Katy Shackleton Williams, lyric coloratura soprano, to sing in Chancel Choir, coach Choral Scholars and other parish voice students, and to present recitals at Mt. Lebanon church.
Lyric coloratura soprano and Pittsburgh Symphony soloist Katy Shackleton Williams will join the music ministry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church as an artist-in-residence beginning Jan. 22 and continuing through 2009, according to Douglas Starr, D.M.A., Director of Music and Arts at the Mt. Lebanon congregation. While in residence, Ms. Williams will sing with the St. Paul’s Chancel Choir, coach vocal students, and present recitals.
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“Katy Williams is one of the region’s finest sopranos,” said Dr. Starr. “Her presence at St. Paul’s will enrich our worship and extend our artistic mission into the Pittsburgh community.”
A featured soloist for the Pittsburgh Symphony Holiday Pops concert series in 2002, 2004 and 2006, Ms. Williams made her Pittsburgh Symphony debut in 2005 in Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has continued to gain local popularity with her involvement in the Mendelssohn Choir, Pittsburgh Symphony, River City Brass Band and Pittsburgh Opera.
“I am delighted to begin a deeper association with St. Paul’s,” said Ms. Williams, who conducted a master class earlier this year for vocal students there. “The church is blessed with a talented and dedicated group of musicians with whom, I’m sure, it will be a joy to work.”
Ms. Williams was a soloist in Howard Shore’s Heinz Hall performance of The Lord of the Rings, and has performed with the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C. Recent concerts include Christopher Theofanidis’ The Here and Now, the children’s symphony series, Fiddlesticks, and a narration of a children’s book, Blue so Blue, all with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and a concert with the Pittsburgh Philharmonic. Operatic roles include Adele in Die Fledermaus, First Mother in Dead Man Walking, Love in Orfeo and Eurydice and Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro.
Notable solo engagements include performances of the Bernstein Chichester Psalms, Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem, Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St. John’s Passion.
Currently, she is a member of the professional core for the Mendelssohn Choir, chorister in Pittsburgh Opera and serves on the music staff at Washington and Jefferson College. She is a soprano soloist at Rodef Shalom Congregation, Oakland. Ms. Williams is an honors graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Vocal Performance.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is located at 1066 Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon. For more information and a schedule of services, visit the church Web site at http://www.stpaulspgh.org.
CONTACT: Michele Baum, publicity
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
E-MAIL: mukrakr@aol.com
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