Join us for ARCA’s 20th Anniversary Birthday Party!
Join the fun and celebrate ARCA’s 20th Anniversary at the Gala “Birthday” Pops Concert on Sunday, October 12 at 2 PM in Lincoln Hall – performed by mezzo-soprano Katherine (Kathy) Soroka who sang ARCA’s first concert, Shall We Gather by the River, in Lincoln Hall in 2006. She is joined by virtuoso pianist and ARCA favorite Nathan Carterette, distinguished violinist Maureen Conlon Gutiérrez and acclaimed tenor Robert Frankenberry in his return to Lincoln Hall.
Celebrated for their individual performances on concert and operatic stages internationally and nationally, Kathy, Nathan and Robert also will bring to ARCA’s Anniversary concert audience their joy of making music together in ensembles in the region, including Pittsburgh and Erie.
Honoring the history and artistry of the musicians and entertainers who have graced Lincoln Hall’s stage since its founding, the Pops program will include an eclectic mix of musical genres that audiences have enjoyed for 20 years – from virtuosic classical piano, violin solos and vocal chamber music – and vocal music from spirituals and art song to opera and musical theatre.
This concert also commemorates the visionaries who founded ARCA and the contributions of audience members, donors and volunteers whose enthusiasm, generosity and support have made this rural arts initiative a success. Twenty years later, ARCA is the premiere fine arts center in northwestern Pennsylvania, having touched the lives of thousands of audience members from a 7-county region with more than 400 concerts and 90 visiting artist exhibits at the Red Brick Gallery – and reached thousands of students in the A-C Valley Schools through educational residencies.
Enjoy a champagne toast at the intermission following a tribute to ARCA’s founders, funders and friends – and meet the artists at the wine and cheese reception at the Red Brick Gallery for the opening of the exhibit of Rafi and Klee – INTERWOVEN: The Art of Growth and Connection – Art, Jewelry and Sculpture – at 17 Main Street, Foxburg, PA 16036, following the concert
The Program
The Gala Concert repertoire will include:
- Piano solos including Liszt’s Rhapsodie Espanole and Bach-Busoni Fugue in D major, BWV 532
- Violin solos including Tchaikovsky’s Melodie Op 42, No 3; Piazzolla tangos, Oblivion and Libertango; Bernstein, I Feel Pretty.
- Vocal duets with violin including Dvorak “Songs My Mother Taught Me” and Gounod/Bach’s “Ave Maria”.
- Vocal solos by Medtner, Mahler, Ravel, Poulenc, Mata, Donaudy, and Quilter; spirituals “I Went Down to the River to Pray” and “Don’t You Weep When I am Gone” and the Puccini aria, “Nessun dorms”.
- Vocal duets including a Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim musical theatre mashup.
Nathan Carterette
ARCA welcomes back dazzling virtuoso and artistically poetic pianist Nathan Carterette who has been hailed as “very compelling in his power and presence” (International Composer), “wonderfully poetic,” (Westfalen Post) and “exuberant yet sensitive,” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
Nathan has distinguished himself in the concert world by performing a huge range of works from Elizabethan keyboard music to Bach’s Goldenberg Variations to tour de force Romantic block busters and music of living composers with whom he has collaborated.
His innovative, approachable ‘Poets of the Piano’ has inspired audiences to engage unfamiliar music with open ears, and familiar music with new appreciation.
Bringing to ARCA his “Poets of the Piano” series that he took on a 25-city American tour, Nathan Carterette has dazzled ARCA audiences in three solo piano concerts as well a collaborative performance with the Renaissance City Winds in ARCA’s 10th Anniversary concert. His was the first concert in 2020 after the COVID lockdown and his virtuosic and lyrically beautiful performance in 2022 was deeply appreciated by Arthur Steffee – who took great pleasure choosing pianists for ARCA’s series.
A favorite pianist of Dr. Arthur and Patricia Steffee, Nathan also performed for a ARCA Gold Donor dinner in RiverStone mansion.
In his most recent ARCA concert at the Lincoln Hall Steinway, “Music for the Ballet”, Nathan enthralled the audience with Mikhal Pletnev’s virtuosic arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and movements from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet.
