Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh biography

The members of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh (MCP) are thrilled to return to the stage with Maestro Honeck and the members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO). MCP made its return to live performances in December with The Promise of Light, a dramatic concert that drew upon the wealth of music and poetry about winter, the solstice, and the hope for new beginnings. To share the joy of coming together in person after the dark silence of the pandemic, MCP offered these concerts for free at venues across the region to inspire and delight more than 3,300 community members with the power of the human voice.

For almost 100 years, MCP has been the proud choral partner of the PSO, bringing the joys of symphonic choral music to tens of thousands of people in the region each year. As the PSO’s “chorus of choice,” the MCP has performed under the baton of a veritable who’s who in classical music, including Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Tilson Thomas, Claudio Abbado, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, André Previn, Sir Neville Marriner, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Helmuth Rilling, Ingo Metzmacher, Richard Hickox, Zdenek Mácal, and Manfred Honeck.

Critically acclaimed as one of the finest choruses in the country, the 114-year-old MCP is reinventing choral music for the 21st century. Under Music Director Matthew Mehaffey, MCP is celebrated for its innovative programming, commissions, and partnership programming such as the 2020 world premiere of Satan’s Fall by Stewart Copeland, the 2019 world premiere of The Times They Are A-Changin’: The Words and Music of Bob Dylan by composer/ conductor Steve Hackman, and MCP’s new series, Global Choral Traditions, offered in partnership with City of Asylum that explores global song traditions. Audiences and critics alike have praised MCP’s programming saying “EXCEPTIONAL and MEMORABLE event. I’m still talking about it,” “One of the finest music events I have ever attended,” and “the Mendelssohn never ceases to amaze me . . . This city should be proud of its choir” (Pittsburgh PostGazette).

MCP fosters the next generation of choral singers and audience members through its educational program, the Junior Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh (JMCP). Founded in 1988, JMCP is the region’s premier high school choral training and performance program. Annually, the JMCP attracts singers from more than a dozen school districts, providing youth with a challenging musical environment in which to develop their skills and giving them the tools and experiences to be life-long participants in the arts.

For upcoming performances and more information, visit www.themendelssohn.org.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Officers

Guy Leonard, President Thea Pavlik, Vice President Vance W. Torbert, III, Treasurer Colleen Ramsay Hoesch, Secretary

Directors

Tom Bartos Sue Bertenthal * Jim Cunningham Charlotta Dragenflo * Trent Gause, M.D. Nathan Hart *

* Choir Representatives

Directors Emeritus

Constance J. Bernt Jeanne C. Ashe * Douglas A. Clark Bette Evans Cordelia Jacobs Mary Jane Jacques Arthur J. Kerr, Jr. Kwan Il Lee, MD Paul R. Malmberg * Perry Morrison * Joseph Schewe George Seeley

* deceased ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Mary Ann Lapinski, Executive Director

Emily Leal-Santiesteban, Communications & JMCP Chorus Manager Jennifer Shorstein, Director of Individual Giving

MaryColleen Seip, Chorus Manager

Esther Berreth, Bookkeeper

Tara Taylor, Graphic Design

ARTISTIC STAFF

Dr. Matthew Mehaffey, Robert Page Music Director Dr. Ryan Keeling, Assistant Conductor

