Pittsburgh Concert Chorale

Artists 2008-2009 Season
FEATURED ARTIST
	David Billings is Organist and Associate Director of Music at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church and has been accompanist and organist for the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale since 1989. As a recitalist he has performed throughout North America and Great Britain. Dr. Billings is a past dean of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and a former chairman of the Organ Artists' Series of Pittsburgh. His organ recitals have been featured on WQED-FM's "Performance in Pittsburgh". Dr. Billings earned a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University, where he studied organ and harpsichord with June Miller. He received his master's and doctoral degrees from the Eastman School of Music where he was a student of the renowned American organist David Craighead. Formerly, Dr. Billings was Director of Music and Organist at Oakmont Presbyterian Church, Minister of Music at Parkwood United Presbyterian Church, and Adjunct Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at Duquesne University.
GUEST ARTISTS
	The Academy Chamber Orchestra was created in 2001 to provide excellent orchestral accompaniment to choral groups. The orchestra is made up of leading players from a wide geographic area, many of whom are faculty members at colleges and universities. In its brief existence, the Academy Chamber Orchestra has performed with choirs as diverse as the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the Upper St. Clair High School Pantheon Choir and the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale. Smaller ensembles made up of Academy members frequently provide instrumental support for church choirs throughout Western Pennsylvania.

	Thomas Godfrey is principal flutist for the Westmoreland and Johnstown Symphonies. As a free-lance flutist, he regularly performs with a variety of musical groups including Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, Wheeling Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and Gateway to the Arts. Mr. Godfrey has performed at music festivals in Europe and the United States, and his performances are often heard on WQED-FM’s "Performance in Pittsburgh" broadcasts. Mr. Godfrey received his musical training on scholarship at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory and Duquesne University. He is on the adjunct faculties of Carnegie Mellon, Rogers/CAPA School and this year is serving as visiting assistant professor at West Virginia University.

	Douglas Levine stays busy in his hometown of Pittsburgh as a piano soloist, accompanist, composer, arranger, musical director and teacher. In early 2005, he released Kromatica, his debut recording of original piano compositions and arrangements. His original scores include Peer Gynt (The Pittsburgh Playhouse Repertory Company), Mimoun (Pennsylvania Dance Theatre), Colorfast (Pittsburgh International Children's Theater Festival) and Shakespeare Street (Playhouse Junior). He has written music for companies including City Theatre, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Attack Theatre, Gateway to the Arts, Pitt Repertory Theatre, Renaissance City Women’s Choir and Pittsburgh Musical Theater.

	For 20+ years, David Pellow studied and performed western classical, jazz and popular music. He studied the string bass repertoire in "basement jams" with his saxophonist father, James. He’s played engagements with various organizations in the Pittsburgh area including Deuces Wild, Nathan Davis and Tomorrow, Harold Betters, Walt Harper, Joe Negri, Rodger Humphries, Kenny Blake, Frank Cunimondo, Benny Benack Jr. He’s toured the United States and Japan with various groups, performed at The Montreux Jazz Festival and accompanied and recorded with many well-known musicians, such as Billy Eckstine, Mose Allison, Chris Connor, Diane Schurr, and Kenny Rankin. As an educator, Mr. Pellow played jazz in Pittsburgh elementary schools from 1991-1998 through a Manchester Craftsman’s Guild program. At Carnegie Mellon University, Mr. Pellow was appointed Director of Jazz Studies in 2002. He has instructed in jazz studies and bass in the preparatory school and pre-college, was Artist Lecturer: double bass, and Conductor of Jazz Ensembles. Mr. Pellow earned a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Duquesne University and is an alumnus of The International Summer Bass School and the Institute Francois Rabbath.

	Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Eliseo Rael is the principal percussionist for the Pittsburgh-based chamber ensemble IonSound Project. He also performs frequently in the percussion section of the Pittsburgh Symphony. He earned his Artist Diploma from Duquesne University, Master of Music from New England Conservatory of Music, and his Bachelor of Music from the University of North Texas.

	Robert Rawsthorne was the percussionist with the trio on "Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood" for more than 30 years. He has appeared as a guest artist with The River City Brass Band and has performed on numerous occasions with the Benedum Theatre Orchestra. Mr. Rawsthorne was an original member of the Gateway to Music Percussion Ensemble and is currently the leader of a popular local group, "The Steel City Stompers". They have a reputation as one of the area's most versatile groups with spontaneous comedy and original material with a variety of unusual instruments, humorous song parodies, great jokes and performances that always include the entire audience.

	Craig Verm, baritone, is rapidly gaining recognition for his performances. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette exclaimed that in his recent role in Romeo et Juliette he was "again impressive. His Mercutio was a winning mix of insouciance and insolence with a superb grasp of the French." The Denver Post agrees, citing his ability to "make full use of his resonant, expressive baritone voice, bringing the necessary depth to this complex role and imbuing the all-important final scene with poignancy and depth." In the 2006-07 season, he returned to Pittsburgh Opera as well as the Fort Worth Opera. In the 2005-06 season, Mr. Verm sang with Pittsburgh Opera, Aspen Opera Theater, Cincinnati Opera and Santa Fe Opera as well as appearing on the concert stage with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Boston Youth Symphony’s Senior Orchestra. Equally adept within the realm of oratorio, his appearances in Portugal and the United States include Bach’s Mass in B minor, Faure’s Requiem, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass. Mr. Verm received his Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and graduated cum laude from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He is also a 2006 national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

