Cantate Usquam Pilgrim Singers, a traveling choir based in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, sings with the congregation at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Blairsville, Pennsylvania. Photo: Courtesy of Michael Salmon
[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Pittsburgh, though based in a large city, has many small churches in rural areas of southwestern Pennsylvania with no music program. To help bring music to those congregations, a group of volunteer chorists, called the Cantate Usquam Pilgrim Singers, will travel to sing during weekend worship services for free.
“I think music is an incredibly important part of worship because it can help support the lessons of the week. …It adds a different kind of vibrancy to the text,” Michael Salmon, Cantate Usquam’s founder, told Episcopal News Service. “There’s an extraordinary feeling when it comes to singing together.”
Salmon, a parishioner and singer at Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, said he was inspired to form a traveling church choir after learning about a similar ministry in England. Cantate Usquam, meaning “singing anywhere” in Latin, was founded in December 2024 and has already served multiple churches throughout the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The choir also has served nearby Presbyterian and Lutheran churches.
About 7-10 chorists sing in Cantate Usquam during weekend services, but the choir, which has 16 members, is recruiting additional volunteers.
“We need more basses!” Penny Anderson, a singer in the choir, told ENS.
Cantate Usquam will perform any time of the year except for Holy Week, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas services.
While Salmon leads rehearsals and repertoire planning, Anderson organizes dates and logistics with the churches that request Cantate Usquam’s appearances.
“Whether it’s an urban church or a rural church, it doesn’t make a difference. All churches should have music opportunities,” Anderson said.
The repertoire varies depending on the week’s Scripture readings, instrument availability, church size and requests from the recipient congregations. Requests range from traditional hymns and classical music to gospel music. Sometimes the choir will sing a capella, and other times the choir will sing with accompaniment if a piano, organ or keyboard are available. Parishioners are always welcome to sing with the choir or play an instrument.
The choir sometimes travels as far as an hour’s drive from Pittsburgh to perform at rural-area churches. Recently, Cantate Usquam traveled 50 miles southeast to Scottdale to sing with the congregation at St. Bartholomew Trinity Episcopal Church during a Saturday evening worship service for the second time. The church has a part-time organist who isn’t available to perform every weekend.
The Rev. Cynthia “Cindy” Gainer, deacon-in-charge at St. Bartholomew Trinity, told ENS that when the organist is unavailable, she plays recorded music from her phone but only for the processional and recessional hymns.
“Being that I’m clergy, I can’t do much more than that because I’m very busy during the service, and I can’t be going back and forth pressing buttons on my phone. It interrupts the flow of the service,” she told ENS.
Gainer said she requested a visit from Cantate Usquam after reading about the choir in the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s Grace Happens newsletter. Its presence, she said, is a “real treat” for St. Bartholomew Trinity’s small congregation.
“This choir has such a range of vocal talents. We appreciated that they worked with us; they’re not a performance choir,” Gainer said. “Cantate Usquam is a choir that uplifts the congregation and enhances the liturgy. …We wish they could come more often.”
Salmon said Cantate Usquam is booked for the rest of 2025 and is accepting requests for 2026.
“For a lot of people in the choir, traveling longish distances to these small parishes is a big chunk of their day,” Salmon said. “We’ll mingle with the congregations after the service before driving home. …But these congregations are so grateful, and we’re grateful to them, too.”
-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.