MANSFIELD, PA— Traveling and bringing choral music to audiences outside of Tioga County is not a new experience for members of the Mansfield University Concert Choir.
The ensemble has crossed the Atlantic Ocean seven times since 1996 to bring the Mansfield choral sound to European audiences, performing in cathedrals and concert halls–as well as less formal venues, competing at the World Choir Games and other contests, and in turn winning championships internationally and returning with gold medals and other trophies to the shores of the Tioga River.
This year, the award-winning Choir’s goals seem to be more modest, geographically. The group just returned from a performance tour of several sites in Pennsylvania, including Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove where the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Fall Conference took place on Oct. 30-31.
The Concert Choir also traveled to Philadelphia to participate in a Mass on All Saints Day, November 1, and give a full concert a few hours later in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Logan Square—the same church that hosted Pope Francis just a few weeks ago.
Then the group moved on to work with choirs from North Penn High School in Lansdale, PA and Boyertown High School nearby to sing and conduct workshops for the next generation of college students.
“Touring in the USA is not unusual for the Mansfield University Concert Choir,” Peggy Dettwiler, Concert Choir Director and director of Choral Activities, said. “In fact, we have been present in the Northeast of our country for quite some time, even venturing to San Antonio, Texas, nine years ago.”
For the current academic year, plans are underway to present interest sessions at the ACDA-Eastern Division in Boston, MA in February, swing by New York City to perform at Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue, and, a little later, to head for a trip to the country’s Midwest: Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
“Singing in the Overture Center in Madison, Wisconsin, one of the great concert halls in the world—comparable to Carnegie Hall, will most certainly be one of the highpoints for the Mansfield University Concert Choir this year,” Dettwiler said.
The choir was invited to Susquehanna University with six other choral groups from Pennsylvania, including ensembles from Penn State University, Lincoln University, Pennsbury High School, Poquessing Middle School, and Concordia, a community ensemble from Chester County.
The performances in Stretansky Hall, named after Cyril M. Stretansky a legendary choral director at Susquehanna who is a 1957 Mansfield graduate, were a testimony to the high level of choral culture in the Commonwealth. Not only did the MU Concert Choir perform for convention attendees, they also were able to experience choirs of all age levels, their repertory, and comportment. The convention also featured an honors choir for high school students and another for collegiate singers
Performing in Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica must count among the high points of this year’s choral events. The cathedral on Logan Square built in the middle of the nineteenth century is one of the largest in the United States, even though it is dwarfed now by surrounding skyscrapers. The reverberant spaces of the sanctuary were ideal for the Concert Choir in presenting their pieces.
Particularly striking was the rendition of a 13th-century Italian Lauda with the choir standing in the aisles to “envelop” the audience with a surround sound. The text made reference to St. Francis of Assisi, the current pope’s namesake paying tribute to Pope Francis’s recent visit to the church a few weeks ago.
Other performances that stood out were O Salutaris Hostia by Eriks Esenvalds, a contemporary Latvian composer, and the Spiritual I’ve been in the storm so long, featuring Sarah Polinski and Cassie Zinkan as well as Victoria Nance as soloists. At the end, a standing ovation rewarded the choristers for their excellence.
To learn more about the Concert Choir and studying music at Mansfield, go to music.mansfield.edu