FREEHOLD – Members of the First Presbyterian Church, West Main Street, are abuzz with excitement and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the New York Choral Society which will perform in concert at the church on Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
In addition to anticipating the arrival of the well-known 49-year-old choir, the congregation will see members of the church’s hand bell choir perform on stage with the choral society.
Tickets for the performance of the New York Choral Society are on sale. Reserved seating tickets are $40 and may be purchased by calling (732) 363-6429. The church seats 530 people. People can e-mail for tickets at FPCconcerts@ aol.com or visit the Internet Web site at www.FPCFreehold.org.
Under the direction of John Daly Goodwin, the New York Choral Society has performed in China, the Czech Republic, Israel, Austria, France, Italy and Greece, in addition to cities across the United States.
According to Robert M. DiSogra, chairman of the First Presbyterian Church Music Committee, members of the church are “counting down the days like little kids” until the singers arrive in Freehold.
“It all started with a phone call,” DiSogra said, explaining that he contacted John Lawson, the choral society’s executive musical director.
DiSogra said he told Lawson the church had previously hosted concerts by Chanticleer and the Vienna Boys Choir in a series of fundraising events that helped defray the cost of church renovations.
DiSogra said Lawson agreed to visit Freehold to evaluate the layout of the church and its acoustics. Shortly thereafter Lawson agreed to bring the choral society to the borough to perform a Christmas concert.
DiSogra said he asked Lawson what it would take to have the First Presbyterian Church’s hand bell choir accompany the group. He noted that the musical director of the hand bell choir, Hyosang Park, has an impressive musical background. He also told Lawson that members of the hand bell choir were professional and also had musical backgrounds.
Lawson agreed to have the hand bell choir perform with the choral society.
“Considering the reputation of the New York Choral Society and their preferences for accompanying musicians, we were flattered to learn that they wanted our hand bell choir to be a part of their program,” DiSogra said.
Calling the upcoming concert a “great event,” Park, a resident of East Windsor, said it will be a unique experience.
Park teaches music at St. Jerome Elementary School, West Long Branch, and is a piano accompanist for the Westminster Choir College, Princeton.
“People will enjoy a quality of music that they would normally hear in New York, right next door. For someone who loves music this is the concert to see,” Park said.
The New York Choral Society, founded in 1958, has become known for the quality of its performances and its diverse repertoire. The Dec. 15 concert in Freehold will come five days before the choral society performs at Carnegie Hall, New York City.
The performance at the First Presbyterian Church will feature the choral society’s 100 voices, a seven-piece brass section, guest soloists and a guest organist.
“The trumpets, the horns, the trombones, backed up by 100 singers and our bell choir? It’s going to be magnificent,” DiSogra said.
The 2007 performance is the third in a series of Christmas concerts that have been held at the 165-year-old church. The Vienna Boys Choir appeared in 2006 and the Grammy-award winning choral group Chanticleer performed in 2005.
The concert series was created as a way to help pay for church renovation expenses.
“The Dec. 15 program will include an international selection of Christmas music as well as contemporary songs in our sanctuary,” DiSogra said.
The New York Choral Society has appeared with numerous celebrities, including Andrea Bocelli in Madison Square Garden, New York, and Celine Dion at Radio City, New York. The group has been a featured guest on NCB-TV’s “Today” show. It has performed with countless orchestras, including the American Symphony Orchestra, the New York City Ballet and the New York Philharmonic, and performed at the 1998 Grammy awards.
Goodwin has been conducting the choral society for more than 20 seasons. He has led more than 90 concerts around New York City, including 31 in Carnegie Hall and six at Lincoln Center, and nine international concert tours.
DiSogra said the community response to the church’s concert series has been so positive that the music committee is considering scheduling a spring concert as well.
“We are all so excited about this,” DiSogra said. “This is the big leagues here in Freehold