The group from the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale were invited to sing for the noon Mass at the Basilica San Marco in Venice.

VALENCIA — Bruce Cooper of Valencia was immersed in music, religion and art every day during his recent tour of Italy.

Of, course, that wasn't hard to achieve because Cooper, 75, a retired Alcoa worker, was a member of a Pittsburgh Concert Chorale tour group performing concerts in churches in five Italian cities during its stay from July 5 through July 16.

Cooper, a tenor and a member of the chorale since 2005, traveled with a group of 37 other singers, as well as 20 spouses and companions. The group flew from Pittsburgh to Atlanta and then Rome.

According to the chorale itinerary, the group performed concerts at the Chiesa San Marcello al Corso in Rome, the Basilica Santa Trinita in Florence, Ravenna's Basilica di San Francisco, and the Basilica dei Frari in Venice.

“We sang mostly religious music and some secular music that we sang as well with Italian roots that was in English. The sacred stuff was in Latin or Italian,” he said.

Read more about the trip in Sunday's Butler Eagle.