Westchester Choral Society Celebrates Rich History

Westchester Choral Society Celebrates Rich History

In 1942, the movie Casablanca premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York City. A postage stamp cost three cents and gasoline was 19 cents per gallon. The New York Times ran its first crossword puzzle and the country fell in love with Archie Comics characters. The year 1942 was also the year that 15 singers came together to perform Bach’s B Minor Mass, forming what is known today as the Westchester Choral Society.

Chorus members have come and gone since that first gathering, but the collective experiences of the group’s participants create its rich history. Some current singers remember participating in – and winning! – a contest sponsored by Pepsi to write a new Diet Pepsi jingle in 1991. Others reminisce about performing at Carnegie Hall in 1979 or participating in an off-Broadway show in 2015. But the element that keeps veteran members coming back – and attracts new members – is the chance to create new memories with WCS in its current iteration (which includes a roster of nearly 60 singers, ranging in age from 30-75).

“I don’t have any one fond memory; it’s always just been a wonderful group of people,” said Dot Young, who joined WCS in 1988. “I never thought of going to another chorus. In those days, you came to a group, you liked the director, you learned and had fun. And it’s always been a lot of fun.”

Young concedes that times have changed since the late 1980s. People have varying job schedules, enjoy more hectic lifestyles and tend to relocate more often. Regardless of these developments, though, she said people “are going to do what they want” and they’ll join a chorus “based on what they want to sing and if the night is convenient.”

“But what I think is most important is that people stay where they feel comfortable,” Young said. “There’s a wonderful saying that I learned from former WCS singer Shirley Medwick that goes, ‘He who loves to sing will always find a song.’ That’s absolutely true, and that’s what we do here.”

And that’s just what WCS members have always done and will continue to do. This year, the group celebrates its 75th season, which makes it Westchester County’s oldest, continuously performing chorus. And its members show no signs of slowing down. Under the guidance of Music Director Frank Nemhauser, WCS singers have recently tackled pieces from the classical—Dvorak’s Mass in D, for example—to the contemporary: many members sang Jason Mraz’s I Won’t Give Up as part of a flash mob that doubled as a surprise marriage proposal in June 2016. To commemorate the group’s 75th anniversary, the chorus is preparing Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana to present to family, friends and the general public at the White Plains Presbyterian Church on Saturday, May 13, at 4 p.m. Tickets, general admission $25 and students $10, are available for purchase on the WCS website, www.westchesterchoralsociety.org.