70th Anniversary Hits A High Note For Montclair Chorus Group

MONTCLAIR, NJ — It was 1952, and Elizabeth was crowned Queen of England. Dwight Eisenhower was elected president of the United States. “The Today Show” had its inaugural broadcast. And that was also the year that the Oratorio Society of New Jersey (OSNJ) held its first concert.

Since then, the society has been providing a creative outlet for choral singers from North Jersey for seven decades. And the Montclair-based group continues to be a “timeless” way for people in Essex County to celebrate their love for singing, its members say.

The society will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a gala event at the Gilded Age Blanchard Estate in South Orange on Wednesday, Oct. 19. Learn more here.

The 2022-2023 season includes two concert performances and the annual “Messiah Sing,” as well as plans to reintroduce OSNJs “Summer Sing” tradition, reimagined as a “Spring Sing,” scheduled for May 2023. More information and recordings of performances can be heard on the group’s website.

“Given the challenges of the past two years, the Oratorio Society of New Jersey is thrilled to be going strong after 70 years and looking forward to celebrating that accomplishment throughout the upcoming season,” spokespeople recently said.

In the decades since its founding, the OSNJ has seen a bevy of highlights, including performing with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, staging the New Jersey premiere of Arthur Honnegger’s King David, and joining with other choirs to sing Johannes Brahms’s German Requiem in Carnegie Hall. Spokespeople said that the OSNJ is proud, too, that, during its 50th anniversary season in 2002, it performed the world premiere of Montclair composer George Walker’s “Cantata.”

Notably, the OSNJ hires a range of first-class soloists for its programs. Many have performance careers on an international level. The choir also chooses instrumentalists from the freelance musicians available in the New York metro area.

Under the leadership of current music director and conductor Sándor Szabó, the OSNJ has expanded its exploration of the choral repertoire, from Rennaissance composers like Palestrina to modern masters such as Bernstein and Jenkins.

The choir has also persevered during the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic, the group noted:

“In March 2020, the choir suspended rehearsals, but still maintained a presence in the community by sharing video performances of highlights of past performances in Fall 2020, followed by a virtual “Messiah Sing” in December. In the first half of 2021, the choir met regularly for virtual study sessions of the planned Fall repertoire. In November 2021, OSNJ returned to live performance, with concerts at Union Congregational Church in Montclair, as well as initiating a new relationship by performing at Grace Church in Newark, followed by a live “Messiah Sing” in December in Montclair.”

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