NPM Pittsburgh Chapter Officer Personnel

Rev. James J. Chepponis
Director, Office for Music Ministry
Diocese of Pittsburgh, Music Office
2900 Noblestown Road, Pittsburgh, PA. 15205.
Phone: 412-456-3042
NPMPGH@aol.com

Fr. Jim Chepponis is a priest of the Pittsburgh Diocese ordained in 1985. He received his B.A. in music with a major in organ and a minor in voice. Fr. Jim received an M.Div. and M.A. in systematic theology from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, MD. Since 1996, Fr. Jim has served the Pittsburgh Diocese as Director of the Office for Music Ministry, and his work includes providing music for all major Diocesan liturgies, directing the Diocesan Choir, and serving as a music resource for parishes throughout the Pittsburgh Diocese. In July of 2003, Fr. Chepponis was also appointed as pastor of St. John Capistran parish in the Upper St. Clair section of Pittsburgh. Fr. Jim has led workshops on pastoral music throughout the country, and was a participant in the creation of the document The Milwaukee Symposia for Church Composers: A Ten-Year Report. His published articles on liturgy and music have appeared in Pastoral Music, The Hymn, and GIA Quarterly. Fr. Jim has over 75 published compositions, many of which are featured on this three GIA recordings Cry Out With Joy, Songs of Jubilation, and Jubilation Mass: Ritual Music for the Liturgy.

 

Herbert A. Dillahunt
NPM Pittsburgh Chapter Director
Good Shepherd Parish
1024 Maple Way
Braddock,  PA  15104
412-271-1326, 412-271-1222, fax
412-897-2373, cell
nasard@aol.com

 

 

 

Director of Music Ministries and Organist at Good Shepherd Parish, Braddock for the past 26 years, previously 11 years at Presentation Church (now St. Blaise) in Midland PA.  Member of NPM since 1979, served as various chapter officers since that time.  Director of the touring Good Shepherd Handbells.  Graduate of Duquesne University with a major in organ and a minor in piano with graduate work in conducting at Westminster Choir College, Duquesne University and University of Michigan. Herb is a member of the diocesan liturgical commission and will chair the NPM National Convention in Pittsburgh in 2012.

 

Amanda Plazek
Assistant Director for Recruitment
St. Mary of the Mount
403 Grandview Avenue
Pittsburgh  PA  15211
412-381-9921
aplazek@smomp.org

 

 

 

Amanda is currently the Organist and Director of Liturgical Music at Saint Mary of the Mount Catholic Church on Mount Washington.  Amanda Plazek received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance/Sacred Music from Duquesne University in May of 2011.  Amanda holds dual certification in Service Playing and the Colleague exam (CAGO) from NPM and the American Guild of Organists (AGO).  Amanda was the Dean of the Duquesne University AGO Chapter during the 2010-2011 academic year and is also currently on the executive board of the Pittsburgh chapter of the AGO as a member at large.  Amanda is taking a hiatus from academia this year and privately teaching piano and organ while continuing to work at Saint Mary of the Mount.

 

Carol Accetta
Animator for Koinonia
412-221-3181
accettac@comcast.net

 

A graduate of Duquesne School of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree with a major in organ, Carol has worked in the Diocese since her high school days as the accompanist for the Men's choir in her parish church. She served for many years with the Diocesan Worship Commission and was part of the team of priests and musicians who were instrumental in carrying out the Vatican II changes in the liturgy with demonstration masses and workshops. Carol has served as Music Minister in many of the parishes in the South Hills area, most recently St. Thomas More in Bethel Park for 20 years. Carol is currently taking a hiatus and is subbing wherever she is needed.

 

Julianna D. Haag
Secretary Treasurer
St. Catherine of Siena, Beechview
854 Mac Arthur Drive
Pittsburgh  PA  15228
412-531-0559
jmdhaag@hotmail.com

 

 

 

Julianna is currently the Music Minister at St. Catherine of Siena, Beechview.  From 1990-2004 she did substitute work in the South and West areas of Pittsburgh while raising her family. Julianna has twelve years of private study in organ from Gladys Klaber. She was a member of the AGO from 1982-2003 and served on the Executive Board from 1997-2000. Julianna has a BS-Accounting from Duquesne University and worked in International Banking from 1977-1988 as a Foreign Exchange Trader for PNC Bank. Past volunteer work includes Boy/Girl Scouts, and St. Bernard PTG. Currently volunteers as a docent of the Neville House Associates at Woodville Plantation. She is a past president, newsletter editor, membership chair, and junior docent coordinator.

 

Doris Anne Mercer
Diocesan Music Office Secretary
412-456-3042
Doris is a member of the choir and a cantor at St. John Capistran in Upper St. Clair, and has been a member of the Diocesan Choir for thirteen years, and also have performed as a member of the Diocesan Schola. She was selected for the first Honors Choir that performed at the NPM convention under the direction of Richard Proulx. Doris is married, and has two children, EJ amd Michael. Michael is autistic, and with the help of Grace Harding, who recently retired from the Diocese as the Director of the Department of Persons with Disabilities, and other mothers, formed GLEA, God's Love Embraces Autism. GLEA was developed to aid parents with autistic children to educate their children in the Catholic faith, and integrate their children into the entire parish experience.