“Connie told me that I should have a recital,” Chaney said. However that is easier said than done when it came to finding a venue and a location. “Then it was like she had a Eureka moment.”
Grisham, who plans charity concerts at least twice a year for the church, told Chaney that a recital to benefit Habitat for Humanity would be the perfect combination.
“In the past we have done concerts for [several] charities including Ahead With Horses, an organization that invites inner city children [including some special needs children] to a riding camp in the San Gabriel Valley to ride horses,” Grisham said.
St. George has a close working relationship with Habitat, several of it’s congregation are volunteers. The organization has built many homes in the Glendale and Pasadena area, as well as throughout San Gabriel Valley.
The homes are constructed by volunteers with a wide variety of backgrounds from lawyers to professional contractors. Many who work have never built anything in their lives, join with others beckoning back to the barn raising days when a family needed help and their neighbors were there.
The families that receive the home must qualify in accordance to the Habitat requirements and must pay their mortgage on time.
Chaney agreed with Grisham that having a concert to benefit this worthy cause was a great idea, and the search for music began.
“Habitat has such a presence in the church,” Chaney said.
Chaney has been rehearsing for the concert as well as preparing for other concerts in the future. He will be the tenor soloist at the Los Angeles Bach Festival at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles on Oct. 25.
“After I found out about [the Bach Festival], I received a call from [the Master Choral] and was told I was chosen to be a solo for their performance at Disney Music Hall,” Chaney said. That concert titled “Mask in the Time of War” by Haydn, will be at the center in January 24 through 27.
Chaney is very busy but said he felt blessed that so many opportunities have opened for him.
Grayson, the pianist for the St. George concert, received his Ph.D. in composition from UCLA and was on the Music faculty of Occidental College from 1969 to 2001.
He has also traveled to Japan several times to teach and perform.
The concert is at 3p.m. on Saturday at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 808 Foothill Blvd.
Tickets can be purchased at the door. There is a suggested donation of $20 per person, a super donation of $250, donor donation of $100 to $249 and friends donations of $30 to $99.
For more information, contact Grisham at (310) 963-1480.
