Opera singer Marianne Cornetti, a Winfield native, returns to Saxonburg for benefit performance

Editor’s note: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Saxonburg Memorial Presbyterian Church announced that this concert has been rescheduled to May 17.

Renowned mezzo-soprano and Pittsburgh Festival Opera artistic director Marianne Cornetti will bring her talents to Saxonburg to help a local Christian charity.

Cornetti is a native of nearby Winfield.

The Lighthouse Foundation is an outreach organization that serves impoverished individuals and families in Butler and northern Allegheny counties.

It provides a food pantry, housing, counseling, emergency financial aid, auto assistance and training in life and career skills.

Cornetti plans to shine a light on Saxonburg Memorial Presbyterian Church when she presents “Then Sings My Soul,” a celebration of a 30-year operatic career and a lifetime of music.

The performance is scheduled for Sunday at 100 W. Main St.

It’s a free concert that’s open to the public. A $20 donation is requested.

“I weave my story through my lifetime throughout this concert, and it has been a major success,” Cornetti said. “It has been an extremely heartwarming experience. People are coming out, 400 and 500 people all the time. It really does fill my heart.”

The show is part of a houses of worship tour to help give back to communities: A church picks the charity. Cornetti performs for free, and donations are made toward the selected nonprofit.

“I’ve been blessed with a gift from God, and I truly believe that this is what I’m supposed to be doing,” Cornetti said.

Cornetti, 57, of Rosslyn Farms said she continues to receive another blessing from God: recovery from several major knee surgeries that took place last year.

She had torn meniscus and cartilage damage in both knees and was researching various treatments.

Cornetti said she sought out a chiropractor who used umbilical cord stem cells. Such treatments are not yet FDA approved, so many medical doctors do not perform the procedures.

The stem cell treatment was administered May 19, and within five days she could not walk.

She said the cells in her right knee were contaminated, ate through her bones and disfigured the knee. She became septic and nearly died.

Cornetti underwent more surgeries at UPMC Shadyside to clean out the infection, and was hospitalized for about six weeks.

That gave her time to reflect on life.

“That hospital saved me,” she said. “I can’t tell you how excruciating the pain was. It was terrible. Some of those lonely, dark nights in the hospital and you’re wondering, ‘Will I ever really get to my 30th anniversary date.’ I started to wonder, ‘How did I get to sing all over the world?

“It was the churches and the communities that really gave me my start. I thought to myself, ‘If I get better, I want to give back to these communities and churches.’ I had some close calls, but I did get better. … In the end, I am very happy to be here. It’s better looking down at the grass than up.”

Cornetti praised the Shadyside medical staff for its professionalism and support. She now gets by with a cane and a bit of a limp, but still takes the stage with the same passion as a new performer.

One of her recovery milestones took place in October when she performed in Beijing, China. She reprised her role as Azucena in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.”

“I’ve done this role 150 times around the world,” Cornetti said. “What was automatic was no longer automatic, because I could only move so far. You have to calculate your moves because you just can’t walk on stage anymore. It really worked and (the character) was very vulnerable.”

Cornetti also decided to go on her charitable houses of worship tour after linking up with an old friend, Eileen Moseley of Buffalo Township, during her knee recovery process.

The opera singer was planning a private performance for her when Moseley had other ideas.

Her message was, “If you come and sing for me, it’s touching one person. But if you go out and touch these churches and the communities, you’re touching the masses,” Cornetti said.

In November, she performed at Brackenridge’s Trinity United Methodist Church to help raise funds for the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches food bank. More than 300 people attended and thousands of dollars were raised. She was also named Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s artistic director that month.

Cornetti grew up in the Cabot neighborhood of Winfield, Butler County and began singing in churches at age 12. She made her professional debut with the Pittsburgh Opera in Richard Strauss’ “Elektra” on Nov. 4, 1989.

She’s performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in central London to name a few venues. However, these church shows have proven to be some of her more emotional works yet.

“This concert is very, very special to me,” Cornetti said. “It’s still the love of music. It’s something that I truly believe in, and it’s still communicating at a singer. It’s coming from my heart.

”I get to see people that I haven’t seen in years. After every concert, it’s two hours standing in line greeting people. It’s an all-around great experience, and I’m just having a wonderful time doing it.”

She’ll be accompanied in Saxonburg by Bryan Sable on the piano.

“He is just fantastic on the piano,” Cornetti said. “We have put together arrangements, typical hymns or things most people know. It’s all religious music that we have together.”

Cornetti also is scheduled to perform at 4 p.m. March 22 at Sewickley Presbyterian Church, 414 Grant St.

Proceeds of that show benefit the Sewickley Community Center.

More information about the artist and clips of her performances, like this one, can be found on her website, mariannecornetti.com.