March 23: A playlist curated by Johnstown Symphony Chorus Director Jeff Webb

This is the first piece of music I can remember in life. My mother had it on a record that I used to listen to over and over while skipping around our dining room table. My mom tells me that by the time I was two years old, I could pluck out the opening melody of the piece on my toy piano.

This was the first major work I ever learned as a singer when I was 11 years old and a member of the Pittsburgh Boychoir. It also contains "Inflammatus et accensus" which is the first piece I ever conducted in public. I was 14 and had written a letter to the director of the boychoir telling him of my interest in conducting. He let me conduct the piece on our concert tour that spring and I have never looked back.

Believe it or not, I went through 4 years of high school never singing in a single choral concert. There were reasons for this too complicated to get into here, but once I got to college and joined the choir there, this was the first piece that we started to work on that refueled my love for choral music. I had not sung in a choir since I graduated from the boychoir at age 14 and learning this piece at Allegheny College made me realize not just how much I missed choral music in general, but also how much I missed singing in a choir.

This song brings me close to tears every time I hear it. Though she didn't write the song, the version Roberta Flack sings is just devastatingly beautiful. Listen to the lyrics very carefully. The love composer Ewan MacColl expresses in these lyrics is so profound and emotional. Roberta Flack's interpretation just brings out the emotion of the lyrics even more. The arrangement is very sparse and not over done. Just listen to the singing and how her voice is caressed by the strings.

The Abbey Road medley is brilliant in my opinion. That was the word I used to describe it the first time I heard it when I was in college and it is still the word I use when I am teaching my Beatles course. The combining of symphonic form with pop/rock music was a concept Paul McCartney and producer George Martin wanted to execute here. The recap of the "You Never Give Me Your Money" theme during "Carry That Weight" was such a pleasant surprise the first time I heard the song. It was the perfect "coming full circle" moment.  

That's all for now,

Jeff Webb

Want to learn more about the symphonic chorus of the JSO? Contact Jeff Webb here!

Pictured: The Johnstown Symphony Chorus, Jeffrey L. Webb, Director

Jeffrey L. Webb is thrilled to be in his second year as the conductor of the Johnstown Symphony Chorus in the 2019-2020 season. Since 2001, Mr. Webb has been Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Allegheny College and a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Binghamton University.

At the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Mr. Webb has taught courses in Music Theory, Western Art Music, Critical Listening, Jazz and Popular Music, and conducts the Pitt-Johnstown Choirs. In addition to his work at Pitt-Johnstown, Mr. Webb was the Artistic Director of the Blair Concert Chorale (Altoona, PA), from 2004-2013. Under his baton, the Blair Concert Chorale performed such works as Faure’s Requiem , Vivaldi’s Gloria , Schubert’s Mass in G and the Broadway musicals Sweeney Todd and Chess . Mr. Webb is active as a composer, guest conductor and vocal clinician. He has guest conducted festival choirs in Pennsylvania, New York and New Zealand and presented his research on vocal health for both the Pennsylvania and Virginia Music Educators Associations. Mr. Webb’s research has led to publications in both The Choral Journal and Music Educators Journal .  

Mr. Webb is also active as a vocal soloist, accompanist and musical director. His recent vocal performances include Camile Saint Saens’ Christmas Oratorio and Beadle Bamford in the musical Sweeney Todd . Mr. Webb has served as musical director and accompanist for several musicals, recently including Ain’t Misbehavin , Godspell , Little Shop of Horrors and My Way: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra .   

Special thanks to March partial concert sponsors Luther P. Miller, Inc.