performers on darkened stage from 2018 Production of Lucretia
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Alumni Spotlight: Sarah Peszka MSU ’20 and Alex Walton ’20

Join Philadelphia Singers and Perform with Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

Posted in: Cali Alumni Spotlight

The Cali School of Music takes pride in nurturing the musical, personal, and professional development of our students. We love to see what they’re up to!

Here’s a fun one, Sarah Peszka and her fiancée Alex Walton are 2020 alumnus of the Cali School. Sarah says “We met in University Singers and are getting married this June, so we owe so much to the Cali School in both our personal and professional lives.”

They are BOTH proud members of the Philadephia Singers and will be performing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis this weekend with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra. “Throughout the rehearsal process, we kept saying to each other that we never could have survived a piece this challenging if it weren’t for our time studying with Heather Buchanan!”

Dr. Heather J. Buchanan remembers “From her first rehearsals in Chorale and University Singers, Sarah Peszka stood out. The combination of her gorgeous soprano voice (which grew tremendously via her studio lessons with Prof. Karen Driscoll), contagious enthusiasm, and positive “can do” attitude made her an asset to our Choral Program. Because of her comprehensive involvement in our program, Sarah gained experience in diverse repertoire including traditional masterworks through to world musics and 21st century composers. She sang in several New Jersey Symphony Orchestra programs with both Chorale and University Singers and joined Vocal Accord in Europe for summer festival tours. My fondest memories of Sarah is her solos for Considering Matthew Shepard in December 2019.

The Philadelphia Singers are fortunate to have both Sarah and her fiancée Alex Walton on their roster now. It is no surprise to me they successfully auditioned. I am very proud that they are among the MSU alumni continuing their life-long choral singing journey performing music with leading arts organizations and world renowned conductors.”

Congratulations to you both. We’ll be keeping an eye on your careers!

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