March 27, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 15 Ridgewood Yendi Anderson now completing second album by John Koster Ridgewood’s Yendi Anderson is now completing her second album of vocal and keyboard music, “Just Me.” The album is scheduled for release on CD in the near future. “This album is extremely special to me,” Anderson said last week at her day job at the Ridgewood engineering and planning board office at village hall. “I not only will be singing and writing all of the songs on the album, but I will also be playing all of the piano pieces while working with one of the most talented and incredibly gifted producers/engineers/ musicians ever -- none other than Kostadin Kamcev, also known as ‘Mozart.’ “I am very grateful for the opportunity to be working with him. ‘Mozart’ is truly a masterpiece. He did not get a name like that for no reason.” Anderson astounded the Ridgewood Village Council and audience some years ago when she played an original composition of hers at the beginning of a public meeting. Musical performances by local artists had opened the meetings for about 12 months some years ago, but were later discontinued. Anderson thanked her mentor, Pastor Bryant Smith of Hephzibah, Georgia, and Pastor Smith’s mentor, Vielka Steward, for their support in her musical career. “He lives all the way in Hephzibah, Georgia, but the Spirit of God makes it seem like he is right here,” she said of Pastor Smith. “There is nothing like having a mentor, a person that you can always count on to be there to help you, to guide you, to encourage you, and to tell you the truth. A lot of people are afraid to be transparent, open and honest, but when you find one that isn’t afraid to be all of these things, and knows how to correct you in love, you better hold onto them, because that’s a very rare and very unique and very special person. I could never repay him and his spiritual mother, Vielka Steward, for how they have allowed God to use them to create such an enormous change in my life. They are priceless gifts. I thank God for them both.” Yendi Anderson, left, with Kostadin ‘Mozart’ Kamcev in the studio. Conductor celebrates 20 Years with Ridgewood Choral For the past 20 years, the women of the Ridgewood Choral have been conducted by Marjorie Vandervoort. A gifted soprano, Vandervoort brings to the position of music director the experience of a life-long involvement with music. Growing up in Ridgewood, she studied piano with Howard Kasschau and Florence Monell Marble. She has appeared in recital and as a guest artist with groups in New York, New Jersey and elsewhere, and on educational recordings. She is also director of the Ridgewood Unitarian Society’s Society Singers, a chorus of mixed voices. Her conducting experience includes work as assistant conductor of Harmony Basket Chorus (a choir of Japanese women), Ars Musica Chorale, and several church choirs. “I believe that every singer has the ability to learn and grow and enjoy the deepest kind of satisfaction from the experience of mastering challenging music,” Vandervoort said. “When I select the songs for a concert, I look for the heart of the piece: the human qualities within it, and the value for a singer opening up to those hidden qualities. I like to perform things in the language they were written for, as far as possible. It makes me proud that the choral has fearlessly sung in Japanese, Czech, Marjorie Vandervoort Yoruba, Portuguese, and Russian, as well as the usual German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. My joy as a director flows from hearing the singers inhabit the music and make it their own expression of vitality and joy.” The Ridgewood Choral will continue the celebration of its 85th Anniversary with the Annual Spring Concert on Friday, April 26. The 8 p.m. concert will be held at West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood. Tickets are available in advance from Choral members or at the door on the day of the performance. Visit http://www.ridgewoodchoral. org/ for additional information.