Conductor: John Mario Di Costanza
Orchestra: Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra
Chautauqua Set List:
1. Orchestra: Cavalleria Rusticana
2. When You Wish Upon A Star
3. Some Enchanted Evening
4. Ombra Mai Fu
5. Orchestra: Medley: Pirates Of The Caribbean
6. What A Wonderful World
7. Reflection
8. The Lords Prayer
Intermission
9. Lovers
10.My Heart Will Go On
11.Imaginer
12.Orchestra: Theme From Jurassic Park
13.Can You Feel The Love Tonight
14.The Impossible Dream
15.Encore 1: O Mio Babbino Caro
16.Encore 2: Music Of The Night
Some thoughts, observations and reviews of the Chautauqua concert by folks over on Proboards:
From varnk:"Just got back from NY. I am still trying to process the whole concert experience. I will be working on a report and a blog post tomorrow.
This was the biggest attended concert that I have ever been to so far. The estimate was somewhere around 5000.
More to come tomorrow.... I promise!"
From bobby: Three posts put together
"Jackie Evancho , John Mario , and the Chautauqua symphony orchestra . An evening to remember . After a great gathering put together by Trace with help from others that I am ashamed to have forgotten names, We arrived at this charming village from years gone bye . I am sure members who have not been there were awestruck by their surroundings. This review is not mainly about Jackie's performance. It is a given that she never disappoints. Her voice and deliverance were simply great . Her voice is maturing into the stratosphere. I would like to focus on the event itself . Not long after we arrived , many of us gathered just outside the open-aired amphitheater to listen as John Mario warmed up the musicians. With the safety of this protected community , Lisa and Mike allowed the kids to roam the grounds and play openly with a few friends.It was so refreshing to see Jake , Zack and Rachel and friends having so much fun. Rachel was seen later chasing squirrels and chipmunks among trees on a grassy hill just off the porch where coffee and donuts were set up. Going to continue in next post ."
"As we waited for the concert to begin, I was seated right behind Martunuk and 12 year old daughter Mackenzie from England . She was just beside herself with excitement. Earlier she had gotten Jackie's attention , and they shared a few words bringing Mackenzie to tears. As we waited for the concert to start her and her dad and several others just shared her joy. The concert began and we were in heaven . Might add some more thoughts later. hope this wasn't boring"
"Continuing---- Back to the amphitheater , suddenly Jackie appeared and the Orchestra started to play "Imaginer" . Jackie started to sing and the kids all jumped on stage beside her as she belted out what I feel was one of her best renditions of that song .Realizing what was happening I whipped out my video camera, and although she was about 100 feet away , and pretty dark inside , and my zoom was shaky the sound of her voice came out wonderfully. Out of respect for the Evancho's [and my not knowing how to forward them] the video will remain personal . The sound of Jackie echoed out and soon many were listening with wonder. After a wait that seemed forever we were allowed in about an hour before game-time . As usual many of us forum fans made it to the first 3 rows and of course provided many standing ovations as Jackie acknowledged us with her smiles at us . The theater was soon packed and there seemed to be a great buzz of anticipation from the excited crowd. It was generally an older group given the well-to-do retirees at the institute , but many average age attendees with many children were also present . taking a break--sorry one more post"
From jackieandbuffyfan:
Preludehere are some of my recollections from Jackie's Chautauqua concert, written for my own records and shared with those who may be interested.. if you notice anything amiss or missing in anything that you manage to plow through, feel free to PM me so that I can update..
Fan Gathering & Post Concertas always, it's so nice to catch up with fans who have become great friends.. and meet new ones.. wow, fans from Germany, Italy and England too..! - how special is that..! thanks to those who organize these things for us, who make the name tags, and buttons and postcards.. and to those who also like to stay out to all hours of the night after concert, because we simply don't want the evening and the Jackie Effect to end for that day..
