BVA, Monessen students to share stage with PSO for ‘Blockbuster Broadway!’

By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com
A number of students from the Mon Valley will be in the spotlight this weekend as they share the stage with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra during its “Blockbuster Broadway!” performance at Heinz Hall.
The annual event gives local choir students ranging in grades nine to 12 the opportunity of a lifetime to sing with some of Broadway’s most accomplished performers.
This year’s singers include Jessica Hendy, Kelli Rabke, Kerry O’Malley and guest vocalist Steven Brault, who also spends his summers pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The symphony will be conducted by Stuart Chafetz and will feature songs from well-known Broadway musicals like “Les Misérables,” “Gypsy,” “Chicago,” “42nd Street” and “Hamilton.”
The Mon Valley will be represented by students from Belle Vernon Area and Monessen City school districts. Performances will be 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Monessen students performing are Milana Sacco, a featured soloist, Joshua Anderson, Quenten Zboyovsky, Savannah Johnson, Chloe Miller and Cammi Kovach.
Belle Vernon Area School District music teacher Michael Rozell said the symphony’s choir conductor Christine Hestwood asks teachers for the names of outstanding vocal students from high schools every year, and that he’s sent anywhere from 15 to 20 students to perform with the symphony. This year, 15 students from BVA will perform at the event.
Students from the BVA school district are Elizabeth Breckenridge, Ashley Baldwin, Paige Crowson, Holly Weightman, Shannon Zelinsky, Dimitri Apodiakos, Cameron Tilson, Anthony Reno, Anthony Billy, Kaden Gray, David Grace, Brandon Tielsch, Meg Miller, Sarah McCloskey and Danny Truong.
“Many of these kids are chosen because they study private voice lessons on their own,” Rozell said. “They’re going above and beyond to excel at singing.”
Rozell said while the students don’t have to audition to be chosen, they do have to meet certain requirements, including being able to attend all four rehearsals and perform in all three concerts.
“I tell the kids to take the dates home and see if they’re available for all of them,” he said. “I tell them ‘if you’re not available for all of this, you cannot do this.’ This is a world-class symphony and they need to be at every rehearsal.”
Rozell said students get only four rehearsals to prepare for the big weekend, and he does not help them prepare for the concert.
And what if a symphony rehearsal interferes with a student’s private lesson or performance with Rozell?
“Of course, they can miss a performance with me,” Rozell quipped. “How often do you get to perform with the Pittsburgh Symphony?”
If you’re going:
Show times are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. For tickets, go to www.pittsburghsymphony.org/production/62581/blockbuster-broadway.