Friday Evening Music Club

Mission

To draw area performers and audiences for shared artistic programs and camaraderie, and to encourage excellence in young musicians through performance and scholarship.

About the Friday Evening Music Club 

FEMC was founded in 1944 to promote the performing arts in Westmoreland County and give musicians a place to practice and socialize. It is a community of area musicians, some of whom are private music teachers, but many who work in other fields and enjoy music-making as an avocation. Some club members simply enjoy being part of the organization by attending the concerts; the concerts are open to members and non-members alike.

“There’s really no other [group] like it. It allows you to make connections, it allows you to meet people that you would not ordinarily meet.” ~ Matt Klumpp, member and pianist

In 1969, FEMC’s leadership helped to found the Westmoreland Symphony. Reuniting with them fosters the musical growth of our shared community, with mutual support, stability, and strength. We have common interests and common fellowship, but also provide unique avenues into the experience and sharing of great classical music. We now celebrate our shared roots and come back home to be together again.

Recital Dates

• September 23, 2022 – Campana Chapel
• November 18, 2022 – First United Methodist Church
• January 27, 2023 – Campana Chapel
• February 24, 2023 – First United Methodist Church
• March 24, 2023 – Campana Chapel
• April 28, 2023 – Campana Chapel

Venues:
First United Methodist Church: 15 E 2nd St, Greensburg, PA 15601
Campana Chapel: 150 Finoli Dr, Greensburg, PA 15601

FUMC strongly recommends masks to enter their facility this year, whether you are vaccinated or not. FEMC supports this position.

In addition, we will be prepared to pivot to online production, should the ongoing pandemic make this necessary. We will keep all of you as performers and audience members apprised as the year unfolds.

Past Recitals:

• November 19, 2021,  American Music Month
• October 22,  2021, Season Opener – Autumn Leaves
• February 25, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. – Organ Highlights: Featured this month is our Mildred Gardner Scholarship Winner, Kaitlyn Dotson, a Franklin Regional senior, who will be majoring in flute performance this fall. Kaitlyn and pianist Matt Klumpp will perform Fauré’s short, beautiful Morceau de Concours, written for the sight-reading exam at the Paris Conservatory in 1896, which they will follow with the first movement of Prokofiev’s blockbuster Flute Sonata, composed during WWII. New member, mezzo-soprano Savannah Simeone, accompanied by Josie Merlino, will sing Erbarme dich, mein Gott, um meiner Zähren Willen! from St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach and King David, by Herbert Howells. Both of these composers were organists. Matt Klumpp will close the program at the organ, with Suite Gothique, French composer, Léon Boëllmann’s best-known composition for organ.
• April 29, 2022,  April in Paris The Friday Evening Music Club of the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra presents April in Paris, Friday, April 29 at First United Methodist Church of Greensburg. Pianist Dr. T. J. Maroon will perform the first movement of Debussy’s wonderful Suite Bergamasque. Mezzo-soprano Savannah Simeone will present 20th-century works by Judith Cloud, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Benjamin Britten.
  Guest soprano Mary Vanden Berk will take us on a historical tour, performing music from the 12th, 19th, and 21st centuries, featuring composers Hildegard von Bingen, Vincenzo Bellini, and Philippe Rombi. Former principal trumpeter of the WSO’s youth orchestra Christopher Cox will perform the first movement of the famous Hummel Trumpet Concerto and the Morceau de Concert by J.C. Pennequin.
• May 20, 2022, Tutti Flutti  This month features six flutists, six pianists, and a rhythm section of guest Seton Hill graduates: Lindsey Lamagna, traps and Teddy DiSanti, bass. This team will perform French pianist/composer Claude Bolling’s popular Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio, which he wrote for flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal. Flute/piano duos will perform the 7-part suite, and include members Christina Andrae, Michele Boulet, Nina Edgar and Joan Kotjarapoglus, and guests Grace Collier and Chuck Kauric on flute; pianists will be members Sylvia Andrae, Hazel Braun, Beverly Hritz, Matt Klumpp and John Kulik, with guest Matt Diesel. The Suite’s 7 movements are: Baroque and Blue, Sentimentale, Javanaise, Fugace, Irlandaise, Versatile (for flute and bass flute!) and Veloce. Opening the program is a work composed by member Morrie Brand. His Flute Concerto will be premiered by dedicatee Evelyn Markle, with Matt Klumpp on piano.