Pre Concertabout 4:30 in the afternoon, while many of us waited around the venue, and after the orchestra had been rehearsing for probably a couple of hours, Jackie and family entered the venue.. all of the other kids (Rachel, Zach, Jacob and a couple of friends) ran/hang around for probably 20 minutes or so, then Jackie (with her golden hair and wearing a little black dress) came on stage, and the kids all went on stage beside her, and Jackie sang Imaginer – and wow! it was so beautiful to hear her voice carrying over this vast theatre and out into the village.. we also spied Lisa off to the side of the stage; it looked like she was video taping the various surroundings.. just the one song from Jackie – and she's good to go
..
there were two storey houses surrounding the venue – some you could sit out on the top level verandah and look right in and enjoy the concert – every concert..
Jackie was on the front page of Friday's Aug 8 The Chautauquan Daily.. I bought a number of copies – there's a story of multiple interventions that I may tell in another post..
Venueoh my gosh, I don't know what it was like for others, but I found this unassigned seating policy fairly nerve-wracking.. I truly envy those who could relax.. I did my best to get as good a seat as possible, but I really needed a final “helpful boost” from my Jackie fan friends (one in particular – thanks big J) to fulfill the front row dream of most die hard Jackie fans..
there was a bit of a mixup to the audio-video-photography instructions given to the audience.. when lining up, all ushers gave us the usual word that amounts to only non-flash photography is allowed.. but then just before Jackie came on stage, the announcer apparently said no photography of any kind – it was easy to miss this if one felt they already knew the policy.. we clarified at intermission with the crowd manager lady, who said that yes the announcer was correct and that it was more due to the standard orchestra policy at Chautauqua.. anyway, a good reminder to listen to the announcer rather than presume one knows..
this was a virtual full house – standing room only – 4,500 people..!! speaking with the crowd manager lady (while waiting in line I was assigned to guard her coffee – for about 2 hours – probably added to my anxiety..!), she noted that the longstanding full house estimate for the venue of 5,000 had been updated in recent years – downsized to 4,500 due to the average “upsize” in rearend size.. still 4,500 people – wow!! – Jackie must have been so happy gazing out at that full-house.. for a Jackie-only concert, I have never been to one remotely close to that many people – when I asked longtime Jackie concert goers for a comparable size crowd (for a Jackie-only concert), all were hard-pressed to think of any.. Puyallup was mentioned as a possibility, but no one knew for sure.. so this concert may indeed have been historic for Jackie and all in attendance – smashing any previous audience record.. and so nice on the virtual eve of her 4th AGT anniversary..
Set Listsame as Milwaukee..
my recollection of standing Os: SEE, OMF, Ref, TLP, Lov, CYFTLT, TID, OMBC, MOTN
1st set
- orch – Cavalleria Rusticana
- When You Wish Upon A Star
- Some Enchanted Evening
- Ombra Mai Fu
- orch – Pirates of the Caribbean
- What A Wonderful World
- Reflection
- The Lord's Prayer
2nd set
- Lovers
- My Heart Will Go On
- Imaginer
- orch – Jurassic Park
- Can You Feel The Love Tonight
- The Impossible Dream
encore
- O Mio Babbino Caro
- The Music Of The Night
Song Specificthe stage was set up with a center stage entry only – no side entries.. so Jackie would always enter and exit via center, walking through the orchestra between the piano and violins, and between the horns and drums.. of course dear miss Jackie is most used to entering and exiting from her right (our left).. which caused her a couple of ever so slight stutter steps, as after curtsying and thanking the audience, she would take a step or 2 to her right while looking at and waving to the audience, then as she turned her head to see where she was going, realize oops and make a turn to her right (the lead violinist sitting right there) and kind of side step a bit to her right to get by in order to then exit by center back door.. goodness me, she even said “sorry” at this moment when going off after Ombra Mai Fu – no need for a sorry dear Jackie – I'm sure I would have done it all night long in addition to actually tripping..
introducing What A Wonderful World, Jackie again noted that it makes her dad cry, but that she's happy to sing it for him because it's a cry of joy – something like that..
