Beth Sigafoes remembers when her son Zachary was little he loved to sing in the choir at church.
Zachary Sigafoes’ affinity for singing and music continued through his years at church and in the Port Allegany School District and continued after he enrolled at Mansfield University in Wellsboro.
The 19-year-old Roulette resident’s talent hasn’t gone unnoticed at his university where he has been selected to compete with the Mansfield University Concert Choir at the 2014 World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia. The event, which is the largest international choral competition in the world, will be conducted July 9-19. The competition, dubbed “the Olympics for Choirs,” draws thousands of singers in 491 choirs from 59 countries around the world.
Terry Day, spokesperson for Mansfield University, said the choir will sing four selections each in the mixed youth choir, sacred music with accompaniment and spiritual categories.
Day said the Mansfield entourage of 55 students and eight adult travelers will depart from campus Monday. They plan to visit and perform in Lubeck and Berlin, Germany, Warsaw, Poland and Vilnius, Lithuania, before arriving in Riga.
He said the concert choir is “no stranger to the World Choir Games” as they had traveled to Graz, Austria, in 2008 and won the championship in the gospel and spiritual category. During the competition, they also placed second among 36 choirs in the mixed youth choir category. The choir also won three gold medals during the 2012 competition in Cincinnati, Ohio. To date, they have performed in 13 countries during their six European tours and will add three more countries on this, their seventh tour, Day said.
“It is a very prestigious group to be a part of as they’ve done well in these international competitions” as well as at national venues that have included Carnegie Hall, Day said. “This is one of our strongest programs at Mansfield,” he noted.
Beth Sigafoes said it is for that reason that her son wanted to attend Mansfield University. She said it was no surprise to her and her husband that their son would pursue music as a career as he loved singing from his earliest days.
“He started singing as a little boy in church,” she recalled. His love for music grew while attending Port Allegany schools as the campuses have strong programs under the guidance of Ken and Annamaria Myers, high school and elementary music teachers, respectively.
Majoring in music education, Zachary Sigafoes has immersed himself in all aspects of the field, his mother continued. Entering his junior year this fall, he has been in multiple productions that have included community theater in Wellsboro and the university’s chamber choir. He also will be the tenor lead in a fall opera production in that community. In addition to singing, Zachary Sigafoes also plays euphonium, keyboard and guitar.
Beth Sigafoes, who works at the Department of Public Welfare in Coudersport, said she and her husband Donald, a teacher with the Seneca Highland Career Technical Center, have conducted fundraisers to help finance their son’s trip. His visit to Europe, which will include tours of churches and opera houses in four countries, is his first trip abroad.
“Each student had to raise $2,500 and have their own spending money,” Beth Sigafoes explained. “We sold homemade pasta and had yard sales, and some of our family members donated money. It was a whole family effort to send him there.”
As they and other families of the choral members are unable to travel with the students to Europe, the students provided home concerts at Mansfield University to give them a preview of their performances.
“It would have been nice to go with him though,” Donald Sigafoes said.
Day said the group will depart from the Butler Center parking lot on the university campus at 9:30 a.m. Monday and the public is invited to see them off.
The community can also keep track of the Concert Choir by joining their Facebook page at facebook.com/groups/267068086783122/
For more information on the World Choir Games, visit interkultur.com/world-choir-games online.
