Mon Yough Chorale looking for singers
A local choir is looking for new members who love to sing for its upcoming performance season.
The Mon Yough Chorale, a highly regarded community ensemble, is a non-sectarian group of singers. They perform for many organizations and municipalities in and around Western Pennsylvania.
Established in 2015, the group has a long history that dates back to the 1950s as the Laurel Singers, according to the group’s website. Wanting to give itself a location in the Mon Valley area, the group renamed itself the McKeesport Choraliers 50 years ago.
In 2001, the Choraliers merged with the White Oak Community Singers to become the Mon Yough Community Singers. In 2015, the group decided it was time for change and reorganized under the name Mon Yough Chorale.
Although the name is relatively new, the group still maintains the same high quality choral music as it has in the past. They look forward to many more decades of creating music to satisfy the many diverse backgrounds of the Mon Yough area.
Executive Board President Lisa Boynton of White Oak, who joined the group in 2019 and took over as president this year, said people come from all over to join their group, and they want to welcome everyone.
“The community choir has been around for a long time,” Boynton said. “What we want to put out there is that we are a local community choir located in White Oak but we have members from White Oak, we have members from West Mifflin, we have a member that comes out from all the way out by the airport.”
Rehearsals are from 7 to 9 p.m. Sundays starting Sept. 14 at Sampson’s Mills Presbyterian Church’s fellowship hall, 1665 Lincoln Way, White Oak.
Their first performance this year will take place at 3 p.m. Dec. 7 at Sampson’s Mills as a Christmas concert. The group is available for events as well, such as going to senior centers and personal care homes.
“If anyone is interested in having us come sing for them, we are also available toward the end of November once we are prepared,” Boynton said. “It’s a huge passion for me to keep this going and growing.”
They will hold a hot dog sale fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 4 at Busy Beaver in Oak Park Mall.
Anyone wishing to sing is invited to come to a rehearsal prior to committing to the group. Their repertoire consists of many types of music: patriotic, Broadway show tunes, gospel, sacred, baroque, renaissance, jazz, light tunes and holiday, among many others.
“We do have an encore piece that we sing at the end of our shows,” Boynton said. “We sing ‘I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together’ from the Carol Burnett show. That’s our main choir piece.”
They have all voice parts, and are especially looking for male singers, but are welcoming anyone at the moment, said Boynton, who sings the male tenor parts since they do not have many male singers. Their conductor is Ben Filippone and accompanist is Ellen Gross.
“I have been directing the choir for the last 16 years now, and I greatly enjoy working with them. I work hard to choose interesting and eclectic programs, and challenge the singers,” Filippone said. “It’s a very warm, welcoming group with a long history in the area.”
Boynton said she’s more introverted and would never be comfortable in a room of people unless they were a choir — finding the group to be a fun, safe place.
“It’s very, very rewarding walking into a group of strangers you didn’t know before, sitting down with a piece of music and making beautiful music together,” Boynton said. “It’s just an amazing and wonderful feeling.”
Boynton added that it took her a while to join because she had young kids, which is an obstacle for people because they rehearse Sunday nights, but she is glad she joined. She said everyone in the group helps each other out.
“We are a fun group. We have a wonderful time,” she said. “Everyone in it is just friendly and welcoming and I felt that from the moment that I joined. So, anyone that comes will be welcomed. The reason we are looking to grow is because we get a fuller sound and the more the merrier. It only gets better the more you have. If you have a love of singing, please try us out.”
There are no auditions to be a member. Anyone interested in joining the choir can email monyoughchorale@gmail. com or go to https://monyoughchorale. org.
“There is no audition, but everyone needs to be able to reliably match pitch and sing decently in tune,” Filippone said. “Anyone who has played an instrument, can read music even a little, has been in choirs in the past, or just has a good ear and would like to be part of a community music group are especially good candidates. I teach good ear training and vocal technique, so everyone is guaranteed to improve their singing.”
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