I notice this at other times too, but I especially love the way she just kind of goes on a “stroll” when walking the stage while not singing, during Reflection.. she could be filming a video, gazing around, walking along, taking in the night air, with a little sway from side to side..
as she set about to introduce The Lord's Prayer, she startled a bit and explained that she thought she saw a spider on the floor.. and admitted she's afraid of them..
for the 2nd set, John Mario and Jackie entered at the same time.. and before starting up Lovers, Jackie wanted to tell us some silly or light stuff.. she didn't use “silly” or “light”, but I seem to remember it was something like that.. she told us of seeing a spider earlier in the day, and about poking one, and about one backstage (I think that's where it was) with a most beautiful web, and that she had named it “Chika” (something like that).. to the audience's
did you get Jacob to take care of it?, she replied like
no he's more afraid of spiders than me.. good audience chuckle.. to the audience's
did you step on it?, she responded like
no way, he's my pet.. that got a good chuckle too.. what an enigma this young lady is – fear of spiders but happy to have one as a pet..
when she sings My Heart Will Go On, I always love how she routinely holds her left hand to her heart when she sings “heart”.. that final “oooooo” is so lovely..
I can never get enough of her final “aaaaaa”, “oooooo” and “mmmmm” of Imaginer.. I'm going to so miss this song as she changes her set list in the future..
when she sings Can You Feel The Love Tonight, I always cherish the flourish she puts in her arms and body as she sings “can”..
introducing The Impossible Dream, Jackie again dedicated it to her mom, whom she loves very much, because among other things “she birthed me” - I love when she says this – and I am continually amazed at what can become from just a little mix of DNA.. since it was her last song, and noting something like the evening has gone by so fast, she also thanked John Mario, the orchestra, her sound engineer, everyone backstage, and all her family and friends who came with her and whom she loves very much..
during her final encore, Music Of The Night, as she strode the stage coming back to center from our right, a fly fluttered right in front of her head.. she kind of slowed, smiled, and diverted slightly – so as not to become "the lady who swallowed the fly".. such a lovely human moment for all of us - adding a smile to our full enrapture..
General ConcertI love that about a girl's hair, and Jackie's hair seems to do it with such ease, that it bleaches in the sun – seems to be a sign that these girls are specially connected to the natural world – and with Jackie's hair seemingly bleaching more than most, well then she is extra specially connected
.. for the concert she wore her hair with slight soft curls in it, tucked behind her right ear too (so we were treated to all of her lovely facial expressions).. the overhead stage lighting of mauve, green, blue reflected softly off her hair – the mauve was especially pretty causing a slight pinkish hue to the hair's surface.. also, Jackie wore no rings, bracelets, necklaces (she seems to really never wear bracelets in concert) and only small ear ring studs – she truly needs no other adornments – although I think a flower in her hair might be nice now and then, but maybe during the day, not during concert..
there was a sweet little girl in a lovely white gown dress with a Jackie doll who got lots of waves and smiles from Jackie.. I chatted briefly with her and her mom at intermission, talking about what song her doll sings.. I didn't tell them I have 3 of them packed away, for future grandkids maybe..
Jackie gave out lots of smiles and little finger waves, generally directed at young folks and ladies.. it's nice that there were and are so many in attendance..
I can see where outdoor concerts can add a new level of issues – it was a good thing it wasn't mosquito season
.. we could see the occasional fly buzzing around near Jackie because of the bright lighting – not sure how far back in the audience it was visible.. at the end of Reflection, with one buzzing around her head somewhat (although Jackie didn't seem to notice – lost in the music), was when I first became aware.. then also again between Reflection and The Lord's Prayer.. during The Lord's Prayer, a fly landed on her dress exactly where she grips it with her left hand.. couldn't help notice that she disturbed it a bit, but then it seemed to lightly settle on her hand (
aaaww, this is much better) – again she didn't seem to notice being lost in the music..
Jackie has been able to mix and match from such a nice set of dresses for her recent SFTSS tour.. for Portsmouth and Chautauqua (and I'm betting Lancaster too), ie, these last 3 summer concerts before Longwood, she is wearing the same 2 dresses, a match which she hasn't used before in concert – she's previously worn these 2 dresses, but not together in concert.. for the 1st set, it's the silky blue dress that she first unveiled in Worcester, followed by the 2nd set's stunning cream color fuller dress first worn in Detroit..
