Since the dawn of the 20th century, the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh has been gathering in song. In this essay, Music Director Daniel Singer explains how they choose what to sing — and why the group needs you.

Who Is the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh?

On any given Wednesday evening, 140 people make their way into the artists’ entrance at Heinz Hall, head up to the fourth floor and find their seats in a windowless rehearsal room.

They are teachers, doctors, businesspeople, hospitality workers, retirees and students; only a few are full-time musicians. They come from all over Pittsburgh and surrounding counties; some travel from Ohio and West Virginia. Some are in their first season, others well into their fortieth. After their own busy days of work and school, they settle in for a rehearsal of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, each bringing what they have — life experience, personality, voice — and striving to be neither more nor less prominent than the singer beside them, trusting that every voice has something unique to offer.

This is what it means to be a member of one of the nation’s oldest and most respected choral ensembles. Now entering its 118th season, the Mendelssohn Choir is a testament to the power of individuals coming together to create something that none of us can make on our own.

Why the Choir Still Gathers

Every time the Mendelssohn Choir puts on a concert, we create a new community between chorus and audience that only exists while we’re together.

One of the things we learned in 2020 is that we can be awash in entertainment and still find ourselves wanting something more. I have multiple devices that can call up nearly every show, movie or musical recording ever made. With all of that at home, why would anyone want to sing in a choir or attend a choir concert?

I believe we still gather because we long for the connection that can only come from experiencing great art in the company of others.

In that time, we share intention and emotion in a way that is uniquely possible through live performance. People are drawn to choral music in particular because, regardless of skill level, everyone can sing. Hearing others sing feels familiar and human.

What the Choir Chooses to Sing

Because the audience experience is built on the music, I spend a great deal of time deciding what we sing. For every piece, I ask whether the text is meaningful and whether the composer has set it in a way that elevates that meaning. Since concerts feature multiple works, I look for pieces that tell a compelling story together — and then for a larger arc that carries us through an entire season.

For our 118th Season, that arc is about finding hope in challenging times.

We begin on October 11th with In Time of War, a program that considers the futility of warfare and its effects on society. The concert includes the Pittsburgh premiere of Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by American composer Florence Price, in which poet Vachel Lindsay imagines the ghost of Abraham Lincoln unable to rest because of impending war. We follow with Franz Joseph Haydn’s Mass in Time of War, written at a time when Austrians feared invasion in the wake of the French Revolution.

In May, we present the Pittsburgh premiere of Eric Whitacre’s The Sacred Veil, an impactful work that explores birth, death, love and loss through the story of Tony and Julie Silvestri as they navigate together Julie’s struggle with, and death from, ovarian cancer.

These are subjects we can’t always face alone, and I think that’s part of why we gather: to meet innately human struggles in the company of others. We don’t need the same life experience to recognize something in one another, or to know each other personally to feel something together.

Why the Mendelssohn Choir Needs You

If you’ve never attended a Mendelssohn concert, you may have preconceptions of what a chorus concert is like.

I can promise that we will surprise you — in the best possible way.

We perform in acoustic spaces built to amplify the human voice, and you’ll be amazed at how close you feel to the singers and their sound. Don’t worry about whether or not you know anything about the pieces we’re performing; come with an open mind. Listen to the music and the text. Experience the sound and the silence between.

Most important: Be present in every sense of the word. 

For 118 years, we’ve spent our Wednesday evenings turning music into connection, but who are we without an audience? We welcome you to join us in making that space where we create something larger than ourselves. There’s a lot in this world we can only solve together, and this feels like the perfect place to start.

To learn more about cultural organizations in the city, check out our guide to the arts, culture, and entertainment scene in Pittsburgh.

Story by Daniel Singer, Music Director of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh
Photos Courtesy Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh

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