Matt Zielke, baritone. Matt toured for several years with Up With People. He remembers a show in Topeka, KS, where the stage was a trailer, and when the cast began dancing, the vibrations bounced the drummer and the drum set right off the stage. He also remembers the year Ah Tempo! offered Singing Valentines for people to “send” to a loved one. One of the young recipients would not accept their call until her husband called her with reassurance the guys weren’t solicitors….kind of spoiling the surprise. When not spending time with family, Matt enjoys fly fishing on the Au Sable. He is thrilled to be onstage tonight with his daughter, Olivia, playing the flute. He says she will be far less nervous than he in Danny Boy, one of his favorites.
Gene Foote, bass. Gene can often be seen biking long distances on Michigan biking trails or flying one of his radio-controlled model airplanes. That’s why he loves his part-time work at Rogers Hobby Center. He claims to have been ‘scared to death’ by his first major solo in The Seven Last Words of Christ, but that didn’t stop him from continuing. Recalling a slight wardrobe malfunction at an At Tempo! concert, Gene tells of being unable to straighten one antler on his reindeer hat when it kept falling over. He and his wife Renee have two children and, as he says, “two wonderful grandchildren.” His favorite piece tonight is Cloths of Heaven, with its beautiful words and harmonies that have At Tempo! feeling right at home.
Betty Mayer, pianist and director. Betty teaches middle school music and feels right at home with the Ah Tempo! gents, likening them to her students in “dealing with young, adolescent behavior and humor.” Betty is married to tenor, John Mayer, and they are eagerly awaiting the birth of their second granddaughter this spring. Equally gifted at singing as at the keyboard, she recalls singing John Denver’s Country Roads in the third grade. By middle school, she found she preferred accompanying the choir to singing solos. Her favorite memory, from Ah Tempo!’s very first rehearsal, was Dave Stine suddenly exclaiming, “It’s 10:15? I told Jeanie I’d be home by 8:00!” Having raised two sons, Betty thinks of the Ah Tempo! guys as having six more boys in her family.
Out of the Blue CD Release
Tonight we celebrate Ah Tempo!’s nine years of singing together with the release of their studio recorded CD, Out of the Blue. Ah Tempo! fans will recognize many of the selections on the CD, including their first-performed song, This Little Light of Mine, as well as the gorgeous Pure Imagination and Rat Pack hit, Come Fly with Me. Pop the CD into a player to listen to all eleven tunes anytime you want!
Available for purchase for $15 at the sales table in the lobby!
