Apr 21, 2006 5 min read

The Beesontown Singers will present their debut performance at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 30, in the sanctuary of the historic Asbury United Methodist Church of Uniontown. Four soloists have been engaged to assist the new choir in its presentation of Mozart’s “Coronation Mass” for orchestra, choir and soloists.

Joining the Beestowntown Singers will be soprano Yvonne Stack, mezzo-soprano Lisa Brovey Kovach, tenor Yugo Ikach and baritone Stephen Totter.

Stack will make her solo debut in Fayette. She is a member of the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus and a seven-year member of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, having performed under the baton of Robert Page. She is choral director at the Somerset Senior High School and an active member of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference.

Stack has served as host director for Region III State Choral, District 6 Choral and Somerset County Choral Festivals. Locally, her soprano recital repertoire of Faure, Vivaldi, Menotti and Puccini has been performed through St. Vincent College, First Lutheran Church of Johnstown, Covenant Presbyterian of Ligonier and Duquesne University.

Currently, Stack serves as board vice president of the Ligonier Valley Players in a leadership capacity, along with direction and participation in productions and fund-raising events. Her mentor and coach was the late Mija Novich of Duquesne University.

Kovach is a frequent performed in opera, oratorio and concert, as well as musical theater. She sang the role of Sister Lillianne in the Pittsburgh Opera’s premiere of “Dead Man Walking.” She was thrilled to have recently performed as soloist with the Washington Symphony Orchestra.

One of Kovach’s favorite roles was the mother in Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors” at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown. Kovach has performed as soloist upon numerous occasions with the Greater Uniontown Chorale as well as the Asbury Theatre Guild.

Local roles for Kovach have included Mozart’s “Requiem,” Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and Saint Saens’ “Christmas Oratorio.” She sang the role of Bloody Mary in Asbury Theatre Guild’s production of “South Pacific,” and she was the Mother Abbess in “The Sound of Music” for Actors and Artists of Fayette County.

Kovach performs regularly on the Benedum Center stage as a member of the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus. She received her bachelor and master of music degrees in voice performance from Duquesne University. She is on the voice faculty at California University of Pennsylvania and Point Park University. A native of Monessen, Kovach resides in Long Branch Borough with her husband, Joe, and two daughters, Jessica and Cammi.

Ikach is a frequent recitalist as well as stage performer in opera, oratorio and musical theater. He has performed with the Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Natchez Opera Festival, West Virginia Opera Theater, Wheeling Symphony, Ohio Valley Symphony, McKeesport Symphony, C.W. Post Opera, Lake Chautauqua Opera and a number of other interesting venues, including riverboats and casinos.

Last year, Ikach had the pleasure of singing under William Dreucci’s baton in a performance of Gounod’s “St. Cecilia Mass.” Other oratorio credits include Handel’s “Messiah,” Saint Saens’ “Christmas Oratorio,” Schubert’s “Mass in G Major,” Stainer’s “Crucifixion,” Dubois’ “The Seven Last Words of Christ,” Haydn’s “Theresienmesse,” Caldara’s “Stabat Mater” and selections as the Celebrant from Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” and Mozart’s “Requiem,” “Coronation Mass” and “Regina Coeli.”

Ikach received a bachelor of fine arts degree in voice performance from Carnegie-Mellon University, a master’s of music degree in voice performance from the Peabody Conservatory of John Hopkins University and a doctorate of musical arts degree in voice performance from West Virginia University. He is an assistant professor of music at California University of Pennsylvania and conductor of the Washington Symphony Orchestra.

Also making his debut in Fayette County will be Totter. He is one of the area’s most versatile performers, excelling in opera, recital, oratorio and musical theater. His operatic credits include title roles in Puccini’s “Gianni Schicci,” Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro,” Papageno in “The Magic Flute,” Guglielmo in “Cosi fan tutte” and Marcello in “La Boheme.” His musical theater roles have included leads in “A Little Night Music,” “Company,” “Camelot” and “South Pacific.” He has sung in recitals and appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout the country and made his recording debut singing the title role in Leonardo Balada’s “Torquemada,” conducted by Robert Page.

Totter was appointed as an artist/lecturer in voice at Carnegie-Mellon University in 1994 and has been on the faculty of the Pittsburgh CLO Academy of Musical Theater since 1991. A 14-member orchestra comprised of musicians from West Virginia University’s School for the Performing Arts and the Westmoreland Symphony will accompany the “Coronation Mass.” Keyboard accompanist for the Beesontown Singers is Joanna Ball, and the conductor is William M. Dreucci.

There is no admission charge for the concert, but a free-will offering will be accepted. Asbury United Methodist Church is located at the corner of South Beeson Avenue and Dunbar Street.

The church is handicapped accessible.

Further information about this concert and the Beesontown Singers is available by calling 724-557-1119.