the Evergreen Middle School’s Jazz Club directed by Eric Peterson from 9:30-10:30 a.m. This energetic group of sixth, seventh and eighth graders meets once a week at 7 a.m. to learn the form of America’s Music, Jazz. These great kids show up for practice prepared and ready to swing. With a developing repertoire from Latin to Big Band to Heavy Metal, they are stretching their experiences and are excited to share their music.
The final act of the day is will be The Carillon Chamber Singers from 10:30-11:30 a.m. These young people range in age from 13-24. They come from schools as diverse as Kirkland Middle School, the University of Washington, Lake Washington High School and Redmond High School. Some of them are out of school entirely, but are still in the Youth Choir age 25 and under. They are all united in their desires to sing top chamber choir material, at a polished level, with expression and artistry being the real hall mark of this group’s focus. The Carillon Chamber Singers and Carillon Chamber Orchestra were funded in fall of 2014 and are both programs of the Kirkland Music Academy. Both are directed by Jim Peterson, who most recently was the builder of the acclaimed choir and orchestra programs at LWHS for 18 years.
Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. The Kiwanis Club of Kirkland fully supports and is unified in the belief that fostering leadership and community in our youth is paramount to a child’s successful entry into adult life. KCK is thrilled to host the youth in our community as they explore their talent on stage at the annual Pancake Breakfast in support of Attain Housing. For more information about The Kiwanis Club of Kirkland and its work in the community, visit www.kirkland.kiwanis.org.
Bonnie Sundberg is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Kirkland.
