Community Concert: Music Unites Us - Brazil!

Saturday, August 10, 2024, 7:00 p.m. 
Henry P. VanderLinde Bandshell, Kollen Park

Choro das 3 is a band of three sisters based on choro, a fast, happy style of folk music very popular in Brazil. With a variety of instruments from flute to guitar, the sisters have played for huge audiences at festivals and on national Brazilian TV. Critics rave that their choro performances are the best that can be heard today.

The Music Unites Us concert will bring together local musical talent and the Holland Symphony Orchestra in a groundbreaking celebration of diversity at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 12 in Kollen Park. This free community concert aims to showcase cultures that make up Our Wonderful World here in West Michigan.

Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and arrive early to scope out your spot for this one-of-a-kind concert experience.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase from:
Abeshia Ghanian Cuisine
Crepes by the Lake
Mezkla Taqeria & Fruiteria
Robinson's Popcorn

Music Unites Us is a collaborative musical effort between the Holland Symphony Orchestra and Holland community to celebrate diversity and showcase the musical gifts of frequently underrepresented groups of people. The concert will showcase Cumbia, Vietnamese, Ukrainian and Ugandan pieces reimagined with the support of a symphony orchestra, as composed by Greg Scheer. We are also honored to feature Julia LaGrand as a guest violinist bringing attention and awareness to disability and inclusivity within our community.

This free community concert is made possible thanks to our concert sponsors: MillerKnoll Foundation, Gentex Corporation, Macatawa Area Coordinating Council, the Brooks family, Macatawa Bank and the snack wagon. The concert is partially sponsored by Michigan Arts & Culture Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.  

Additional thanks to our partner organizations: I AM Academy, Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance, Latin Americans United for Progress, West Michigan Asian American Association, Lakeshore Disability Network

Grupo Super Nova is a Cumbia band of brothers from Puebla, Mexico. Nate, Christian, Hector, and Juan Garcia grew up in Holland, Michigan after immigrating here in 1990. This family-centered band has adapted and grown over the years, learning new instruments, and trying new venues and events. They reflected that as Holland has become more diverse, a lot of the community has become more interested in learning about other cultures. Playing with the symphony orchestra is a bucket list item! 

Cuong Luong is a Vietnamese singer and performer who immigrated to West Michigan in 2015. In Vietnam, he regularly competed in singing competitions and won numerous competitions, including first place in Vietnam’s “The Voice.” He continues to compete in American Vietnamese vocal competitions with a growing following on YouTube. Luong uses his operatic influence and choreography to tell stories through music. He has dreamt of performing in front of an American audience and is excited that the Holland Symphony Orchestra has provided him this unique opportunity. 

Nina Tritenichenko is a Ukrainian singer and Bayan accordion player who has lived in Holland for the past 12 years, and fondly referring to the area as “New Ukraine” due to its similarity in climate. Tritenichenko has a master’s degree in music education and performance, has taught lessons and grown a YouTube following with over 800 videos, and accompanied an orchestra for the first time at the age of 9. She believes love is a language we can understand without translation and prefers to communicate through the power of music. 

Samuel Nalangira is a Ugandan born musician and educator who relocated his talents to West Michigan in 2018. He uses his passion for and experience in traditional African music and dance to spread awareness and love through performances and lessons. He is constantly writing music, inspired by everything around him, and feels very blessed to be able to grow his music career here. Nalangia did not plan on staying in Michigan long term but was surprised by how welcoming and loving the people are here and cannot imagine leaving at this point. He is inspired by the good people in this community to continue to work hard and bring people together through music, especially music that makes you want to dance! 

Julia LaGrand is a classical violinist and disability advocate from Grand Rapids, MI. LaGrand is passionate about exploring what disability can bring to classical music. Being blind has forced her to know the music inside and out, including pieces that musicians don’t usually memorize as she cannot read and play at the same time. She believes “music can be a powerful social force.” Music can be transformative, but in order to meet its full potential, LaGrand notes that “it has to be a really, really inclusive space.” These dual passions of music and inclusivity continue to drive her activism and educational pursuits as she begins Conservatory in the fall. 

Greg Scheer is a composer, author, and speaker. His life’s work includes two sons (Simon and Theo), two books (The Art of Worship, 2006, and Essential Worship, 2016), and hundreds of compositions, songs, and arrangements in a dizzying variety of styles.

Greg is well-known for his sacred music, with congregational songs in numerous hymnals, dozens of choral anthems available from traditional and online publishers, settings of 75 Psalms, a hundred global song translations/editions, and arrangements for choir, orchestra, piano, and jazz ensemble. 

Greg has composed for just about every ensemble: symphony orchestra, string quartet, brass quintet, choir, piano, cello septet, organ, and electronic compositions. He has received commissions from Baylor University, The Chagall String Quartet, the Calvin Community Symphony, and many others.  Greg has written pop, rock, jazz, folk, and punk for years. Currently, he leads the St. Sinner Orchestra, described as “a grand fusion of classical and rock music” and “Eleanor Rigby’s favorite band.” You can visit St. Sinner’s website to learn more and listen to our music. Also online is Greg’s 2013 solo album Half the Man. 

Greg’s music blog is where he posts all his latest musical creations: demos of news songs, live recordings, experiments, outtakes–anything he’s working on at the moment. Posts often include lyrics and the story behind the music. If you want to be the first to hear it, you need to subscribe to the Musical Diary of Greg Scheer.