Philadelphia Singers' Leader Will Conduct Farewell Concert Despite Amtrak Injuries
By Kim Glovas
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The final, farewell concert of the Philadelphia Singers is tomorrow evening, as the group shuts down operations after more than 40 years of performing.
And now, that concert has taken on even more meaning after two members of the group survived Tuesday night's Amtrak derailment.
Conductor David Hayes says it's not unusual for him and tenor Michael Savino to take the train back to New York City after a rehearsal. That's what happened on Tuesday, and they made themselves comfortable aboard the café car.
Except, Hayes says, the train then began to bank on the Frankford curve. A lot.
"We sort of looked at each other and grabbed ahold of the table," Hayes told KYW Newsradio today. "Then the car rolled onto its side and started burrowing into the embankment. I was thrown up against a table on the other side. The other singer that was with me was thrown up against another table, so were kind of tossed around inside the car."
Until it came to rest.
Hayes says when they pulled themselves out of the train car and saw the wreckage, he realized it was nothing short of miraculous that they had survived. He says if they had decided to sit in a different car, they might not be alive today.
Despite his injuries, which he says are minor, Hayes says he will conduct the Philadelphia Singers' final concert, on Saturday, at the Church of the Holy Trinity, on Rittenhouse Square.
