Informal choral group now DIFI singers

By Pamela Dillon, Contributing Writer Updated 8:41 PM Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Dayton International Festival Inc. was the brainchild of the late Gabriel Rus, a University of Dayton Marianist, and Aldona Ryan of Lithuania.

With help from the director of the Dayton Council on World Affairs, Maxine Stucke, an annual ethnic celebration was born. A World A’Fair has been part of the city’s heritage since 1978. Now DIFI has a new subset to celebrate different cultures around the globe.

It is known as the Dayton International Festival Singers.

“We started about a year ago. We were just a small group of people that wanted to sing together. We didn’t have any plans for a formal choir; we just sang through the Christmas season,” said Ernie Flamm, who co-directs the choir along with Grytha Drerup.

“When the first of the year hit, we had an opportunity to affiliate with Dayton International Festival Inc. That organization includes approximately 35 ethnic associations in our town.”

After formally affiliating with DIFI, the group expanded its music and public appearances. Last January, the choir started preparing to sing at A World A’Fair. They ended up with two performances, one of which took place during a wedding celebration. In addition, through Rus’ involvement in starting DIFI, the group is part of the continuing education program at UD.

“We are delighted to be part of these two wonderful community organizations,” Flamm said. “New members are always welcome. There is no audition, but some music reading skills would be preferable.”

The DIFS rehearses each Thursday at 7 p.m., in room 1111 at Stivers School for the Arts, 1313 E. Fifth St. The choir is dedicated to singing enjoyable music from a wide variety of cultures around the world.

Contact contributing writer Pamela Dillon at pamdillon@woh.rr.com.