Performing on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City has always been considered a great honor.
Only the best of the best were given that chance. When singers, musicians and dancers were invited to Carnegie Hall, they knew that all their hard work had finally paid off and they had made it to The Big Time.
All of that is still true today.
This weekend, 12 members of the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir will travel to the Big Apple for a Holiday show which is part of Carnegie Hall’s Distinguished Concerts International Series.
They will perform as part of a large 275-voice choir made up of scores of other church choirs and singers from across the country.
According to Dr. Jonathan Griffith, Artistic Director and principal conductor for the Distinguished Concert Series, St. Andrews Choir was invited “because of the high level of musicianship of the singers and the exceptional quality of their audition”
The program is “The Music Of Joseph Martin” and features the World Premiere of the conductor’s newest large choral work, “Christmas Evergreen”. The concert will be presented on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 8:30 p.m. in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, under the baton of Maestro Joseph Martin accompanied by a professional NYC orchestra. For show and ticket information, click here.
The St. Andrews Choir will spend five days and four nights in NYC. They will attend about 10 hours of rehearsals for the show with plenty of time left for sight-seeing in the world’s most exciting city. There’s plenty of history and culture to explore in NYC.
The Choir members making the trip are:
- Choir Director Carole Haines
- Judy Borger
- Barbara Moyer
- Carolyn Wakefield
- Diane Pomeroy
- Robin Gries
- Terry Williams
- Bonnie Tenney
- Maggie Beatty
- Ben Donley
- James Hanna
- Lisa Meyer
Concert patrons Jim Williams and Jocelyn Mahone will also be making the trip.
Carole Haines has been the Choir Director at St. Andrews since 2010. She graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Music Education. A professional flute and piccolo player, Carole has performed with many orchestras and bands and has been part of other Joseph Martin choral workshops.
In a release announcing the performance, Haines said, “Our singers have been busy learning the music in bi-weekly and Saturday morning practice sessions at the church. The music is wonderful and our singers are thrilled to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall. We are most grateful for the many kind individuals who have given their support to help make this trip possible.”
St. Andrews Chancel Choir has about 20 regular members and leads the worship service singing the morning anthem each Sunday at the church. So if you can’t make it to New York this weekend, you can hear them perform at the church.
St. Andrews Presbyterian Church is located at 600 S. 12th Street in Lebanon. The regular Sunday morning worship service starts at 11 a.m.