Katherine Soroka
Known to audiences as an ARCA Board member and artistic program manager greeting the audience at the back of the hall, Katherine (Kathy) Soroka has had a double career both onstage and backstage in the performing arts in some of the country’s major performing arts organizations. In 2006, she sang the first concert for Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts, a classical cabaret Shall We Gather by the River.
Hailed for her “masterful” and “heartfelt vocalism” (Pittsburgh Post Gazette), she is known for her moving and vivid performances as a singer-actress that are brimming with life, pathos and humor, “finding both lush lines and dramatic intensity… commanding the stage”. (TribLive)
A winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Auditions, Kathy has appeared nationally and regionally with orchestras and also performed in recital, opera, musical theatre and cabaret and with contemporary music ensembles. Over the years, she has performed recitals for ARCA in Lincoln Hall, including a Beethoven concert and 15th anniversary concert and has performed with pianist David Allen Wehr and with the Alexander String Quartet in a special tribute performance in memory of ARCA’s founder and past Treasurer, Patricia Steffee.
Kathy has performed frequently over the years with pianist Nathan Carterette on series at Chatham University, Tuesday Musical Club and First Fridays in Pittsburgh and in Walker Recital Hall at Mercyhurst University. This is their first collaboration for ARCA in Lincoln Hall.
Kathy also has performed in a faculty recital at Mercyhurst University with tenor Robert Frankenberry – who both accompanied and sang operatic and musical theatre duets with her – as well as singing an aria himself with Kathy accompanying him.
For ARCA’s 15th Anniversary concert in Lincoln Hall in 2022 (delayed by COVID) Rob joined Kathy singing opera duets from Carmen and by Gershwin, Sondheim and this from Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti.
Rob and Kathy have appeared together frequently in Pittsburgh with Aria 412 and in Chatham University Opera’s concert performances of Elektra, and Un ballo in maschera.
Performing Dinah in Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti with Aria412 and regularly in their monthly themed concerts, during COVID Kathy produced numerous videos for their monthly streams including Maurice Ravel’s “Tout gai!” and “Nicolette” which she sang to her piano accompaniment and for which she designed and produced a cartoon. “Nicolette” will be on the October 12 concert.
Robert Frankenberry
Robert Frankenberry, a polymathic Renaissance music man, enjoys a multi-faceted relationship with music as a singer, pianist, conductor, orchestrator, producer, director, and composer.
On stage, he has performed a wide range of roles including Mozart (Amadeus), John Adams (1776), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos), King Kaspar (Amahl and the Night Visitors) the title roles in Don Carlo, The Tales of Hoffmann, Faust, and Willy Wonka.
As a composer, his opera The Blue Fairy with libretto by Kip Soteres, received its premiere in June of 2025 by Aria412.
A charter member of the New Mercury Collective, Rob originated the role of Robbie in Daron Hagen’s intimate musical, I Hear America Singing, (also serving as music director and pianist for the premiere production at Milwaukee’s renowned Skylight Music Theatre).
In the composer Daron Hagen’s continuing exploration of opera film, Rob appears as composer Robbie Doerfler singing and playing the piano in the filmed version of I Hear America Singing, which has won 15 awards at film festivals, including the Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival, Paris Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Awards, and more. Its streaming premiere is scheduled for September, 2025.
Continuing his association with Hagen and New Mercury in the realm of operafilm, he portrayed Orson Welles in the international award-winning Orson Rehearsed (2021) and Cory in 9/10: Love Before the Fall (2023).
Robert was significantly involved with Pittsburgh Festival Opera from 2000 – 2021 in various capacities, including Artistic Administrator, Music Director, and Director of the Hans and Leslie Fleischner Young Artist Program. He has conducted operas and adapted, arranged, and orchestrated two of Mr. Rogers’ one-act operas for live performance.
