Westminster concert choir to sing with Greenville Symphony Orchestra

Members of the Westminster College Concert Choir will join the Greenville Symphony Orchestra (GSO) as it closes out its 94th season at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 15, at the William A. Passavant Center located on the campus of Thiel College in Greenville, Pa.

Under the direction of Michael Gelfand, the GSO will perform “Ode to Joy: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony” with guest vocalists from Westminster, Greenville High School, Thiel College, Youngstown State University Dana Chorus, Stambaugh Chorus and the Greenville Area Community Theatre.

Gelfand said Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is believed to be the first symphonic piece that incorporated voices with instrumentalists and was first performed in 1824. Another significant performance was a special Christmas Day concert in Berlin, Germany, following the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The lyrics, which come in during the fourth movement, are based on a celebratory poem written in the summer of 1785 by the German poet Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller addressing the “unity of all mankind and the triumph of universal brotherhood against war and desperation,” Gelfand said.

Westminster vocalists performing include:

Sopranos: Amber Cepec of Freeport Pa., Isabella Dienes of Rochester Mills Pa., Minnie Dischert of Hermitage Pa., Kalei Getsy and Taylar Getsy of North Versailles, Pa., Kayleigh Green of Shade Gap, Pa., Talia Kosonovich of Newell, W.Va., Elena Macdonald of Redbank, N.J., Madaline Matejka Aliquippa, Pa., Shelby Pocono of Shavertown, Pa., Autumn Stemmler of Latrobe, Pa., and Alexandra Webster of Oil City, Pa. 

Altos: Camille Baptiste of Slippery Rock, Pa., Breanna Becker of West Sunbury, Pa., Jada Brown of West Newton, Pa., Marley Chapman of Greenville, Pa., Jade Chome of Hickory, Pa., Angela Dalessandro of Hermitage, Pa., Katie Lyons of Shippensburg, Pa., Amy Smith from Mechanicsville, Md., and Jocelyn Whalen of New Brighton, Pa. 

Tenors: Kole Alcorn of Eau Claire, Pa., Liam Chute of Sharpsville, Pa., Michael Everhart of Gibsonia, Pa., Stephen Kaib of Pittsburgh and Jakob Tanner of East Liverpool, Ohio. 

Basses: Peyton Aujay of Lowber, Pa., Ryan Bramson of Springdale, Pa., Hunter Hoag of Kane, Pa., Daniel Horgan of Glenshaw, Pa., Charles Lisella of Harmony, Pa., Timothy Mulcahy of Bradford, Pa., Hunter Peterson of Russell, Pa., Shawn Redmond of Ellwood City, Pa., and Ryan Shaw of Pittsburgh. 

Tickets will be available at the door beginning at 6:30 p.m. or can be purchased through the GSO’s online box office by clicking here or visiting https://bit.ly/3obVhQJ. Tickets are $20 for adults and senior citizens. Children and students are free of charge. 

For more information about the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, please visit https://www.thegreenvillesymphony.org/.

For more information on the Westminster School of Music, go to www.westminster.edu/music. 

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