Theatre Associates of Bermuda turns its attention to music and dance in its next presentation, which takes place at City Hall this coming Saturday.

Music teacher Mr. Daniel Hill will direct "An Evening With the Arts'' in which several of his voice students will take centre stage.

In addition, a new eight-voice group, directed by Mr. David Pearman who perform under the name of Word, will be performing a cappella and close harmony music that includes anthems, classical songs, Negro spirituals and jazz.

Mr. Hill, who attended Rutgers University, Oakwood College and Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts and is presently employed as an educational therapist for the Department of Education, has been teaching music, and specialising in voice for 20 years. Some of his past students include soprano Marcelle Clamens who is currently studying abroad, Gloria Easton, Warren Williams, Susan Mawer and Luann Wainwright, who is singing first soprano in the group Word.

He says that he is very proud of the four singers he will be presenting on Friday.

They include Madree Cross, a singer whom Mr. Hill describes as being "impossible to classify. Her voice has a very husky, sombre quality which I think is most rare. She will demonstrate some of the fullest parts of her voice with her rendition from Porgy and Bess.'' Dancer Lorita Tucker will dance alongside her.

Deyone Douglas has been with Mr. Hill longer than any other student: "She has the ability to mesmerise the audience with the brilliance of her rendition of `Mein Herr Marquis' from Die Fledermaus.'' Laverne Johnston, who has studied with Joy Blackett as well as Mr. Hill, obtained her bachelor's degree in voice from Oakwood College. He says that she will open the evening by singing The Lord's Prayer, accompanied by Lorita Tucker, who will perform an interpretive dance as Ms Tucker sings.

Leslee Christopher Stevens, who made a memorable appearance last year in Theatre Associates' production of The Homecoming, is the youngest of Daniel Hill's senior students. She will sing a Negro spiritual, a gypsy love song and an aria from Puccini's Turandot.

"Marvin Trimm is a member of Theatre Associates, but I think very few people realise he is a tap dancer,'' says Mr. Hill, who is sure that Mr. Trimm's number will be one of the highlights of the evening.

Perhaps better known for its drama productions, Mr. Hill says that Friday's performance reflects the group's desire to "tap into as many areas as possible, to show the Bermudian talent that is on this island''.

An Evening with the Arts, which is produced by Rotimi Martins, takes place on Saturday, May 1 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and may be obtained from the City Hall Box Office weekdays between noon and 5 p.m. and on Saturday, between 10 a.m. and noon, tel. 292-3315. For advance reservations tel. 295-0571.

AN EVENING WITH THE ARTS is the title of this Saturday's production by Theatre Associates Bermuda. Pictured is director of the show, Mr. Daniel Hill, centre, with singer Mrs. Leslee Christopher Stevens and Mr. David Pearman, director of the group, Word.