"Kick Up Your Heels!" Ukiah Symphony plays Big Band music

The two will engage in a celebration of an important part of the Great American Songbook, bringing to life popular music of the 1930s and 40s when the Big Band era was at its height. The orchestra will be well-prepared for the occasion, with conductor Les Pfutzenreuter increasing the brass section (saxophones, trumpets, and trombones) and providing prominent roles for piano, bass, drums and guitar. Rodelas will sing in the style of crooners such as Gene Kelly, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and others. Trained as an opera singer, Rodelas enjoys the playfulness and lightness of mood that Big Band music conveys so well. “I get to sing in my natural voice–more like Pedro as opposed to an opera singer,” he says of the crooner persona. He will join Wetzel, a veteran of musical theater in the Ukiah area. Since her childhood watching old musicals on TV, Wetzel has loved Big Band music, commenting, “I’m looking forward to getting into the swing of it with Pedro.”