Robert can be heard singing and playing on the Naxos, Albany, New World Records, Roven Records, New Dynamic Records, and Innova labels, as well as various streaming platforms. In May, 2025 his recording of Eric Moe’s exploration of David del Tredici’s music in Monsters and Songs with Robert on voice and piano – and Eric Moe on piano – as Moe highlights the composer’s rousing fusion of musical brilliance, mischievous wit, and risquè storytelling.
He has performed for ARCA audiences in Lincoln Hall with Resonance Works, with Aria412 at the RiverStone mansion Donor Dinner, and in concert with Kathy Soroka in ARCA’s 15th Anniversary concert (delayed by COVID).
Maureen Conlon-Gutiérrez
Maureen Conlon Gutiérrez is making her ARCA debut in Lincoln Hall, long admired for her solo and chamber artistry and as a concertmaster of the Johnstown Symphony.
A native of Mexico, Miss Conlon has performed to acclaim across the globe as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player – participating on recordings as a classical artist, cross genre violinist, light rock improv and tango violinist.
Miss Conlon has appeared on television and radio internationally and is prize winner of many national and international competitions in both the United States and in Mexico.
An ardent chamber musician, Maureen co-founded the Trio Nova Mundi with whom she performed across the Americas showcasing the music and composers of the New World, in part by performing new or lesser known works alongside classics
In addition, she is member of the Argentine tango group AquiTango, and co-founder of string quartet Hot Metal Strings.
As an orchestral player she is concertmaster of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and is member of the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, Resonance Orchestra, and the Wheeling Symphony.
Red Brick Gallery Wine & Cheese Opening Reception
Raise a glass of champagne at intermission and, after the concert, enjoy a wine & appetizer reception at the Red Brick Gallery for the opening of the exhibit of the RBG exhibit of award winning Rafi & Klee, presenting INTERWOVEN: The Art of Growth and Connection – in art, jewelry and sculpture
Award-winning artists Rafi Perz and Klee Angelie present an exhibition that weaves together the strength of metal, the vibrancy of paint, and the presence of sculpture. Interwoven: The Art of Growth and Connection brings together the work of Rafi Perez and Klee Angelie in a celebration of resilience, creativity, and the ties that bind us as human beings.
Perez’s bold paintings and sculptures reflect the humor, chaos, and beauty of the human condition, embracing imperfection as part of the story. Angelie’s hammer-forged jewelry transforms raw metal and natural stones into flowing, organic forms that embody both strength and delicacy.
Together, their works create a space where art becomes more than an object—it becomes a reflection of growth, healing, and connection.
ARCA is grateful to Robert Jennings and ARCA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Bott for their very generous gift sponsoring the Pops concert celebrating the 20th Anniversary of ARCA’s first concert in 2006.
Tickets are Adults $25, Members $20, Students $5.
Call to Reserve at 724-659-3153 and pay by cash or check at the door – WALK-INS WELCOME.
Buy online here.
ARIVE EARLY & EXPERIENCE FOXBURG!
Enjoy a Golden Autumn Day on the beautiful Allegheny!
After the concert, continue ARCA’s Anniversary Celebration – and attend a champagne/wine and appetizer reception at the Red Brick Gallery and opening of the exhibit of Rafi & Klee – and enjoy shopping in the first floor Gift Shop, featuring the art of talented Cooperative Artists from the region – pottery, wearable art and purses, fine silver jewelry, wooden gifts and furniture, woven rugs, paintings, photographs and more!
As the river valley is in FULL AUTUMN COLOR – enjoy a walk along the Allegheny River trail or rent bicycles or enjoy a pontoon boat ride with Foxburg Tours in the morning or early afternoon!
Have lunch at the Allegheny Grille with seating overlooking the Allegheny River either on the deck or in their dining room, or for more casual fare, at Foxburg Pizza with soup, salads, sandwiches and pizza.
Save time to enjoy a wine tasting or bottle of wine on the renovated patio at Foxburg Wine Cellars
Or spend the night in Foxburg where every room has a river view in the lovely Foxburg Inn
About the Artists
Katherine “Kathy” Soroka
Familiar to ARCA audiences at the back of Lincoln Hall as a Board member, Kathy has had a double career both onstage and backstage in the performing arts.
A winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Auditions, Kathy is known for creating characters and song interpretations that are brimming with life, pathos and humor. For the Frick Museum “Music for Exhibitions concert” in Pittsburgh, she curated and performed a concert with Chatham Baroque in conjunction with “From Michelangelo to Annibale Carraci, A Century of Italian Drawings From the Prado” and performed with Aron Zelkowicz in the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival.
A proponent of contemporary music since early study with Jan DeGaetani, Kathy performed Betty Oliviero’s Juego de Siempre in New York City with Joel Sachs and the acclaimed new music ensemble, Continuum.
Performing the world premiere of David Stock’s Solomon Songs with pianist Nanette Kaplan Solomon for the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, she also has sung world premieres of David Stock’s Rumi Sings of Love at Duquesne University. Kathy has performed Judith Shatin’s Grave Music at Aspen Music Festival, as well as works by Chinery Ung and Noah Zahler, among others, at The Kitchen, The Julliard School, The Greenwich House, Columbia University and City University of New York.
Recent performances in Pittsburgh include David Stock’s Three Yiddish Songs with a quartet comprised of members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for the If Music Be The Food concert series – and with the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra.
Orchestra performances include singing Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and narrating concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Tiny Tots and Schooltime educational concerts under conductors Daniel Meyer and Lawrence Loh.
With the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Walter Morales, Kathy performed Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony and David Stock’s Three Yiddish Songs. She also sang Copland’s Old American Songs with the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra at the Carnegie Library Music Hall.
Recent operatic roles included Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera and Klytaemnestra in Elektra with Chatham Concert Opera – appearing in both with tenor Robert Frankenberry; Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti with Aria412; and Baba in The Medium at Mercyhurst University directed by Louisa Jonason.
Kathy has performed recitals in New York City venues, at Allegheny College with pianist Alec Chien, and in recitals collaborating with pianist Nathan Carterette on the Chatham University concert series, in Walker Recital Hall at Mercyhurst University and on the First Friday Series at The Church of the Redeemer and for Tuesday Musical Club.
No stranger to ARCA audiences, Kathy performed its inaugural classical concert in November 2006 and over the years sang in Mozart and Beethoven festival concerts, including a 2010 performance with the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Players and Natasha Snitkovsky, a 2013 solo recital “Songs of the Spirt” collaborating with members of the Pittsburgh Symphony and 2022 anniversary concert with Rob Frankenberry, Monique Mead and Walter Morales.
In recent years, Kathy made cameo appearances with pianist David Allen Wehr in a Schubert program and with the Alexander String Quartet in a tribute to the late Patricia Ann Steffee (long time ARCA Board member and Treasurer) in Richard Strauss’ Beim Schlafengehen from his Four Last Songs.
Musical theatre roles include Jenny in Company at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, the Witch in Into the Woods with the Barrow Civic Theatre, and Vera in Pal Joey at the Colonial Theatre. She has appeared in soap operas in daytime television, film and national television commercials. Kathy has performed cabaret shows and club acts in New York City at Panache and Don’t Tell Mama and classical cabaret concerts in Pittsburgh for the McKeesport Symphony. With Broadway actor/dancer and film choreographer/ producer John DeLuca, she performed Vera to his Joey in Pal Joey and was directed by him in Company at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
Appearing with Aria412 – Pittsburgh’s celebrated new cabaret opera and musical theatre company, she has performed in its many-themed programs at the Indigo Hotel, Chatham University and via online streamed concerts during COVID.
Kathy’s first career was “backstage” managing concerts and directing programs in some of the country’s major arts organizations.
A magna cum laude graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, Kathy served in the senior management of the New York Philharmonic; as Executive Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, WY and the Children’s Festival Chorus in Pittsburgh. Kathy served for eight years on the faculty and administration of Manhattan School of Music developing the nationally acclaimed Orchestral Performance Masters Degree Program and founding the innovative MUSIC IN ACTION: An Educational and Community ArtReach Program.
