Orchestra and band had been her usual gig. That and a brief but abandoned dalliance with rock ‘n’ roll. But a chance to perform in Carnegie Hall convinced her to try singing.

Luna Bitzer — who plays flute, recorder and piano — had just moved to New York City and needed a musical outlet.

“A friend suggested the Collegiate Chorale,” she said. “And after a visit to Carnegie Hall to audition for their brilliant young conductor, I was hooked.”

Collegiate Chorale, now MasterVoices, was a symphonic choir, founded in 1941 by Robert Shaw, who was later to found the Robert Shaw Chorale.

To this day, she counts those Carnegie rehearsals and performances as among her most exhilarating experiences.

“It was always a thrill to be on that stage,” she said. “I had also performed there with the Syracuse University orchestra. All the repertoire was new to me, since I had never sung in a choir before.”

Corvallis-born

Bitzer was born in Corvallis and raised in Syracuse, growing up in a family that loved music. Her father was a botany professor and her mother an elementary teacher.

“We were all given music lessons as kids, part of a well-rounded education,” she said.

Today, Bitzer is a core singer with Southern Oregon Repertory Singers and serves as choir manager. She has been a member of the group since 1997.

“My parents were retiring here from Syracuse,” she said.

A visit to Ashland convinced Bitzer and her husband to move here themselves.

“My husband wanted a summer climate and we really liked it here. Once I found Rep Singers, the deal was sealed. That was in 1996.”

She loved the smaller ensemble size of Rep Singers, six on a part, and admired music director Paul French’s expertise as a musician and conductor.

She earned an AB from Syracuse University in music and a teaching certificate in instrumental music from San Francisco State, but music has never been her full-time career.

Music the side gig

“My teaching certificate has been in a drawer since I got it,” Bitzer said. “I waitressed while playing rock ‘n’ roll, and then worked a number of office jobs in New York City and Seattle. When we moved here, I worked at the high school as a special education aide for a number of years before retiring.”

She continues to play flute and recorder, and is drawn to baroque music and smaller ensembles.

“I love chamber music playing and the repertoire. The collaboration necessary for chamber playing is very satisfying,” she said.

She plays with a flute quartet, a woodwind quintet and several recorder groups. She also performs with the Rogue Valley Symphonic Band and the Ashland City Band.

One of her favorite instrumental performances was a recital she did years ago with Sherril Wood, on flutes and piano.

“It was a lot of fun. We accompanied each other, played flute duets, piano four hands, and even baroque flutes. We both played baroque flutes in the orchestra for the St. Matthew Passion with Rep Singers, another highlight.”

Sold the sax

She owns a piano, flute, baroque flute and a full family of recorders.

“I’ve sold my electric piano and sax,” she said, “and rarely play my baby grand anymore . . . (sigh).”

Bitzer sings alto with the Rep Singers. Altos have been known to laugh off teasing about their supportive role, often using self-deprecating humor. Such as, “You have lots of time to chat during soprano solos.” Or, “When altos miss a note, nobody gets hurt.”

Bitzer is no different. “Altos have more fun,” she laughed. “We get to sing all the juicy bits. We are usually singing harmony rather than melody. Anybody can sing melody. And as we age, voices drop, so sopranos graduate to the alto section, where we welcome them with open arms.”

She finds singing with Rep Singers most rewarding.

“Being part of a performing group with such a high level of musicianship is very fulfilling,” she said. “There is so much gorgeous new choral music out there.”

Her responsibilities as choir manager include maintaining singer rosters, providing program and payroll data to the executive director, and acting as liaison between singers and the music director, assisting maestro French as needed with production details.

Enlightening

She enjoys the variety of music that Rep Singers perform. A highlight for her was Bach’s Mass in B Minor. “Soprano Julianne Baird was magnificent,” she said.

She regards music as a powerful force that can be enlightening.

“Music teaches collaboration, communication, perseverance, patience, time management, creativity, being in the moment and experiencing emotions beyond language,” she said.

What moves her in the voices of other singers?

“Raw emotion,” she said. “It’s hard to hide when you’re a singer.”

You can experience some of that raw emotion yourself at Rep Singers’ season finale concerts, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 12, at the SOU Music Recital Hall in Ashland.

“Faces of Love,” the James M. Collier Festival of New Choral Music, will feature two commissioned world premieres for choir and orchestra — “Tapestries” by Alvin Trotman and “Faces of Love” by composer-in-residence Jodi French.

For more information or to purchase tickets, go to repsingers.org.