Apr 25, 2018 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 6 min read

Call them the divine dozen, an apt description of how the Seraphic Singers have sounded since Day One.

“I remember the very first rehearsal, when we gathered and heard the sound for the first time,” recalled Kathy Whittaker, a member of the 12-voice women’s choir. “It was incredible. You just don’t hear that all that often.”

The ensemble has been together four years now under the direction of founder Gretchen Franz, who since 1981 has served as director of music and organist at Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church.

Whittaker is soprano soloist at the church, which is hosting the Seraphic Singers’ spring concert at 4 p.m. May 6. The performance features selections varying from jazz by German composer Simon Wawer to a classical choral work by the later American Randall Thompson.

“I’ve always wanted to have a professional choir that doesn’t require many rehearsals,” Franz said about starting the ensemble. “I had always envisioned a male-and-female choir, but it’s hard to find men. Kathy was the one who suggested a female choir.”

And so the group is all women, six sopranos and six altos, and all have impressive musical resumes. Whittaker, for example, has been a core member of both the Bach and Mendelssohn choirs in Pittsburgh.

She and two of her fellow vocalists gathered on Franz’s front porch in Dormont for the initial meeting of what became the Seraphic Singers, with their name having a blissful, rapt connotation in addition to being alliterative.

“They assembled a list of their friends from Mendelssohn, and I found them,” Franz recalled. “Everybody said yes, and that’s basically how it started.”

Whittaker explained the enthusiasm.

“Some of the original people we were thinking of just love to sing, and many of them are teachers,” she said. “But sometimes you don’t get that much of an opportunity to do your own singing. People kind of jumped at the chance. It was great.”

Many of the original 12 still are with the ensemble, which also features piano accompanist Joy Crummie. Two other musicians, violinist Ashley Freeburn and percussionist Abby Longhurst, will perform May 6.

Along with Whittaker, the singers are:

• Sara Botkin

• , who has appeared as a soloist with Chatham Baroque, University of Pittsburgh’s Bach and Baroque Ensemble, the Pittsburgh Festival Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Baroque Ensemble.
• Thespina Christulides

• , vocalist with the Professional Core of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, chamber choir Voces Solis and the Yinzer Singers. She also conducts the choir at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in Mt. Lebanon.
• Ann Cloutier

• , alto soloist at Mt. Lebanon United Lutheran Church and seven-season member of the Pittsburgh Camerata, serving for a season as a soloist in the group’s performance of Vivaldi’s “Gloria.”
• Ellen Fast

• , a member of the chamber choir Voces Solis and the Chancel Choir at Shadyside Presbyterian Church, who also has been either a member or alternate member of the professional core of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, with which she also serves as one of the rehearsal accompanists.
• Christine Hestwood

• , a vocal music teacher in Upper St. Clair School District and director of music at Westminster Presbyterian Church, where she conducts its 70-voice Chancel Choir.
• Betsy Lawrence

• , whose national television credits include the currently running “Red White and Rock,” “The American Sound Track,” “More Rock at 50,” “My Music,” “The Roots of Rock and Roll,” “The British Invasion” and “Roots in Country.”
• Judith Jenkins

• , featured in recent years as a soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Mendelssohn Choir, River City Brass Band, Pittsburgh Concert Chorale and Renaissance City Winds.
• Nancy Klimcheck

• , who made her Pittsburgh Symphony debut in 2005 as soprano soloist in Haydn’s “Mass in Time of War.” She also was featured in Marvin Hamlisch’s “Music Man” production at Heinz Hall, playing the role of Eulalie Mackecknie Shin.
• Eva Rainforth, who has sung with the Pittsburgh Symphony, River City Brass Band, Pittsburgh Concert Chorale and Mendelssohn Choir professional core, and currently sings with the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus.
• Valerie Vernon

• , an alumna of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. As a featured soloist, she performed Mendelssohn’s motet “Aus Tiefer Noth” at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and was alto soloist in Rachmaninoff’s “Vespers” at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh.
• Katy Williams, who has performed extensively in the Pittsburgh area with prestigious organizations such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera, Civic Light Opera, Mendelssohn Choir, Pittsburgh Opera Theater and River City Brass Band.

For more information, visit seraphicsingers.com.