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The Westmoreland Choral Society is a volunteer choral group from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
The Westmoreland Choral Society was conceived in the spring of 1971 by two former members of the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, Oren Hopkins and Linda Stainton, who were displeased with traveling all the way to Pittsburgh to attend concerts and rehearsals. The success at the time of the recently formed Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra and the encouragement from citizens of Greensburg and music faculty of then-Seton Hill College led to the formation of the group on September 8, 1971.
Dr. William Dovenspike became the first music director and his wife Arlene accompanied. Marvin Huls later succeeded Dr. Dovenspike in September 1976. By then, the Westmoreland Choral Society had seventy-five voices.
The choral group originally held rehearsals at Seton Hill College. Later on, rehearsals moved to First Methodist Church, Greensburg; First Presbyterian Church, Greensburg; the YMCA, Greensburg; the Salvation Army, Greensburg; back to the First Presbyterian Church; and finally to the current venue, the First Lutheran Church, Greensburg.
The Westmoreland Choral Society gives a number of annual concerts, including back-to-back Christmas concerts, the Pops Concert in the spring, and the Palm Sunday concert. The group began performing a Fall concert every other year starting in 1994. It has done its concerts at Westmoreland County Arts and Heritage Festival at Twin Lakes Park.
Choral members come from Westmoreland, Fayette, Allegheny, Armstrong, and Somerset counties with varying backgrounds. According to the official website, they are "united by the love of singing, the challenge of learning a variety of choral music and the desire to participate in the continuation of this art form." [1]
Westmoreland County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 364,663. The county seat is Greensburg and the most populous community is Hempfield Township. It is named after Westmorland, a historic county of England.
Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 14,976 at the 2020 census. The city lies within the Laurel Highlands and the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau and is a part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The city is named after Nathanael Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.
Hempfield Township is a township in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 41,585 at the 2020 census, making it the largest suburb in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area by population. Its name is derived from Hempfield in Lancaster County, which was formed in 1729 and is named after the hemp fields in the area.
The Harvard Glee Club is a 60-voice, Tenor-Bass choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1858 in the tradition of English and American glee clubs, it is the oldest collegiate chorus in the United States. The Glee Club is part of the Harvard Choruses of Harvard University, which also include the treble voice Radcliffe Choral Society and the mixed-voice Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum. All three groups are led by Harvard's current Director of Choral Activities Andrew Gregory Clark.
Greensburg station is an Amtrak railway station located approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of Pittsburgh at Harrison Avenue and Seton Hill Drive in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The station is located just north of the city center. It is served only by Amtrak's Pennsylvanian, which operates once daily in each direction.
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William Graham Connare was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Greensburg from 1960 to 1987.
The North Carolina Boys Choir was founded in 1971 by Dr. William J. Graham, in Durham, NC, who directed the choir until late 2014. Originally named the Durham Boychoir, it was designated the state boys choir of North Carolina in 1983 by Governor Jim Hunt. In 1992 the chamber choir of tenors and basses was founded to supplement the touring concert choir. Since its inception, the choir concludes each semester with a concert in Duke Chapel at Duke University.
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William Axton Stokes was an attorney born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who lived for a time in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where he served as legal counsel for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He went on to serve as an American Civil War major who contributed notes and references to an American edition of Mathew Hale's (1609–1676) Historia placitorum coronae published by R. H. Small of Philadelphia in 1847. Between January 1863 and August 1864, he owned The Republican, one of the first local newspapers in Greensburg, PA. He was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1872.
Michael P. Reese was an American politician. A Republican, he served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2009 until his death in 2021. Reese was secretary of the Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus for the 2019–2020 session, and had been elected to serve as caucus chairman in 2021.
Masterworks Chorale is a choral ensemble based in San Mateo, California.
The Sheffield Bach Choir was founded in 1950 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig.
The Ohio State University Men's Glee Club is an all-male choral ensemble at The Ohio State University. Officially founded in 1875, the Men's Glee Club is one of the oldest student organizations on Ohio State's campus and one of the oldest collegiate glee clubs in the United States. The group has garnered many accolades, most notably winning Choir of the World 1990 from the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
George Vern Barnett was an Australian organist, choir master and accompanist. He was an important figure in the musical and cultural life of Sydney for many years in the early twentieth century.
Columbia Chorale is an American choir based in Columbia, Missouri. It is a 60 plus men and women's mixed voice classical community choir that performs six or more concerts per season. It is sometimes in partnership and often shares talent with the University of Missouri School of Music.
Sándor Szabó is a Yugoslav-born pianist, organist and harpsichordist of Hungarian descent who has worked as a performer, conductor and music director in both Europe and North America.
Beebe Freitas was an American pianist, organist, vocal coach and educator. She was the Head of Music for Hawaii Opera Theatre.
The Leith Hill Musical Festival (LHMF) was founded in 1905 by Margaret Vaughan Williams, sister of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Lady (Evangeline) Farrer, wife of Lord Farrer of Abinger Hall. Ralph Vaughan Williams was the festival conductor from 1905 to 1953. The present festival conductor is Jonathan Willcocks.
