McGovern brings sounds of healing

Maureen McGovern couldn’t fathom the impact of her hit song “The Morning After” until her own “aha” moment.

She was onstage at the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, singing that very same song, just like she’d done for years while volunteering for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Only this time, her niece had just been diagnosed with one of the 40 muscular diseases the MDA studies.

“I could barely get through the song,” McGovern said by phone from her home in New York. “I finally understood what people got from that song.”

The Academy Award-winning theme to the disaster movie “The Poseidon Adventure” jumpstarted McGovern’s recording career 35 years ago.

“I still get letters from people who have used the song to help them get through a death in the family, any number of traumatic instances.”

Ironically, at the same time her voice reached countless souls, she was entrenched in a tumultuous time. At 22, she was dealing with a divorce, a lawsuit with her manager and her mother’s colon cancer diagnosis.

Despite taking decades to fully realize the impact she made, she has always known the healing power of music. Her passion shines through on the topic, and her words flow as she discusses it.

McGovern started a foundation called Works of Heart, with the mission of amassing a whole library of life-affirming and positive music for both patients and caregivers. It’s a mission she understands, having lost both parents to cancer.

When she comes to town this weekend, it won’t be a simple one-night stand. She performs with the Velvet Hills Chorus of Sweet Adelines on Saturday night at the Pikes Peak Center. The chorus performs in the first half and McGovern in the second with a wide mix of tunes, from George Gershwin to Richard Rodgers. McGovern then performs two songs with the chorus.

On Sunday she hosts a master class. Four pre-selected students, including local jazz vocalist and singing teacher Lila Mori, will perform for McGovern and then work with her in front of the class.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0277 or jen.mulson@gazette.com

details

Maureen McGovern & the Velvet Hills Chorus of Sweet Adelines

When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave.

Cost: $30-$100; 520-7469, 576-2626, or ticketswest.com

Master Class with Maureen McGovern

When: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Antlers Hilton hotel, 4 S. Cascade Ave.

Cost: $60; 632-2783 or www.velvethills.org