Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Sextet (from left) Emily Estright, Abby Crider, Tiffany Mayhew, Mike Glunt, Jason White and Derek Cruz rehearse with the Allegheny Chorale for its upcoming 40th anniversary concert.

The voices of the Allegheny Chorale reach an ear-pleasing crescendo, holding the note until Director Deborah Estright’s signal to stop in unison.

Estright’s smile and enthusiastic clapping says it all but she tells her vocalists, “that was great. We’re done with that and let’s move on.”

It’s the beginning of a two-hour rehearsal, designed to put the finishing touches on the chorale’s 40th anniversary concert “Come to the Music: Celebrating 40 Years of Music.” Two performances are scheduled: the first, at 3 p.m. April 27 at St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Altoona, and the second at 7 p.m. April 29 at First Presbyterian Church, Tyrone. The concerts are free, with a free-will collection.

Assisting Estright for the past 18 years has been Karen Mayhew. Accompanists are Anna Myers and Susan Broadbent, and percussionist is Paul Turner.

The chorale has about 60 members, who bring a blend of secular and sacred music to listeners each year through two concerts annually — one in December and one in late April. Between the two locations, about 400 people attend each seasonal concert, estimated chorale board President Janet Pearson.

This year’s spring concert is different in that chorus members chose their favorite selections from among the many selections featured since its founding in 1985.

Area residents Steve Stoner, Tyrone Area High School music teacher Georgia Roberts and Joan Smith traveled to Juniata College and hired the college music professor Joseph Figg to be the chorale’s first director, Smith recalled.

“I’m not originally from around here, but I understood that there had been a period of time when the area had a good musical group and people were anxious to get it back,” said Smith, 85, of Warriors Mark.

During the past 40 years, Smith said the chorale “has grown and really flourished beyond all our expectations. It is very much appreciated, too.”

Stoner said each church had an adult choir and the school district had a strong chorus program.

“But we wanted to sing together,” he said. “It was an opportunity for our community to come together to sing and perform. That is still the mission of the group.”

While Stoner no longer sings with the chorale, he attends the concerts and hopes to return to it when there are fewer demands on his time.

The group’s name was one of the harder decisions related to the group’s founding, Stoner said, and was chosen for the Alleghenies Mountains. That way, the name reflects all members’ hometowns. Members come from Blair, Huntingdon and Centre counties.

They received significant support from the Tyrone business community, especially from the late Donna Ray. The community support enabled the hiring of the chorale director and an accompanist. Chorale members volunteer their time.

Last year, a “pillar of the community” who wished to remain anonymous made a “very, very, very generous donation that will sustain us for years to come,” Pearson said.

In addition to practices, chorale members and accompanists practice on their own for many hours a week. Myers, 75, the lead pianist, estimates she practices at least eight hours a week. The chorale also became a tradition in her family, with her late mother once a member and now her daughter, Alison Casillo.

The upcoming concert features soloists Will Nichols, Emily Estright and Derik Cruz. The opening is an invitation to “Come to The Music.” The first half traditionally features sacred music including, a traditional African American spiritual, “Ride The Chariot,” as well as a gospel rendition of “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” “A Gaelic Alleluia” highlights four-hand piano accompaniment, as well as “I Believe,” a selection made famous by Tyrone’s native son, Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, featuring a choral sextet.

After an intermission, the second half traditionally features secular music and highlights of this concert are “Singin’ In The Rain,” and “What A Wonderful World” and “Why We Sing,” the unofficial theme song for the group.

Myers is a lifetime member and serves as lead pianist and the group’s historian. She was recruited by Roberts, her neighbor.

“I have a love for music and I feel I have been blessed with a gift to play and I’m happy to share it all these years,” she said. “All the people in the chorale are like family to me.”

Chorale member and tenor Ron Hildebrand said Roberts, his former music teacher, recruited him about 35 years ago. He’s stayed because he enjoys singing and the camaraderie of the other members.

“We have a lot of people who come (to practices) with heavy hearts and lots of burden like work stress,” Pearson said. “By the end of that two hours, the stress is gone. We just sang it out.”

One of the other keys to the group’s success, members said, is that there are no tryouts or auditions. The sole requirement is a love of singing.

“You don’t need to know music. You don’t need to know how to sing. We’ll train you,” Pearson said. “That has been our motto. All you need to have is a love of music.”

Mirror Staff Writer Patt Keith is at 814-949-7030.