Staff & Board of Directors
PGC Staff
Kathryn Copeland Donaldson, Conductor, Concentio, Chamber Choir and Via
Soprano Kathryn Copeland Donaldson has performed extensively in the Pittsburgh and London music landscapes. A graduate of Westminster Choir College of Rider University and Royal Academy of Music in London, Ms. Donaldson had sung with Gabrieli Consort, BBC Singers, Richard Hickox Singers, City Bach Collective, and under the baton of Sir Paul McCreesh, Laurence Cummings, Thomas Douglas and Joseph Flummerfelt and is currently a contracted singer with the Pittsburgh Camerata. An accomplished recitalist, Ms. Donaldson also sings with Pittsburgh Opera Chorus and performed roles with Pittsburgh’s Undercroft Opera and Microscopic Opera. Ms. Donaldson teaches private voice and directs choral ensembles at Geneva College and Beaver County Christian School, and is frequently sought after as a choral workshop instructor in the Pittsburgh area. In addition to performing and teaching, Ms. Donaldson enjoys traveling, reading and spending time with her family. She is excited to get to know and collaborate with the Pittsburgh Girls Choir staff, students and families.
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Emily Tiberi, Conductor, Women of Song
Emily Tiberi, soprano, is a passionate singer, voice teacher, and choral conductor. She has sung numerous operatic roles (Giunia, Lucio Silla; Marie, Marie Begins; Noémie, Cendrillon; Mother, Avow; First Lady, Die Zauberflöte; Nella, Gianni Schicchi; Madame Silberklang, The Impresario; Lisette, La Rondine; Berta, I barbiere di Siviglia). Emily has premiered two roles: Princess Peach in I fratelli Mario, a comedic opera about Mario Bros., and Angela in Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera. She has placed first in both the state and regional NATS competitions. Emily is also an accomplished choral singer, singing regularly with the Philadelphia Symphonic Orchestra Chorus, regularly under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and twice as a Resident Chorister at Spoleto Festival USA. She is a graduate of Westminster Choir College, where she won the Westminster Voice Awards scholarship competition and served as the graduate assistant in the Presser Voice Lab. Emily has served as an Adjunct Professor of voice at Rowan University, as well as a choral conductor and educator for the Pittsburgh Girls Choir (PGC) and PGC’s Women of Song. She is thrilled to conduct Women of Song.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Samantha Smith, Conductor, Melodia and Harmonia
Samantha Smith has been teaching music in urban and suburban public schools since 2010. Samantha earned her BA in Music from the University of Pittsburgh and her MA in Music Teaching from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. She has taught MusicPlay classes to preschoolers at Oberlin, K-8 General Music and Chorus in OH and PA, and has served as vocal music director for several high school musicals.
Charise Webster, Concentio and Chamber Choir Assistant, PGC Collaborative Pianist
Charise Webster began studying music at the age of five and has taught music to children of all ages for the past thirty years. In high school, she studied piano, solfège, and theory at the Carnegie Mellon Music Preparatory School under Mineko Avery and Nancy Galbraith. Following completion of a Bachelor of Ministry degree in Music Education, she directed the special music program at her church in California and taught numerous college classes including music theory, sight singing & rhythm, and music history. She has trained various choral and small vocal groups of all ages and especially enjoys arranging. Currently she teaches private piano, coordinates the special music at her church, and directs a children and teen choir also at her church. Charise has a special passion for teaching youth of all ages how to sight-sing well and is thrilled to be joining the PGC team.
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Lisa Stein, Melodia and Harmonia Assistant
Lisa Stein is a vocalist, cellist, and music educator who is thrilled to be working with the brilliant singers in Melodia and Harmonia. She got her BA in Music and Religious Studies from Wesleyan University, specializing in contemporary opera, Medieval/Renaissance music, and classical South Indian music, and is currently working toward her Masters in Music Education at Carnegie Mellon University. Following 6 years of work creating imaginative programming and training teams of educators in the environmental sleepaway camp world, Lisa led elementary strings and choral ensembles with Play on Philly. An Alto 2 for life, Lisa performs regularly in the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the leadership of Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin. When she’s not singing, Lisa loves painting, embroidering, plant-based cooking, teaching herself harp, hugging trees, and dreaming about how the choral world can be even more inclusive and empowering for all singers.
Isabella Chelton, Via Assistant
Isabella Chelton is currently pursuing a music education degree from Duquesne University. She has participated in choirs since she was four years old. Throughout her high school career, she participated in district, regional, and state choirs. She currently sings with Duquesne University’s Voices of Spirit under the direction of Dr. Caron Daley.
Leah Givelber, Administrative Coordinator
Leah Givelber is an accomplished performer and violin teacher. Leah began playing violin at the age of 4 and has degrees from the Eastman School of Music and New England Conservatory. She has brought her love of the violin and classical music to students as a teacher for the past two decades. Leah’s goal as a teacher is to help her students find beauty in music, life and in themselves through mastery of the violin.
As a performer Leah can be found playing with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Opera and the Pittsburgh Symphony. She is also a long term member of the Academy String Ensemble, performing many string quartet performances in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas.
Leah’s work on the Pittsburgh Girls Choir administrative team allows her to advance her belief in the arts as a powerful tool for both performers and audiences.
CONTACT INFORMATION
PGC Board of Directors
Mariana Whitmer, Board Chair
Craig Denison, Vice President
Timothy Nye, Treasurer
Ellen Allston
Dr. Paula Clemens
Mariana Gowdy
Susan White