From Baroque to Romantic: Fall music at Pitt-Greensburg will entertain

Chorale photoWith a mix of music subtle, festive, gaudy, and sublime, the Pitt-Greensburg Chorale and Chamber singers present their Fall concert "Raise a Glass," scheduled for Wednesday, November 29, and Friday, December 1. Featured are partsongs and oratorio choruses by F. Joseph Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn, offering everything from Haydn's dry wit in close harmony ("Die Beredsamkeit" from his partsongs), toasts to the season ("Juhe, der Wein ist da" from Haydn's “The Seasons”), and grateful thanks ("He Watching Over Israel" from Mendelssohn's “Elijah”).

Chorale's most ambitious undertaking will be Erik Esenvald's "Stars," sung 8-part a cappella while played on tuned goblets!

The group also is planning its next tour for Spring 2018. This is the second trip that the group has made in the past five years, their most recent destination being eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey in 2013. The group plans to return to New Jersey and New York this year having previously performed in two churches in Sparta, NJ, and Newtown, PA.

Four members of Chamber Singers“Any time that our students have an opportunity to travel outside of the campus and the state creates a new learning opportunity for them,” said Christopher Bartley, director of the Chorale and Chamber Singers. “We hope that we can rely on our local audience and community to support us as we raise money to cover our expenses for the tour. We will accept donations at our concert in November, and are creating many fundraising activities this fall as well.”

On December 7, the students of Cynthia Ortiz and Matt Klumpp will perform a voice and piano recital. Ortiz, an accomplished soprano, and Klumpp, an equally accomplished pianist, work with students through an intensive, one-on-one, entirely individualized weekly lesson that is part of the Voice & Piano Study curriculum at Pitt-Greensburg.

Baroque musician trioThe fall performance of the Joan Chambers Concert Series will feature the acclaimed Chatham Baroque on November 9. Described as “One of Pittsburgh’s greatest treasures” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the group features dazzling technique and lively interpretations of 17th- and 18th-century music played on instruments of the period. The trio is comprised of Andrew Fouts, baroque violin; Patricia Halverson, viola da gamba; and Scott Pauley, theorbo, lute, baroque guitar, and other early plucked instruments.

 All of the events listed above are free and open to the public. They begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Lou Campana Chapel and Lecture Center.

Publication Date

Thursday, January 1, 1970 - 00:00