audience didn't know the typical set up for Jackie's finale, that being she generally comes back for 2 encores.. so after The Impossible Dream, when Jackie thanked us all, and curtsied, and we clapped, and she walked off, some people started to leave.. we kept clapping for Jackie and an encore though.. Jackie came out for a curtain call and went back.. heart fluttered a bit – oh my, no encore..?? but soon John Mario and Jackie both came back.. after introducing (as one of the 1st songs she ever learned, the first in another language) and singing O Mio Babbino Caro, we gave another standing O.. and thankfully she did not exit but instead immediately accepted our request for “one more”.. my sense is that they were very astute to the audience's likely reaction, ie, if they left a 2nd time, there would be a mass exodus of thousands (it still would have left thousands clapping, but it would have been awkward).. and as a result, we were treated to such a magnificent version of Music Of The Night, as can be attested by any in attendance or who may have listened to spudchucker's audio post.. and we also got the “lady who almost swallowed the fly” moment..
a number of times during the night, we were treated to what has become for me another iconic pose from Jackie – the one where she has just finished delivering a lyric and waits for the music to come around to her next lyric, with the spotlight on her, she stands straight and tall, face on to the crowd, chin slightly up, shoulders back, arms comfortably at her side, mic in right hand, gazing seemingly at the upper levels, with not a smile, but a pleasant yet commanding purposeful look about her.. it really is a magnificent pose – she is such a marvel..
From varnk:I finally found some time to post about my Chautauqua concert experience. You folks get the first cut of the report that I will use as part of my blog post, which I will revise for the general Internet public. The blog post will come out a little later than this one since I usually take more time to wordsmith it for the general blog-reading public.
My wife and I took the 3 hour drive to Chautauqua on the day of the concert. We arrived at the Chautauqua Suites around 1:00pm. Right away we met Trace and his wife Jackie. We would also meet Chuck and his wife Paula too. Even though none of us have met personally before, it felt like we knew each other well because of the connection that we have to the fan club and to Jackie Evancho. Soon more Jackie fans showed up in the lobby and we had a lot of pleasant conversations. The location of the hotel was only about a mile from Andriaccios restaurant, where we would have the traditional fan gathering. My wife and I couldn't check into our hotel until 3:00pm, so we decided to drive to the 2:00pm fan gathering, stay there for about an hour or so, and then drive back to the hotel to check-in and change into our concert attire. When we arrived at the fan gathering it was wonderful to see so many excited fans. I met Luta in the parking lot. It was so impressive that he came all the way from Germany just to see Jackie perform. Now that is dedication! It was a pleasure to meet him and to talk with him. I was equally impressed by Martinuk and his daughter Makenzie who came all the way from the UK to see Jackie. It truly amazes me that people would travel that far to see Jackie sing, but at the same time realizing just how special it is that I only had about a 3 hour drive to see Jackie. It really made me realize just how lucky I am that I don't have to travel so far for the Chautauqua concert and for the Longwood concert. The people from outside of the US have my utmost respect for their dedication to Jackie. They are really wonderful fans as are all of Jackie's fans.
After my wife and I returned to the hotel to check-in, we drove to the Chautauqua grounds just a bit before 4:00pm. Our concert tickets included the gate fee to get in to the grounds at 4:00pm. So that worked out really well. I had a parking ticket to park in the main parking lot right across from the entrance to Chautauqua. The parking lot was huge and we circled for a while trying to find a place to park. I was amazed at how full the lot was! Were all these cars there just for the Jackie concert? We were getting a bit worried that we may not get good seats if that many people were there already. We had to drive all the way to the back overflow lot to park. Luckily there was a shuttle service that would shuttle people in from the parking lot right up to the main gate. This was the first time we had ever been to Chautauqua. The grounds are very picturesque. It is a quaint vacation village of sorts with cottages, shops, and beautiful flower gardens. Lots of nice people too. It was a very scenic and family-friendly environment. We really enjoyed walking around the place, but our first priority was to locate the concert hall to scope it out and see how many people were waiting to get in. We really didn’t know what to expect as far as how hard it would be to get good seats since they were first-come-first-serve. We did have the seating upgrade option, but it included a rather large section. We wanted to get within the first several rows if possible. Turns out our fears were unnecessary. We were there with plenty of time to spare. No lines were forming just yet.