Dr. Caron Daley, Music Director, Junior Mendelssohn Choir

Julianna Grabowski, JMCP Assistant Conductor

Samuel Froehlich, JMCP Faculty Timothy Heavner, JMCP Acoompanist

CHORUS MEMBERS

Salvatore Amelio Regina Anesin Earle Ashbridge Amelia Baisley D’Arcy * Thomas Baker Daniel Banko-Ferran Christopher Bartley Norrie Bastedo Chuck Beard Rebecca Belan Sue Bertenthal Andrew Bloomgarden * David C. Bodette Emily Bovan Melanie Boozell Briana Brickner-York * Tom Brown Carol Burgman Alison Celigoi Ashley Cesaratto Tianying Chen Thespina Christulides * Chelsea Cockburn Michael J. Conway Hannah Cranville Barbara Crigler Charles Colton Croskey Fred Cullen Stephanie Sue Curtice * Beth Damesimo Anthony DeMartino Deborah Dimasi Charlotta Dragenflo Lynn Streater Dunbar Lauren Corcoran Emrich ** Colin Farley Benjamin Filippone Brian Filtz Victoria Fisher Zanna Fredland * Andrew Frey Samuel Froehlich ** Mary Kay Gottermeyer Kimberly S. Graham Jeffrey Gross * Theresa Vosko Haas Sheryl Harbaugh Nathan Hart * Timothy Heavner Kyla Ann Heller Caleb Hixon Tricia Hixon Al Hogan Tyler Humphries-Randolph Matthew Hunt Mary Jane Jacques Edward Jaicks Sydney Kaczorowski Maia Kamenova Kane Karsteter-McKernan Daniel Kaupa Hayden Keefer * Laura Kingsley Johanna Knapic Susan Komlyn Yangming Kou Anna Lahti * Matthew J. Lamberti Emily Leal-Santiesteban M. Denice Leonard George Libby Liāna Dz. Alksnīte Lloyd Paul Long Adam Loucks * Jonathan A. MacDonald * Thomas Maddigan Emily Marinan Timothy Marquette * Roy J. Matway Kelli M. McElhinny J. Patrick McGill John Milnthorp Bethany Mingle Gina Morgano * John Murmello Ernie Nelson Scott M. O’Neal * Susan K. Oerkvitz Cynthia Ortiz * Susan Ouchis Ann Paulini D.J. Pickell Gregory Popcak Lucky T. Rattan * Samantha Rieg Anastasia L. Robinson * Domenic Rodriguez Joe Rogers Gail Elizabeth Roup * MaryBeth Salama JoAnn Salzman Janet Sarbaugh Jeffrey Siegfried MaryColleen Seip John M. Sereno Matthew Soroka George Spencer Teresa Steigerwalt Mayim Stith Scott R. Thistle Christine Thompson Mike Thompson Bill Vandivier Megan Wall Marjorie Weinstock Andrew Wilkinson Rich Williams David L. Wright Larry W. Wright Paul Yeater * Jon Zellhart Joan Zolko

* Core Singers ** Core Alternate Singers

MATTHEW MEHAFFEY, ROBERT PAGE MUSIC DIRECTOR

American conductor and educator Matthew Mehaffey is crafting a national reputation in the field of choral/orchestral music through his engaging artistry, collaborative spirit, affirming pedagogical style, and entrepreneurial approach to concert programming.

As a conductor, Dr. Mehaffey serves as Music Director of two respected civic choruses, The Oratorio Society of Minnesota and The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh – the “chorus of choice” of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Each week he leads more than 200 passionate amateur and professional singers in Pittsburgh and St. Paul in the development of concert programs that both celebrate the standard choral/orchestral repertoire, and push the boundaries of a traditional choral concerts. Recent notable professional engagements include work with Washington National Opera, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Prague Proms, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, VocalEssence, Minnesota Chorale, Singers in Accord, and Turner Network Television.

Dr. Mehaffey is Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota, where he conducts the University Singers and Men’s Chorus, teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting and music literature, and is the 2015 recipient of the Arthur “Red” Motley Exemplary Teaching Award. At the university, Dr. Mehaffey and his colleague Kathy Saltzman Romey oversee a choral program of six graduate students, seven choirs, and over 300 singers. Graduate conducting students under their tutelage have achieved considerable success in a variety of venues, including: the ACDA National Choral Conducting Competition (2015 winner); prestigious conducting masterclasses offered by ACDA, Chorus America, National Collegiate Choral Organization, and the Oregon Bach Festival; presentations at the College Music Society and NAfME Symposia; and by serving as choral leaders in academic institutions and civic ensembles around the country. Dr. Mehaffey has served on the faculties of The George Washington University, and Macalester College, as well as the summer faculties of Westminster Choir College, and University of St. Thomas.

He is the co-author of Choral Ensemble Intonation: Methods, Procedures, and Exercises and the co-editor of three volumes of Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir – all for GIA Publications. He is also co-author of the chapter “A Multiplicity of Voices: Choral Music in the United States,” in the internationally released volume, The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music.

Dr. Mehaffey holds degrees in music from Bucknell University, Westminster Choir College, and the University of Arizona, and is eternally grateful for his formative musical mentors William Payn, Kay Payn, James Jordan, Joseph Flummerfelt, Maurice Skones, and Bruce Chamberlain. He lives in Minnesota with his wife Libby and their four children on a hilly plot of land that reminds him of his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He enjoys golf, baseball, and cooking in his spare time.