Questions? Email Director Elizabeth Pile here!

COMMUNITY STRINGS PROGRAM

All adult string players are welcome!

We are always excited to add new members, so please spread the word to your colleagues!

You can fill out the form on this page, or email the information to Beth Pile to let us know you are coming for the Fall semester which begins September 28th! We will rehearse every Thursday night from 7:00-8:30 pm at St David’s Lutheran Church, Davidsville. The concert will be November 16th, 7:30 pm also at St. David’s.

Cost for the Fall semester is $50 and can be paid using the button below or by sending a check payable to the JSO to 416 Main Street, Suite 202, Johnstown 15901.

General Guidelines - Community Strings Program

Community Strings is a group of string players who expressed the desire to play in a string orchestral setting. As adult players and in some cases adult beginners, no opportunity existed locally for these players to play together, similar to various community bands and choruses for other instruments and voices. The Johnstown Symphony Orchestra (JSO) agreed to help create an outlet to try to meet these desires and the Community Strings was born in Spring of 2009. The players, from as far away as Berlin and Loretto across Somerset and Cambria counties, have been meeting simply to enjoy and enrich their personal accomplishments alongside players of similar yet varied skill levels.

The goal has been to play as a group, to learn as a group from the director and from each other, and to enrich each player's life with the communal benefits and pleasures of music. Some side benefits are that individual skill levels improve, players understand the dynamics of playing as an ensemble (rather than individuals) and they realize there are other like-minded and like-skilled players. Just as student musicians gain from enrichment programs outside their schools, so too can adult musicians gain from programs like the Community Strings.

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the Community Strings, please call the JSO office at 814-535-6738. Usually, the group meets weekly for 8 or 9 weeks.  Rehearsals are on Thursdays , 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at St. David's Lutheran Church in Davidsville. 

2023 Community Strings Application

Elizabeth Pile, Director

Elizabeth W. Pile is a native of Cincinnati OH, She holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Gettysburg College and a Master of Music Education from the Pennsylvania State University. She taught music for 7 years in Williamsport (PA) Area School, and has held positions as long-term substitute for three different public school districts in the Johnstown region, teaching elementary and/or junior high music. She taught strings at a local parochial elementary school for 23 years. Ms. Pile has been Director of Music at the Friedens Lutheran Church since moving to the area in 1989 where she is responsible for the children's, youth and adult choirs.

Ms. Pile has maintained a private studio of primarily violin/viola with occasional cello students since graduation from college, teaching mostly at home in addition to several local studios (no longer in business), and under the auspices of East Hills Recreation in Johnstown.

Ms. Pile studied violin as a high school student and as a member of the Cincinnati Youth Symphony where her teachers included Sigmund Effron, concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Ronald Konieczka, member of the CSO. She was a member of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra (JSO) for 27 years, and served as Manager of the JS Youth Orchestra for 18 years.  Beth recently retired as the Orchestra Manager and Librarian for the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra. She is excited to continue directing the Community Strings!