A really great way to conclude the Ponca City Concert Association’s 80th year was to have the Sons of Serendip, perform for their last concert this season. It brought to a close a really phenomenal season of concerts which just kept getting better and better, and as usual, I heard many say this was the best concert ever.

The four classically trained musicians who formed their group in 2014 included a rather interesting mix of most talented performers in a rather different mix. They were lead vocalist, Micah Christian who did most of the bantering with the audience and stole their hearts with his beautiful voice; cellist and vocalist Kendall Ramseur, who was outstanding on his instrument; pianist Cordaro Rodriguez who played a keyboard with more bells and whistles than I have ever seen and could sound like a whole orchestra in itself; and Mason Morton, the harpist who added so much with his perfectly tuned and most difficult to master instrument. All blended together to make the perfect quartet, unusual as it was.

Christian explained that the foursome met while all were graduate students at Boston University, and they only formed their group in order to enter America’s Got Talent competition in 2014. The rest is history as they not only entered but came out in fourth place and have skyrocketed to fame since then. Later in 2019 they would make another invitation only performance on America’s got Talent, The Champions, where they were featured along with 50 other contestants or groups, and came out a more than respectable third place.

A wide variety of selections composed the program for the over two hour concert, which still left the audience after a standing ovation at the end, clamoring for more. Most of their numbers were ones I had never heard, many of which were composed by members. Also just a few were listed on the program and of those, I only knew these three, “Fly Me To the Moon”, recorded by Frank Sinatra; “Signed, Sealed and Delivered” a Stevie Wonder hit; and “Hello” more recently a hit from Adele.

If I were to give any criticism of the program, and a few I talked to agreed with me, I wish they would have included about half of the program with songs we knew or could remember hearing of, and the other half new numbers, but that is probably because I like to hum along and reminisce about my associations with various numbers. This always brings me great joy and a smile on my face.

The opening of the show was a rather different way to start, but very effective. The harpist was seated alone and played a few strains of “Clair de Lune” and then one by one the rest of the musicians joined him and added their instrument or voice to the music as they segued into “Somewhere Only We Know”. Time passed quickly and it was time for intermission but before, they performed the most moving number “Don’t You Worry Child”, in which the audience was divided into three sing-a-long sections which was a lot of fun as well as added a beautiful touch to the lead vocalist Christian’s lyrics. Of course the announcement was made that albums would be sold during intermission and the artists not even taking a break were out to sign CD’s to the delight of those purchasing them.

Questions were taken from the audience during the second half and one was concerning how the name Serendip came into being. The answer was they thought they came together rather accidently and they needed a name when they entered AGT and had to come up with one in a matter of hours, and it hit on them that Sons of Serendip would be appropriate, and it has stuck with them ever since. Other questions were of humorous nature from some of the students in the audience but you had to be there to be amused by them and their answers. This time of chattering back and forth brought the audience and the performers into feeling like they were among family or friends. Some had heard the group before and expressed hope they would come back to Ponca City and they unanimously said they would love that, and expressed appreciation for the hospitality they had been shown and complimented us on the Poncan Theater venue. I believe I can safely say there has not been a concert, at least in the many years I have been a member, that the artists weren’t duly impressed with the Poncan Theater.

A few more numbers were originals, one being written when two of the quartet had been playing in the NY subway for money in the leaner years, and found a very simple tune later would became a favorite they simply titled, “Original in D Major”. This work allowed everyone to shine in their own musical skill. “I Am Ready for Love” followed, which was a very pretty ballad. Even though it had been a long evening, I was more than happy to have the vocalist announce they would conclude the evening with “Hallelujah”. He preceded the number by telling the well known story of “The Dash” which gives everyone pause to think about what they will be remembered for, and almost gave me a feeling that I was hearing a sermon in church. He concluded with what we all needed to hear, that every moment we have is a gift and we need to make the most of it. What a wonderful ending to what already had been an inspirational evening. I can’t think of a better way to end this season, and to have the new members for the 81st Ponca City Concert Series in attendance to have a bonus for their next years’ membership. We have a lot to live up to, but the newly announced series promises to be every bit as entertaining as this year was, and we have every assurance we will be highly entertained.