Singer Spotlight: Lowell Leitzel

What is/was your occupation?

I am a retired public school teacher, having taught modern languages (primarily French) for thirty-two years in grades 9 through 12 at Southern Garrett County High School in Oakland, Maryland. I retired in 2010 and moved back to my hometown of Selinsgrove in August of that year.

How many years have you been singing with SVC?

This is my tenth year of singing in the Tenor II section of the SVC.

What was your favorite concert or chorale season to date, and why?

I think that my favorite concert to date with the chorale was my first one in the fall of 2010, when we sang “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass” by Carol Burnett. The group “Monroe Crossing,” for whom this work was written for performance, accompanied us in those concerts. I had never sung anything like this work, and I was so glad to be able to sing it with this group. I have also enjoyed singing, with the SVC, pieces that I had sung before, either with choirs during my studies at Susquehanna University or with the Garrett Choral Society in Oakland, MD. Those pieces included “Carmina Burina” by Karl Orff, “Requiem” by Mozart and “The Testament of Freedom” by Randall Thompson. I sang baritone in previous performances of those works, so I had to learn the tenor part in order to sing them here.

Do you have any other musical involvements…if so, what?

As a member of Sharon Lutheran Church in Selinsgrove, I sing with the congregation’s “New Generation Choir.”

Any final things you’d like to share with our readers?

I do enjoy the opportunities to hear the SVYC sing, both with SVC and in their own concerts. I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity, over these past ten years, to sing with such talented and dedicated singers and under the masterful direction of Dr. William Payn.