She has served as voice instructor and collaborative accompanist on the faculty of Mercyhurst University for five years and taught private voice in Pittsburgh and Foxburg and teaches cyber lessons to students across the country. Married to former Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Percussionist John Soroka, Kathy is a Board member of Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts in Foxburg, PA where they reside with their Hungarian Viszla, Plato.
Robert Frankenberry
Robert Frankenberry enjoys a multi-faceted relationship with music as a singer, pianist, conductor, orchestrator, director, and even occasionally as a composer.
On stage, Robert has performed a wide range of roles in opera and musical theatre. Among others in opera, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, the tile roles in Don Carlo,The Tales of Hoffmann, Faust and Alfred in La Traviata, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Rudolfo in La Boheme – pictured here as Don Jose in Carmen and the Duke in Rigoletto.
In musical theatre and American opera, Rob has appeared as Mozart in Amadeus, John Adams in 1776, Carl Magnus in A Little Night Music – and is pictured here as King Kaspar in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka.
At the piano, he regularly performs works by living composers with such groups as Pittsburgh’s IonSound and AnimeBOP: New York City’s The Phoenix Players and PRISM Players; and multi-city entelechron and Chrysalis Duo, pictured here with Chrysalis Duo flutist, Lindsay Goodman.
A charter member of the New Mercury Players, he originated the role of Robbie in Daron Hagen’s intimate musical, I Hear America Singing,(also serving as music director and pianist for the premiere production at Milwaukee’s renowned Skylight Music Theatre).
In the composer Daron Hagen’s continuing exploration of opera film, Rob appears as composer Robbie Doerfler singing and playing the piano in the filmed version of I Hear America Singing, which has won 15 awards at film festivals, including the Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival, Paris Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Awards, and more. Its streaming premiere is scheduled for September, 2025.
Continuing his association with Hagen and New Mercury in the realm of operafilm, he portrayed Orson Welles in the international award-winningOrson Rehearsed(2021) and pictured here as Cory in9/10: Love Before the Fall.
Robert was significantly involved with Pittsburgh Festival Opera from 2000 – 2021in various capacities, including Artistic Administrator, Music Director, and Director of the Hans and Leslie Fleischner Young Artist Program. He was involved in the creative development, orchestration, and musical direction of: The Tales of Hoffmann – Retold; Carmen (black box adaptation with his own folk band orchestration); Orpheus & Eurydice (both Gluck and Gordon); Shining Brow (Fallingwater version); reduced orchestration for Die Schweigsame Frau; Night Caps (also contributing as a composer); Night Caps International; Roger Zahab’s Happy Hour; Gilda Lyons’ A New Kind of Fallout; Dwayne Fulton’s A Gathering of Sons; the world-premiere live-performance adaptations of Mr. Rogers’ Operas; OWOW (Opera Without Walls); a film adaptation of Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon (including full programming of his own orchestration); and a complete on-location film of Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata.
Other recent projects in the digital media arena include Verdi by Vegetables for Resonance Works, which has been selected as a finalist in Opera America’s first-ever Digital Excellence awards, for which he provided all the piano tracking and also played the role of Verdi himself; and streaming performance for Music on the Edge of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici’s MONSTERS, Part II: Scylla and Charybdis for narrating pianist (written for and dedicated to Robert).
As music director for Pittsburgh Festival Opera, he collaborated on critically-praised new productions of a wide-range of works, including “reimaginings”of works by Offenbach (The Tales of Hoffmann – Retold) and Bizet (Carmen: the Gypsy) and site-specific productions of Orpheus & Eurydice by both Gluck and Ricky Ian Gordon (presented as Euridice and Orpheus), Daron Hagen’s Shining Brow-Fallingwater version, and Montemezzi’s L’Incantesimo (The Love Spell).
On the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Theatre Arts in 2015, he provided vocal direction and musical support for Pitt Stages’ productions of Nine, Peter & the Starcatcher, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; musical direction for Hair and Little Shop of Horrors; and direction for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Parade.