The concert hall is an open-air venue with a roof on top. The seats were similar to pews that you would find in a church. Many of us fans were gathered around the side of the venue and we could see directly into the concert hall. The orchestra was rehearsing and at some point we knew that Jackie would probably come out to rehearse with them. My wife and I walked around the concert hall towards the back and we saw where Jackie’s tour bus was parked. There was no sign of Jackie or her family. However, I did get a couple of pictures of the tour bus. The backstage area of the theater was fairly exposed. We could see people milling around behind the stage, but once again no sign of anyone familiar on Jackie’s team. My wife and I strolled around a little more to take in the sights of the surroundings. The lake was situated behind the concert hall so we strolled down there to take in the view. I guess someone had spotted the Evancho kids playing on the hillside near there, but my wife and I didn't see them. So, I cannot confirm or deny that sighting. Later we walked up to the hall to make sure that a crowd wasn't forming around the venue. Soon, we heard the familiar voice of Jackie rehearsing Imaginer with the orchestra. It was a bit hard to see because the sun was bright and the stage was shaded. There were several kids who hopped up on stage with her and then surrounded her while she sang. It appeared as though some of the kids were Jake, Zack and Rachael, plus a couple others. It appeared as though they were maybe trying to shield Jackie from being recorded, but I did manage to record some of it. The video quality is poor, but the audio is pretty good. Jackie’s voice boomed over the loudspeakers and could be heard throughout the area as she sang. She sounded wonderful! We were then told by the concert hall workers to stop videotaping, so I did. I will probably not share the video out of respect for the Evanchos. I will say though that it was very exciting to be able to witness the rehearsal. The last time I had seen Jackie rehearse was in Pittsburgh back in 2011 as part of the VIP M&G package. So this was a real treat in itself!
A few people were starting to form a line at around 6:30pm, so we staked out our spot in line at the entrance near the front of the stage. We had quite a bit of time to kill before we would get let into the hall at around 7:30. My wife and I were standing in line with two ladies in front of us who had never been to a Jackie concert before. They remembered her from America’s Got Talent and they thought it would be nice to see her perform. Of course, I gave them the whole rundown of Jackie and all the history behind these past several years that followed AGT. I told them that they were in for one of the best concert experiences ever. Another man walked over from one of the cottages across from the venue and asked us what was going on at the concert hall tonight. He was amazed at how many people were starting to form around the concert hall. He asked me, “Was there some big-name show that night?” I asked him if he had heard of Jackie Evancho. He replied, “Who is that?” I then asked him if he ever watched America’s Got Talent. He replied, “Never heard of it.” At that point I knew I had my work cut out for me, but I was up to the challenge. I proceeded to tell him all about Jackie and her tremendous voice. He became interested rather quickly and said that he and his family would listen to the concert from their front porch, which had a direct view of the stage. It would have been interesting to have been able to speak with them after the concert to see their reaction.
As 7:30pm approached, the gates to the concert hall opened. We rushed in down some steep inclines to get to the front rows of the theater. It wasn't a mad scramble, but we had to act quickly to get good seats. The first two rows filled up fast, but the 3rd row was open just to the left of the podium. That was my preferred location anyhow. Jackie would be directly in front of us. Can’t ask for better than that! The concert hall started to fill rapidly and soon it became apparent that this crowd was going to be BIG! We asked one of the ushers about the capacity of the hall. She said it could hold 5000, not including the overflow seats or the seats above and behind the stage. Not only did the venue fill up to capacity, but so did the overflow seats and several seats in the area behind the stage. By 8:00pm, the concert hall was packed and we still had 15 minutes to go before the start of the show. I also noticed that some kids came out from behind stage with the unmistakable M&G badges. It looked as though there may have been a private M&G for those kids. Perhaps the M&Gs are by invitation only now.
Soon the show would begin. The orchestra seemed rather small compared to other concerts that I have been to, but it may have just been how I perceived it. It was hard to tell where Jackie would be entering the stage. There was a door on each side of the stage and one behind the stage. When John Mario came in, he entered in the door at the rear of the stage. That is also where Jackie would come in after the orchestra opened with “Cavalleria Rusticana” which is the perfect setup piece for Jackie. Jackie was wearing her beautiful turquoise dress and she looked fabulous! Unfortunately there were strict rules at this concert about taking photos or videos, so I kept in-line with the rules and did not get any videos or pictures, although I know others did. Jackie opened with the familiar “When You Wish Upon A Star.” I will admit that before the concert started I was a bit disappointed that no new songs from Awakening would be performed based on what was reported from Portsmouth. However, once I heard Jackie start to sing, I realized that it didn't matter. Just hearing that marvelous voice live again meant the world to me and it re-invigorated my love for her music. Besides, I will get to hear her sing new songs at Longwood in two weeks, so I get the best of both worlds.
