When Olean native Dawn Pierce was a child she sat next to her aunt on the piano bench and turned music pages during Keynote Chorus rehearsals.
Next month, Pierce — a nationally recognized mezzo-soprano as well as assistant professor of music at Penn State and director of the Penn State Opera Theatre — will perform with the Keynote Chorus in concerts in Allegany and Bradford, Pa.
Jenna Heaney of Fillmore, a first-year music student at SUNY Fredonia, will also perform in the spring concerts, set for June 7 at the Harriett B. Wick Chapel at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and June 8 at Allegany Baptist Church.
Both concerts begin at 3 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Donations are accepted.
Pierce, a professor of voice at Penn State, will sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Wade in the Water.” She is celebrated for her vibrant approach to performance, with a repertoire that includes roles as Charlotte in “Werther” and “Carmen.”
A daughter of a longtime Keynote Chorus member, Diana Dunbar, Pierce sat next to her aunt, Peg Dunbar, on the piano bench turning pages, while her uncle, Dave Dunbar, conducted the choir during Keynote Chorus rehearsals until, several years later, she was old enough to officially sing with the group.
Pierce says she’s excited about coming back to her hometown to perform with Keynote Chorus.
“It is the place where my musical roots began to take shape,” she says. “I learned so much from my aunt and uncle and the incredible passion they had for music and community. Keynote Chorus is an important part of their legacy and my journey to a career as a musician.”
Pierce, who joined the Penn State faculty last fall, previously taught at Ithaca College for 15 years, earning a Faculty Excellence Award in 2022. She established the Opera Direction Certification program and the IC Opera Studio, and launched the Voice Intensive, which became the Arts Intensive — an interdisciplinary program recognized for its innovation.
Internationally, Pierce founded the Opera Company of Middlebury Young Artist Program, providing professional development for emerging artists. A published instructor with The Great Courses, she developed a 24-lesson course, How to Sing and her leadership extends to the International Performing Arts Institute in Germany.
Pierce earned her undergraduate degree in vocal performance and music education from Ithaca, while she earned a master’s degree in music-opera performance from the University of North Carolina.
David Fitz, president of Keynote Chorus, said that in tribute to founder David Dunbar and Pierce’s family chorus history in Olean, the group will perform Dunbar’s original arrangement, “My Lord, What A Mornin’.”
Heaney, from Filmore, is the 2024-25 recipient of the Dunbar Scholarship from Keynote Chorus. She is a double major in woodwind instrumental education and vocal music performance at Fredonia.
“It is a pleasure to sing with Keynote Chorus,” she says. “The Dunbar Scholarship is helping me to pursue my musical dreams.”
The title of the concert is “TOP 10+”. The chorus will perform some of its favorite pieces since its founding. The choices reflect the tastes of newer and older members and feature works such as “Puttin on the Ritz,” “I Believe,” “A Beautiful City,” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”
Keynote Chorus is a community chorus of volunteer singers from the greater Olean-Bradford region that has been in existence for 38 years. Under the musical guidance of Shelley Wright and Laurie Sledge, pianist, the members rehearse and perform for 13 weeks in the fall and spring.
Besides the annual concerts in December and June, the choir performs for various organizations in the region. The chorus is always seeking new members.
Concerts are made possible by the fundraising efforts of members, donations and by funds from the Statewide Community Regent Program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes.