From 2018 to 2020, Robert served as visiting Music Director for the University of North Texas opera program, during which time he conducted productions of The Cunning Little Vixen, Don Giovanni, Regina, Gianni Schicchi, and Le Testament de la Tante Caroline. He also developed the script and created musical arrangements for If I Loved You, the first ever officially sanctioned original dramatic revue using songs of Rogers and Hammerstein.
Other recent projects include the role of Verdi in the remote project Verdi by Vegetables for Resonance Works | Pittsburgh; an 18 player orchestration of L’Enfant et les sortilèges for Carnegie Mellon Opera; streaming performance for Music on the Edge of David Del Tredici’s MONSTERS, Part II: Scylla and Charybdis for narrating pianist; and premieres of works by Aaron Wyanski and David Mahler with violinist Roger Zahab.
Robert can be heard singing and playing on the Naxos, Albany, New World Records, Roven Records, New Dynamic Records, and Innova labels, as well as various streaming platforms.
He is currently Associate Producer for Resonance Works, Voice Faculty at Point Park University, and Residency Faculty of the MFA in Music Composition program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Maureen Conlon Gutiérrez
A native of Mexico, Miss Conlon has performed to much acclaim across the globe as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. She has participated on half a dozen recordings as a classical artist, cross genre violinist, light rock improv and tango violinist. Miss Conlon has appeared on television and radio in several countries and is prize winner of many national and international competitions in both the United States and in Mexico.
She began her studies at an early age in her hometown of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato Mexico with Pedro Gasca, Gilberto Nunez, and David Mallory. Miss Conlon subsequently pursued further studies at Rice University, Penn State University and Carnegie Mellon University studying with Kenneth Goldsmith, James Lyon, and Andres Cardenes respectively.
An ardent chamber musician, she co-founded the Trio Nova Mundi with whom she performed across the Americas and appeared as soloist with various orchestras. In addition, she is member of the Argentine tango group AquiTango, and co-founder of string quartet Hot Metal Strings.
As an orchestral player she is concertmaster of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and is member of the Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, Resonance Orchestra, and the Wheeling Symphony. Miss Conlon has served as concertmaster of the Erie Chamber Orchestra from 2013-2018, as first violin and acting concertmaster of the Erie Philharmonic since 2008 and played with many orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony, National Philharmonic, Sphinx Virtuosi, Akron Symphony, Virginia Symphony, and Sphinx Symphony.
A passionate educator, she served as Adjunct Professor of Violin/Viola at Grove City College from 2012-2017 and as Violin Professor at Duquesne University’s City Music Center during the 2014-15 school year. Her students have won awards, auditions, and competitions locally and have gone on to pursue music professionally. Miss Conlon is frequently invited to teach masterclasses at various music festivals, schools, and institutions both in the U.S. and abroad.
She resides in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and daughter. When not playing the violin, she enjoys playing with her daughter, eating good food, and traveling.
The Founding of Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts
For hundreds of years the scenic allure of the Allegheny-Clarion River Valley has attracted settlers whose foresight established the business and social structure of the towns of Foxburg and Emlenton. Since the mid-19th century, arts and entertainment were brought to the valley to enrich the community – whether touring variety shows and musicians, silent movies or Emlenton Civic Club presentations.
When Dr. Arthur Steffee and his late wife Patricia began refurbishing the Fox estate and establishing Foxburg businesses in the late nineties and early millennium, they envisioned the arts as a hub of community and cultural life – drawing people to appreciate the refreshment of the arts in this stunningly picturesque valley. Hailing from Cleveland, they had fond memories of going to Blossom Music Center, the Cleveland Orchestra’s summer home, where the commingling of nature’s splendor and music’s soaring inspiration were an idyllic combination. They believed that the Allegheny River Valley deserved to have the same thing.
Inspired by their vision, seventeen years ago a stalwart group of local visionaries and culture lovers, educators and artists came together and began devoting their time, energy and resources to make their dream of creating a thriving arts center on the banks of the beautiful Allegheny River in Foxburg a reality.
The founding Board of Directors in 2005 established the non-profit organization, Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts, and began creating a center for arts and education and, since then, tens of thousands of people have enjoyed concerts, festivals, events and art gallery openings. ARCA has become the cultural jewel of the region.
