At 2:30 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 1 is the Hamilton-Gibson Autumn Choral Concert at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on the corner of Pearl and Charles Streets, across from The Green in Wellsboro.

Singing will be the HG Treble Choir composed of Tioga County students in grades 5-8 directed by Thomas W. Putnam and HG Choir, Too, the training choir for students in grades 2-4 directed by Cheryl Hein Walters. Gary Citro is the accompanist.

Guest soloist is Carter Route, a junior at Mansfield University who is majoring in Vocal Performance and will graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2025.

A tenor, Route wowed audiences with his dynamic performance as the title character in MU’s production of “Phantom of the Opera.”

He is now preparing to audition for the Met’s nationwide vocal competition for young artists, ages 20 to 30, at Carnegie Mellon on Jan. 20, 2024. Sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, including members and hundreds of volunteers from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the competition is designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. Finalists will sing at the Met with the Metropolitan Orchestra. Some of today’s greatest singers got their start in the competition, such as Renée Fleming.

Route is Mansfield Opera Theatre president, Mansfield Theatre Organization vice president, Committee on Finance member and Mounties Admission Ambassador.

During the Oct. 1 concert, Route will join with the HG Treble Choir to sing “Close Every Door” and “Any Dream Will Do”, two songs from the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” He will also sing “Gloria Tibi” from Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” with them.

The HG Treble Choir will sing “A Place in the Choir,” a fun, rousing song made famous by the popular group Celtic Thunder; “Hold Fast to Dreams” with words by poet Langston Hughes; “Afton Water,” a melodic Scottish folk song with words by poet Robert Burns; and “Bring Me Little Water, Silvy,” attributed to Huddie Ledbetter with accompaniment by local musician Anne Acker on upright bass.

HG Choir Too will sing the haunting “Manx Lullaby” and the catchy folk song “Uncle Joe” and join the Treble Choir for the final song “Any Dream Will Do.

Admission at the door is $10 for adults and $5 for children 18 and younger. The concert is sponsored by C&N.

The HG Choral Program is free due to generous donations by community members and open to boys and girls in grades 2-8, with rehearsals at 4 p.m. on Tuesdays at the First Presbyterian Church in Wellsboro. Participation requirements include a love of singing, and a commitment for the school year season.

Families whose children are considering joining the choirs will be admitted to this concert free. 

For more information about the concert or joining the choral program, call 570-724-2079 or email hamgib@gmail.com.