PHILADELPHIA >> Keep a close eye on the faces performing before the pope this weekend. Chances are you may see someone you know.
Two Montgomery County singers say they are thrilled to be given the chance to sing before Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia Saturday and Sunday. Mike Klenk, a music teacher at Bridle Path Elementary School, in Lansdale, and Joe Ciresi, a Spring-Ford Area School Board member, will be among the many voices lending their talents on stage during the papal visit.
“I’m just thrilled,” Klenk said. “It’s really exciting preparing for the Holy Father.”
“It’s a wonderful opportunity,” Ciresi said. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to sing with a choir of this magnitude with this group before the pope.”
Klenk will sing with the 300 person papal choir, as well as the 90 person Archdiocesan Choir, during the papal mass at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Saturday and on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Sunday. Ciresi will sing with the 55 person Heritage Chorale behind soul artist, Aretha Franklin, classical artist, Andrea Bocelli, and Latin artist, Juanes, during the Festival of Families concert Saturday night. Both men said their respective choirs will be accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
For Klenk, preparing for this weekend has been a journey months in the making.
Each church in the Archdiocese was allowed to send four singers to audition for the papal choir. Klenk auditioned this July, quickly learning he’d been picked and selected for the smaller Archdiocesan choir as well. The two groups have been rehearsing three hours a week, once a week since August in preparation. In the week leading up to Pope Francis’ visit, Klenk said they’ve rehearsed every day.
“It’s really exciting,” he said. “The music selection is amazing and having the Philadelphia Orchestra playing is an incredible aspect.”
For Ciresi, who sang at the Vatican in 2008 and was hand-picked for the Heritage Chorale, having a papal audience is a privilege.
“I’m honored and excited for tomorrow,” he said Friday. “I know it will be something I’ll never forget.”
Heritage Chorale conductor Donald Dumpson said he was honored to be handed the baton in order to prepare the chorale for Saturday.
“The biggest going through my mind is the sheer honor to bring the community together through song,” he said, reflecting on the diverse group of performers from around the tri-state area. “Personally, it just means so much to me.”
“This is an opportunity of a lifetime,” he continued. “The choir is incredibly excited and the choir is incredibly honored.”
Two sisters from Phoenixville and Pottstown will also sing in the papal choir. Lynn Pupek, a first soprano, and Michele Sinnott, a second soprano, told WRTI they can’t wait to sing for the pope.
“It was an exciting experience, especially for the both of us to make it as sisters. It’s something we’ll never forget,” Pupek said in the interview.
“Music touches you in a place that words can’t,” Sinnott added.