Early ARCA Board members included Jae Ann Brown and Andor Paposi-Jobb, Lou and Rose Kalinowsky, Arch and Roberta Newton, Sue and Gerald Peairs, Tom and Margo Rudd, Arthur and Patricia Steffee, Bob and Karen Watson, Bud Irwin, Randy Silvis and Adam and Ann Weiss (Adam also serving as ARCA’s first Executive Director). They were joined soon thereafter by Mike and Sally Vereb, Tom and Nancy Hovis and Ron and Connie Hambrick Rennard.
ARCA’s current Board of Directors includes Marybeth Hinds Steffee, Nancy and Tom Hovis, Kurt and Joanne Crosbie, Kathy Soroka, Barbara Bott, Jack and Millie Armant, Pat and Bob Beran, Dennis Keyes, Doug Bell, Shannon Daniel, Jim and Lydia Crooks and Melissa Gottschalk. John Soroka is Executive Director.
From the beginning, the generosity and hard work of these Board members and volunteers joining their ranks, established the cornerstone of ARCA; they not only developed the cultural offerings but also refurbished the concert venue itself. The Fox family had built Lincoln Hall as a concert and community venue which opened in 1909 on the second floor of The Foxburg Free Library; however, it had long since been used as a medical center – broken up with small cubicles and a dropped ceiling.
According to founding Board member, Jae Brown, when Arthur Steffee first threw open the doors to show the Board the space, they were shocked and “gobsmacked… it was a debris-logged and entirely impassable ‘warren’ of partially deconstructed office space that precluded any passage past the foyer at the front door. It seemed impossible, looking back, but in a reasonable amount of time what had seemed an irretrievable space was redeemed by the vision and hard physical labor of many.”
During the reconstruction, an original hand painted oil painting of the river, originally used as a curtain, was found rolled up under the stage. Carefully conserved by Andor Jobb, who lightly cleansed the surface and reinforced the backing using rabbit glue, the painting now serves as Lincoln Hall’s stage backdrop. A gift of Dr. Arthur and Patricia Steffee, a beautiful seven-foot Steinway grand piano graces its stage. Noted for its intimacy and crystalline acoustics, the hall is a favorite of instrumentalists, such as the Alexander String Quartet and Members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
As Lincoln Hall was being renovated, considerable efforts ensued to move and install the 1929 Wurlitzer Theater Organ, which the Steffees had purchased from Paul McKissick. Over eleven years McKissick had lovingly restored this treasure, which originally had been installed in Cleveland’s Uptown Theater and played to accompany silent movies. Dubbed the Mighty McKissick Wurlitzer, the theatre organ is one of only 24 created in its style and size.
Beginning in September 2005, Paul McKissick began putting the pipes in specially built boxes to prepare for their move to Foxburg. Over the next months, Dr. Steffee moved the boxes of pipes using a horse trailer at times with the assistance of Board member Thomas Hovis, to ease loading and unloading. For the next year Paul personally, painstakingly installed the organ in its new home.
It was determined that ARCA would inaugurate its first performance season in the elegantly refurbished Lincoln Hall on October 5 and 6, 2006 with concerts on the Mighty McKissick Wurlitzer performed by Scott Foppiano.
The first non-organ concert, a classical cabaret entitled “Shall We Gather By the River”, was performed by Katherine Soroka and Friends on November 4, 2006 with Raymond Blackwell, piano, and PSO musicians, Jennifer Orchard, violin, and Mikhail Istomin, cello.
ARCA celebrates its twentieth anniversary performance season on October 12 with this “Birthday party” concert and pays tribute with a champagne/bubbly toast at intermission honoring its founding audiences, Board members and volunteers, whose vision and prodigious contributions over the years have created an arts organization that has become a cultural destination in its own right.
Twenty years later, ARCA is the premiere fine arts center in northwestern Pennsylvania, having touched the lives of thousands of audience members from a 7-county region with more than 400 concerts and 90 visiting artist exhibits at the Red Brick Gallery – and reached thousands of students in the A-C Valley Schools through educational residencies.
