Local Crooner To Perform Christmas Show Friday
By ROBERT W. PLYLER
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12/6/2006 - FREDONIA — For those who love soft jazz, the music of the big bands and the crooning of singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, there will be excellent news this coming Friday.
The 1891 Opera House, in the Village Hall of Fredonia, will play host to an 8 p.m. concert by Michael Civisca. The concert’s title is ‘‘Christmas Is ... A Michael Civisca Holiday Concert.’’
Civisca was born in Niagara Falls and although he headlines theaters and night clubs all over the world, his permanent home is in Buffalo. We talked by telephone with the singer, as he prepared for his next Chautauqua County performance.
‘‘I’ve enjoyed all kinds of music, all my life, but the rich harmonies and poetic quality of the American song book have always been very special to me,’’ he said. ‘‘By the time I was 15, I knew the words and melodies to hundreds of songs.’’
Despite this interest, he continued to study in many areas. Civisca began college majoring in graphic arts, then later switched to finance. He continued to love to sing and often belted out a song or two at parties, but he never considered making a living at it, for more than a decade after graduation.
‘‘I started a couple of businesses of my own,’’ he said. ‘‘I taught myself how to design computer software and worked at that for a while.’’
Meanwhile, his interest in the music of Cole Porter, George Gershwin and others remained a hobby.
Then in 1995, when he was 31 years old, a friend from college was visiting. She enjoyed singing and playing guitar and they were singing together in his back yard. ‘
‘‘She said she thought I had the talent to make a career of singing and she gave me the name and phone number of her vocal coach,’’ he said.
He decided he would sing for the coach and if he agreed with the friend, Civisca would make some audition tapes and start trying to get singing jobs.
Since then, he has made a number of recordings. He travels extensively and recently finished an appearance at the Club Iridium in New York City. His fame has spread abroad, where he reports that during a recent concert in Japan, he met a number of people who spoke no English at all, but who had memorized the words to his songs phonetically.
‘‘I always think of my songs in terms of the words, but even people who don’t understand the words love this music,’’ he said.
The singer regretted that a number of the jazz clubs where he used to perform in the Buffalo area have closed within the past five years and admits his future plans include the possibility of opening a club of his own where he and singers in the same style can perform in Western New York.
He has recently appeared in a Broadway show for producer David Cassiday and is in discussion with various writers and producers to write more shows which involve music in the style he loves to sing.
If you yearn for the sound of songs such as ‘‘White Christmas,’’ ‘‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas,’’ ‘‘Winter Wonderland’’ and ‘‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire),’’ Civisca will be blending a generous selection of them with new songs he will be introducing into his act plus the classics for which he has become famous in his Fredonia show on Friday.
Tickets are $20 for reserved seats, with a $2 discount for members of the 1891 Opera House. Purchase them in person at the Opera House, or by phone, calling 679-1891. Purchase them by computer at: http://www.fredopera.org./
Civisca’s rich baritone, warm banter and lively energy could easily make Friday one of the happiest days of your holiday season.
The 1891 Opera House, in the Village Hall of Fredonia, will play host to an 8 p.m. concert by Michael Civisca. The concert’s title is ‘‘Christmas Is ... A Michael Civisca Holiday Concert.’’
Civisca was born in Niagara Falls and although he headlines theaters and night clubs all over the world, his permanent home is in Buffalo. We talked by telephone with the singer, as he prepared for his next Chautauqua County performance.
‘‘I’ve enjoyed all kinds of music, all my life, but the rich harmonies and poetic quality of the American song book have always been very special to me,’’ he said. ‘‘By the time I was 15, I knew the words and melodies to hundreds of songs.’’
Despite this interest, he continued to study in many areas. Civisca began college majoring in graphic arts, then later switched to finance. He continued to love to sing and often belted out a song or two at parties, but he never considered making a living at it, for more than a decade after graduation.
‘‘I started a couple of businesses of my own,’’ he said. ‘‘I taught myself how to design computer software and worked at that for a while.’’
Meanwhile, his interest in the music of Cole Porter, George Gershwin and others remained a hobby.
Then in 1995, when he was 31 years old, a friend from college was visiting. She enjoyed singing and playing guitar and they were singing together in his back yard. ‘
‘‘She said she thought I had the talent to make a career of singing and she gave me the name and phone number of her vocal coach,’’ he said.
He decided he would sing for the coach and if he agreed with the friend, Civisca would make some audition tapes and start trying to get singing jobs.
Since then, he has made a number of recordings. He travels extensively and recently finished an appearance at the Club Iridium in New York City. His fame has spread abroad, where he reports that during a recent concert in Japan, he met a number of people who spoke no English at all, but who had memorized the words to his songs phonetically.
‘‘I always think of my songs in terms of the words, but even people who don’t understand the words love this music,’’ he said.
The singer regretted that a number of the jazz clubs where he used to perform in the Buffalo area have closed within the past five years and admits his future plans include the possibility of opening a club of his own where he and singers in the same style can perform in Western New York.
He has recently appeared in a Broadway show for producer David Cassiday and is in discussion with various writers and producers to write more shows which involve music in the style he loves to sing.
If you yearn for the sound of songs such as ‘‘White Christmas,’’ ‘‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas,’’ ‘‘Winter Wonderland’’ and ‘‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire),’’ Civisca will be blending a generous selection of them with new songs he will be introducing into his act plus the classics for which he has become famous in his Fredonia show on Friday.
Tickets are $20 for reserved seats, with a $2 discount for members of the 1891 Opera House. Purchase them in person at the Opera House, or by phone, calling 679-1891. Purchase them by computer at: http://www.fredopera.org./
Civisca’s rich baritone, warm banter and lively energy could easily make Friday one of the happiest days of your holiday season.
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