Now, about the concert itself. I will admit that Jackie probably did not have her "A" game on a couple of songs. She sort of had a brain blank-out when she sang Some Enchanted Evening when she missed an entrance on one of the verses. She got a little flustered and said something like, “Sorry, this happens all the time.” She did recover and finished the song as if nothing happened. We in the front rows gave her a standing O for support. In my personal opinion, since Jackie has done so many flawless performances, she has earned the right to several mulligans here and there. No big deal if you ask me. All performers make mistakes. I know I have made many myself. The only advice I would give Jackie is to not let your audience know when it happens. In the second half, there was one other slight miscue in Lovers, but that was much less obvious. I don’t want to make a big deal over this, but I just wanted to mention it to be thorough in my review. The one song that really hit me emotionally was The Lord’s Prayer. Because Chautauqua is primarily a Christian community, and knowing that probably the majority of the audience had probably heard that song sung by other singers countless times, I couldn't help but wonder what they must have thought when Jackie sang it. I know I have never heard anyone sing it as beautifully as Jackie. The moment she sang it I could feel the uncontrollable tears welling up in my eyes. I know how much this song means to me and likely meant to the community there as well. I also think it means a lot to Jackie too.
Soon it was intermission – the time to talk with people around me to see what they thought about the concert so far. One gentleman who sat directly behind me had never seen Jackie before and was totally in awe at what he heard in the first half. He told me that after hearing her sing he couldn't believe what he was witnessing. He said he entered the concert hall with a bit of skepticism, but now he understand why she has such a faithful fan following. Many people during intermission told us how they were impressed that Jackie’s fans were so faithful to her and how much they admired the appreciation that we showed her.
Soon the second half would start. Jackie opened with Lovers, and aside from the slight miscue at the beginning that I mentioned earlier, she was terrific! As the second half went on, it was almost as if Jackie’s voice was getting more confident and stronger. The closer we got to the end of the second half, the more her voice seemed to be on fire! Her high notes and low notes (as well as the notes in-between) were outstanding! So pure, and yet so powerful! When she got to the last piece (The Impossible Dream), she dedicated it to her mom Lisa saying how much she loved her and that she was the best mom. Kudos to Lisa for helping Jackie to live out “The Impossible Dream.” Also, Jackie dedicated the song “What a Wonderful World” to her Dad. She indicated that the song means a lot to him and that it makes him cry, but that they are tears of joy. Don’t worry Mike, it happens to the best of us.
Jackie finished with two encores (O Mio Babino Cairo and Music of The Night). Both songs were extraordinary! You could tell that Jackie’s voice was really running on full throttle on those songs. Her confidence was rock solid in the second half and it was seemed almost as if she got stronger at the end of the concert and probably would have continued singing if there was more music on the set list.
In between songs, Jackie was very jovial with the audience. One of the things she kept mentioning was that she saw a spider (either backstage or on stage – not sure). She kept mentioning the spider between songs and said that it had a beautiful web, however she was also very afraid of spiders. One person close to the front said she should squish it, and she said, “Oh no I could never do that, the spider is my new pet named Chico!” It was funny how she made light banter with the audience at times. She also seemed very attentive to someone on her left in the front. I couldn't tell for sure who it was, but Jackie smiled and waved in that direction a few times. I think there was a little girl sitting there with a Jackie doll as was mentioned earlier by other posts on this thread, but I couldn't see her from where I was sitting.
After the concert, many of us fans gathered at the Chautauqua Suites hotel bar to have our post-concert recap. We talked until after 1:00am about all of our Jackie fan experiences. It is really great to be in a room with a bunch of people who have that common bond that Jackie helped us to form. I truly loved every minute of the day and cannot wait until the next concert and PBS taping that I will be attending at Longwood Gardens.
Home
Log in
