Singer Spotlight: Leta Jo Maue

What is/was your occupation?

With a passion for young people, I have served in public education for 34 years in various teaching and supervisory positions. What began as a career in Elementary Education soon was followed by coursework leading to a degree in Special Education. I’ve been very fortunate to serve in varying roles from learning support to instructional support followed by Director of Special Education in the Shikellamy School District. Often I discovered that the students were my teacher and I became the student! That just goes to show that we’re never too old to learn. Now, retired from school teaching, I continue to work with persons with developmental disabilities as vice-president of The Arc Susquehanna Valley.

Amen…and thank you for serving our young people in that capacity for so long. We are sure you made a tremendous contribution with a potentially enormous impact.

Tell us, how many years have you been singing with the SVC?

I began singing with the SVC a few years after starting my career – when the chorale was young and so was I! A year later I moved from this area back to my home in York, PA to take a position teaching gifted children. While in York, I sang with the York Symphony Chorus and began studying singing with Margaret Carli. Lessons continued until I received another full time teaching position back in Sunbury. It wasn’t long before I returned to the SVC to sing among the sopranos. There were a few interruptions but I’ve sung with the chorale more than 25 years. There is nothing more satisfying than rehearsing with friends in order to perform a major choral work with the Youth Chorale and accompanied by a full orchestra, chamber ensemble, or brass quintet. Our director, Bill Payn, makes rehearsals enjoyable as well as productive and prepares us to perform challenging, quality works of music.

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

Some of my favorite concerts are ones that we have performed the past several years – the Candlelight Christmas Concerts. I look forward to performing in Zion Church, Sunbury, with the lit evergreen trees and garland draped around the balcony. The chorale selections chosen to fit between the lessons take us back to Christmases in the past and the marvelous Christmas story. And who is not moved by the handbells ringing in Christmas? Then the organ enters, and the entire church reverberates the Good News as everyone sings “Joy to the World”. It is a glorious finale!

Indeed. That is always an especially emotional and uplifting occasion, and usually not a dry eye in the house.

Do you have any other musical involvements?

In my spare time I enjoy playing the piano and listening to classical music and opera performances. My husband, Fred, and I enjoy dancing to a live band several times a year with the 131 Ballroom Dance Club from Lewisburg.

Love it! Those are the things that will keep us young, or at least young at heart.

Did you discover any new creative ways to entertain yourself while being quarantined?

Activities enabling me to better cope with the corona virus “stay at home” have been walks with my new dog, Monie (rhymes with baloney), Hallmark Movies, taking part in Mark Moore’s Core 52 Bible study, and making or listening to music. In the future, I would enjoy learning to play the used accordion in my closet, but the neighbors are voting against it.

HA! You never know, they might make a comeback. Sounds like a very well-rounded and healthy mix of…shall we say…self-care. I would like to think that good things will come out of this pandemic, and that it will take us all back to basics to find and appreciate the simple things in life that bring us joy. Music clearly does that for you, Leta Jo, and we are so glad you continue to share it with others. Thank you.