	Katy Shackleton-Williams, lyric coloratura soprano, has gained local popularity with her involvement in the Mendelssohn Choir, Pittsburgh Symphony, River City Brass Band and Pittsburgh Opera. Ms. Williams was a featured soloist for the Pittsburgh Symphony Holiday Pops concert series in 2002, and made her Pittsburgh Symphony debut in September 2005 with Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has toured with the River City Brass Band as a featured soloist in two concert series. She was a soloist in the Heinz Hall performance of The Lord of the Rings, and has performed with the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. Operatic roles include ‘Adele’ in Die Fledermaus, ‘First Mother’ in Dead Man Walking, ‘Love’ in Orfeo and Eurydice and ‘Barbarina’ in The Marriage of Figaro. Notable solo engagements include performances of the Bernstein Chichester Psalms, Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem, Handel Messiah, Bach St. John’s Passion, and Cantatas 74, 51 and 202, Dubois Seven Last Words of Christ, Barber Prayers of Kirkegaard, Holst Christmas Day, Archer, Brahms, Durufle, Faure, Mozart and Rutter Requiem, and Poulenc, Rutter and Vivaldi Gloria. Ms. Williams has recorded Leonardo Balada’s Encenas Borracones with New World Records and his La Muerte de Colon under the Naxos label. Currently, she is a member of the professional core for the Mendelssohn Choir, chorister in Pittsburgh Opera and serves on staff for Jr. Mendelssohn Choir. She is the soprano soloist at Rodef Shalom, Oakland, and Third Presbyterian Church, Shadyside. Ms. Williams is an honors graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Vocal Performance.
Previous Seasons
The Pittsburgh Concert Chorale has a rich tradition of partnering with talented musical organizations and individuals. Past partners include:
	Warren Davidson, Academy Chamber Orchestra founder and concertmaster, is active as an orchestral musician, recitalist, and teacher. Concertmaster of the Westmoreland, Altoona, and McKeesport Symphonies, he has appeared as soloist with each of these orchestras as well as many others. Mr. Davidson teaches violin and viola and conducts the orchestra at Slippery Rock University, and is music director of the Westmoreland Youth Symphony. Mr. Davidson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Philosophy and Psychology at Duquesne University before turning to full-time violin study with Alan Grishman and Efim Boicoh as his principal teachers. He completed a Master of Music degree in violin at Duquesne, a Master of Arts degree in Theory and Composition at the University of Pittsburgh, a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Chamber Music at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and is nearing completion of a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at West Virginia University where he was granted a Swiger Fellowship.

	Jason Karn, lyric tenor, is in his first season with the Pittsburgh Opera Center, where he covered the Duke in Rigoletto, sang Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos, and will sing Spoletta in Tosca. Next season, he will return to sing Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and the Novice in Billy Budd. He recently completed the Merola Program at San Francisco Opera where he performed Tom Rakewell to rave reviews in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. Mr. Karn was selected as an Apprentice Artist for the 2004 Chautauqua Opera Festival, where he performed roles in Susannah, Fiddler on the Roof, and Verdi’s Stiffelio. He also performed in two concerts with the Chautauqua Festival Orchestra. In 2003, he debuted with Opera Carolina in the North Carolina premier of Cold Sassy Tree. He has since returned to sing roles in Carmen, Macbeth, and Die Zauberflöte. In 2006, he performed Alfredo in La Traviata. Mr. Karn has performed the roles of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for Granite State and Natchez Operas, and Lt. Joseph Cable in Opera Boston’s South Pacific. He also participated in the Tanglewood Music Festival in 1999 as a Vocal Fellow and as a Young Artist with Opera North in 2001. Mr. Karn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in voice from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

	The Pittsburgh Ceremonial Brass is aptly named, since all five members play in Pittsburgh orchestras, are versatile enough to provide music for every kind of ceremony and event, and are accomplished brass instrumentalists. The quintet is described as being “synonymous with classy, high quality playing”, has played at many area churches including Heinz Chapel, St. Paul Cathedral, St. Bernard, and is in residence at Memorial Park Presbyterian Church. The members of this versatile group have regularly performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and include: Rick Murrell, trumpet and director Charles Lirette, co-principal trumpet, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Marie-Claude Driscoll, French horn, Ballet Orchestra Sam Getchell, trombone, Opera Orchestra Phil Van Ouse, tuba, Opera/Ballet Orchestra

	Karen Roethlisberger has performed with the Pittsburgh Opera, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, Bach Choir of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Youth Symphony and made her *Pittsburgh Concert Chorale* debut in "The German Romantics" concert in 2008. Ms. Roethlisberger has also worked as a collaborative artist at Duquesne University, Point Park University, Aspen Music Festival, Cincinnati Opera’s Education Outreach Ensemble, Rocky Ridge Music Center, Rising Star Audition Works, Opera Theater of Lucca (Italy), and participated in the Grandin Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, and Eastern Music Festival. This summer, she will be on staff at Saltnote Stageworks summer program as well as performing on tour in Europe with the Robert Page Festival Singers. Since 2005, Ms. Roethlisberger has been a vocal coach and accompanist at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music. Ms. Roethlisberger has received numerous awards including first prize in the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Chamber Music Competition, Vocal Arts Resource Network Artsong Competition, Tuesday Musical Club of Pittsburgh Scholarship, NY State MTNA competition and the Pittsburgh Concert Society Auditions with her husband, baritone Craig Verm. Ms. Roethlisberger received a Bachelor of Music (Piano Performance) from Syracuse University and earned a Master of Music (Piano Performance); Master of Music (Vocal Accompanying); and Artist Diploma (Opera Coaching) from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.