Pitt choir to return to county
The University of Pittsburgh Heinz Chapel Choir is making a return engagement to Fayette County at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the sanctuary of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Uniontown. The choir will perform a concert of sacred and secular music that includes selections such as “Flanders Fields’ by Paul Aitken, “Cantate Domino” (Lithuania) by Vytautas Miskinis, “Certain’y Lord” (spiritual), arranged by Stacey Gibbs; “Beautiful Dreamer’ by Foster/Shaw-Parker; “The Shadow of Your Smile’ by Mandell/Shaw; “O Danny Boy” (Ireland) and “With a Little Help From My Friends” (The Beatles), arranged by Peter Gritton.
The choir is known as an a cappella ensemble, which was founded in 1938 and composed of students who attend the University of Pittsburgh. Samantha Meese, a graduate of Laurel Highlands High School and a member of Asbury, is a member of the Heinz Chapel Choir. She is a junior at Pitt, studying music and children’s literature.
According to a press release, John Goldsmith has directed the choir since 1989. He is an a cappella specialist who teaches the two-year ear-training course sequence for music majors at Pitt and serves as the director of the undergraduate studies for the music department.
He has conducted professional choirs in Houston and Kansas City and appears frequently as a guest conductor at choral festivals and as a featured clinician.
A professional countertenor, Goldsmith is an alumni of Chanticleer who has appeared with many orchestras, professional choirs and universities in the United States, and has appeared with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in Carnegie Hall in New York and in France.
Goldsmith said he remembers well the choir’s first appearance at Asbury in October 2006.
“It was wonderful – a nice venue. The church was a nice place for a cappella music and everyone enjoyed it,’ he said. “We always look for friendly acoustics. … A lot of churches, especially older churches, have nice, friendly acoustics. It makes a difference for singers to get acoustic feedback from the room.’
Talking about the program planned for Asbury, Goldsmith said, “All of our programs are eclectic – sacred and secular, serious and funny, folk songs, love songs, international. We try to do as much variety as we can to keep everybody interested. It has certainly worked for the choir. We’re able to build up a base so many of our concerts have a full house.’
The choir performs abroad every three years, having last traveled to South America for a tour in May 2006. Other tours have included Scandinavia in 2003, Italy and Croatia in 2001, Spain and France in 1998, Greece and Italy in 1995, and Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Switzerland in 1992. The choir will travel to China for a 15-day tour in 2009.
“This is our first time to Asia and it’s a big one. The flight itself is pretty long,’ said Goldsmith.
Asked what he likes about performing abroad, Goldsmith said, “The audiences are so appreciative and responsive. The venues are great for a cappella music. And it’s great for students to get exposure to another culture.’
Admission to the concert is free.
Asbury United Methodist Church is located at the corner of Beeson and Dunbar streets.