and career. The chorus is currently in the process of finding a new director.
Greater Harmony Chorus’ current membership is 50 women strong. Some members live right in Gibsonia, where the chorus presently rehearses, while others come from Latrobe, Greensburg, Grove City, Beaver County and as far away as Poland, Ohio. Members are not professional musicians, but instead pursue the group as a hobby while their day jobs encompass a range of professions including teacher, secretary, professor, nurse, retiree and many more. The group’ s youngest member is Kelley O’ Leary, 14, of Cranberry and the oldest member is Doris Anderson of Gibsonia who has been a member of the chorus for 35 years.
Each member of the Greater Harmony Chorus is passionate about the barbershop art form.“ We are lucky to be a group of women of all ages who love to sing and have a passion for four-part a cappella harmony in the barbershop style,” says Donna Knapp, the group’ s marketing chair. Barbershop style indicates that the music the ensemble sings is arranged in a different chord structure than most choral music. Instead of the typical soprano, alto, tenor, bass lineup, barbershop music is presented in a bass, baritone, lead and tenor arrangement.
The chorus operates as a nonprofit organization. It has a board of directors who handle all of the business aspects, but in general the ensemble’ s director and music team are responsible for“ anything and everything music,” including the selection of songs the group performs for others. All members of the chorus are volunteers who pay annual dues and the chorus holds several fundraisers throughout the year to gain the necessary funds for the group’ s operation.
“ Members have to audition in order to become a part of the chorus,” says Knapp,“ but we try to make it as stress-free as possible, and‘ do-overs’ are most certainly allowed!” Members must be girls / women at least 12 years old who can sing. In addition to singing, they also enjoy dancing to all of their uptunes and plan special choreography accordingly. The group rehearses every Tuesday night at the Deer Creek Presbyterian Church, located at 33 Bairdford Road in Gibsonia.
Greater Harmony Chorus performs approximately once a month. The group’ s smaller ensemble, made up of women who do not hold day jobs, performs more often at various daytime events throughout the community. The chorus spends time giving back to Cranberry and a number of other
Current Members of Greater Harmony Chorus
Carol Anderson, Doris Anderson, Dolly Balog, LuAnn Barkley, Diane Bauer, Lisa Beckett, Beth Butler, Carol Colangelo, Vanessa Cox, Ellen Edgecombe, Trudy Exler, Jean Forti, Jennie Freidhof, Pat Gazzo, Carol Heere, Allison Hengelsberg, Kira Heston, Helen Ignatenko, Barbara Jacobson, Joanne Kern, Nancy Klein, Connie Klug, Donna Knapp, Alice Kress, Leslie Kulwik, Mary Pat McGuire, Becky Mellinger, Kelley O’ Leary, Valerie Patrick, Nancy Podany, Marge Pusateri, Carol Puskar, Lisa Putney, Michelle Riggi-Smith, Katie Roemele, Lynn Ross, Cindy Sheffler, Beverly Smith, Jen Stanton, Georgeann Starsnic, Dee Swierkowski, Bert Ulrich, Barb Wyllie and Barb Yaroschak. communities by performing for community events and at assisted living and nursing home facilities often.
Additionally, the ensemble sings yearly in Cleveland, Ohio, as part of the Sweet Adelines Region 17 Competition, where they compete against choruses from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and others in Pennsylvania. This year, the group was proud to finish in 6th place and aims to do better in the competition each year.“ Greater Harmony Chorus is an asset to the community because we offer a safe place for women to sing, learn, make new friends and even travel,” says Knapp. The group has performed in Washington, D. C., Ireland, France and Italy, and most recently as part of the National Festival of the States in Boston, Mass., in June.
“ The best part about being a part of Greater Harmony Chorus is definitely the members!” says Knapp.“ We have a warm, loving group of women who love to sing and have fun together, and who work hard to spread our love for the barbershop art form, and keep it alive for generations to come.”
She adds,“ New members are always welcome.“ If you are a woman who likes to sing, this is the place for you. If you’ ve never sung barbershop harmony— don’ t worry! We have wonderful directors, assistant directors and section leaders who will help you. Our dancing is not difficult and we rehearse it weekly, too!”
For more information or to book entertainment, visit greaterharmony. org, email greaterharmony @ hotmail. com or call 412.613.9800. ■
UPCOMING PERFORMANCE
Oct. 29:
Annual Show at Butler Community College— Songs of the‘ 70s!
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