The Bainbridge ensemble is joined by Bellevue’s Cascadian group.

Music to the third power equals 200 this weekend.

Bainbridge Chorale is joined by Bellevue’s Cascadian Chorale and Northwest Symphony Orchestra of Seattle this weekend, a triumvirate of talent gathering 130 vocalists and 70 instrumentalists in a “Concert for Peace.”

Led by Bainbridge Chorale and Northwest Symphony music director Anthony Spain and Cascadian Chorale music director Philip Tschopp, they present Brahms’ “Schicksalslied”; Bern Herbolsheimer’s “Te Deum”; and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem” at Bainbridge High School and Seattle’s Benaroya Hall.

The groups’ combined resources – both musical and financial – make possible what no single organization could manage.

“These works are quite large, and (joining together) gives us the forces to perform them,” Spain said.

Herbol­sheimer’s “Te Deum” features challenging rhythmic lines and harmonies. Also a stirring but difficult work, Dona “Nobis Pacem,” or “Grant Us Peace,” was composed by World War I veteran Vaughan Williams on the eve of the second world war, and set to a poem penned by Walt Whitman just 20 years after the American Civil War.

Pooling resources also makes it possible to bring soloists from New York and Seattle.

Cristina Villareale, soprano, was regional finalist in this year’s Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions and has sung widely throughout the Northwest, including leading roles for Seattle Opera.

Craig Hart, bass, made his Metropolitan Opera debut to acclaim in 2002. He has performed with numerous opera companies in the States, and leaves for Italy April 4 to sing at the Vatican for the Pope.

The stellar career didn’t begin promisingly, he admits.

Hart, who grew up in Connecticut, was an athlete who “dabbled in music,” playing in garage bands.

He enrolled in college, and soon dropped out.

In 1982, after the death of his father, his mother encouraged him to go back to school. He enrolled at Hart School of Music in Hartford, Conn., to polish his rock and roll, supporting himself as a bartender.

“After a year and a half, I had a large tuition bill I couldn’t pay,” Hart said.

So when his voice teacher told him that the opera de­partment was looking for men, and that there were scholarships available, Hart took the bait.

“I said ‘what the heck,’” he said. “I was not interested in opera. I was just thankful I could stay in school.”

The opera department was less than impressed with his instrument, however. The director deemed him “a viable baritone of limited use.”

Rather than becoming discouraged, Hart became passionate about the music.

But it wasn’t until he was directed to the right teacher, a few years after he graduated, that he was able to solidify his vocal technique.

Introduced to the late Jerome Hines in New York City, Hart was accepted into the famed teacher’s Opera Music Theater International, a fellowship program to train young singers.

“I was something of an ugly duckling,” Hart said. “Hines’ colleagues said I wasn’t good enough. But he saw something in me.”

And Hines was right.

When after one year, Hart, like the other students, had to re-audition for the competitive program, his progress was so apparent that one teacher stood and publicly apologized.

“She said, ‘I eat my words,’” Hines said. “That was a sweet moment.”

Today, Hart, who has already sung more than 40 roles, is still on the lookout for chances to grow.

The upcoming concerts on Bainbridge Island and in Seattle give him a rare chance to sing contemporary works.

“They present a challenge, because they’re written for baritone and I’m a bass,” Hart said, “and also they are simply beautiful pieces.”

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An OK chorale

Bainbridge Chorale joins forces with Bellevue’s Cascadian Chorale and Northwest Symphony Orchestra to present a spring concert of music by Vaughan Williams, Brahms and Herbolsheimer at 8 p.m. March 12 at Benaroya Hall and at 3 p.m. March 13 at Bainbridge High School. Tickets for the 8 p.m March 12 performance at Benaroya Hall are $16-25, available by calling Ticketmaster at 292-2787, or at the door. Tickets for the concert 3 p.m. March 13 at the BHS gym are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students, available at Vern’s Winlsow Drug and McBride’s Hallmark and at the door. Call 780-CHOR for more information.