The Willow Glen Resident

No auditions, no religion: just a group of music-lovers

The Fun Times Singers gear up for a spring Cole Porter concert

By Michelle Ku

The streets of Willow Glen will once again come alive with music on Feb. 4. That's the date when the Fun Times Singers, an intergenerational and multiethnic choir, begin rehearsing again.

After a two-month hiatus following the December Christmas concert, the secular community-based choir is gearing up for its spring concert.

The Fun Times Singers is an informal community group that meets and rehearses in sessions of 10 to 12 weeks and performs a community concert. From popular music to Christmas music and Broadway show tunes to love songs, the goal of the Fun Times Singers is to have fun singing.

Pam Tablak founded the group in 1992 to continue her passion for singing. "When I worked at Hewlett-Packard, I directed a choir there," she says. "After I left in 1988, I really missed it, so I decided to see if there were people in the community who had as much passion for singing as I do."

She placed notices in the local newspapers and began the choir with 11 members. Today there are more than 50 members, and while all of the current members are adults, teenagers have participated in the choir.

Some of the singers have been singing all their lives, while others have never sung before. Clint Chaplin. who joined the group in 1992, falls in the latter category.

"I'm not a singer," Chaplin says. "I wasn't much of a singer in high school, but it was just something I felt like pursuing at the time. Since the group doesn't hold auditions, I felt comfortable joining and becoming a member rather than trying to audition."

Bob Shelton, a member of the group since 1992, has a musical background and is so committed to participating in the group that he drives from San Martin, south of Gilroy.

"It's quite a bit of a drive, but I do it because I haven't found any group that's closer that has an informal air about it," Shelton said.

The Fun Times Singers draws members because of its low-key, informal community feel and the wide range of music it performs.

"It's just an informal little group," Shelton said. "It doesn't get too terribly serious to the point where it makes a hobby a job; that's hard to find. Most of the other groups have a lot more rehearsals and a lot more shows. Other groups have 16 to 18 performances a year. That's too close to being professional. This way I can make the commitment I know I can make."

Every year, the group holds three concerts, one each in the spring, in the summer/fall and at Christmas. The Christmas concert the group gave in early December included traditional yuletide music, as well as Jamaican Christmas music.

The low number of concerts allows singers to take a break from the group. "It's not every Wednesday night all year long," Tablak says. "They can renew themselves, and it gives me time to prepare for the next session."

Every concert the singers do has a theme. The upcoming April 25 spring concert features the music of Cole Porter. The group has also performed shows based on the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Every concert is divided into two sections: a general chorus section and the "specials." The "specials" are the duets, trios and quartets arranged and rehearsed outside the choir's normal rehearsal time.

Oftentimes the "specials" can be very complex and involved. In the past, Miriam Rowan, a piano accompanist who has been with the group since its formation, has arranged music for the singers.

"Sometimes they want to sing a song they can't find, or the music is in the wrong key," Rowan said. "I get to play with it, transpose it and gear it to their key. And they do a good job with it. Some of the people in the choir have impressive solo-type voices."

While the Fun Times Singers call Willow Glen home because their rehearsals and concerts are held at St. Francis Church, the group is not affiliated with the church in any way.

In creating the group, Tablak says, she purposely made it nonsectarian because of the lack of secular churches in the area.

Chaplin was drawn to the group because it was secular. "I was looking for a choir that was secular," Chaplin said. "I'm not a churchgoer, and I wanted to sing pieces that are more contemporary. Some members of the choir are members of church choirs who wanted to sing things not related to church music."

While the singing and the music are the major reasons why the group gets together every week, there is also a social aspect to the group.

"At the first rehearsal for every performance, we don't do much singing," Chaplin says. "We do a lot of talking and catching up."

Many friendships have been formed, and, generally, the group has become a family.

"When they give concerts, their family and friends come and they have a potluck dinner afterward," Rowan said. "Everyone gets to know each other and has fun together. It's a lot of camaraderie."

The Fun Times Singers rehearse Wednesdays from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the St. Francis Church on Pine and Newport. For information, contact Pam Tablak at 267-2800.

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