Thirty members of the Morton Community Chorus from 13 central Illinois communities will experience the thrill of a lifetime Sunday.
They'll be on stage at the fabled Carnegie Hall in New York City, singing Handel's Messiah along with about 250 other chorus and choir members from around the world, accompanied by a full concert orchestra.
The Carnegie Hall show will take place exactly one week after the Morton Community Chorus' annual performance of Handel's Messiah in front of the usual packed sanctuary at Grace Church in Morton.
The chorus members' journey to Carnegie Hall started with an email received by director Phil Witzig in September 2022.
The email was from Distinguished Concerts International New York, inviting chorus members to perform in Distinguished Concerts' November 2023 presentation of Handel's Messiah at Carnegie Hall.
Distinguished Concerts is a "leading producer of ... world-class concert experiences," according to its website.
"They had done their research on us online, including reviewing videos of past shows, and issued an open invitation for us to come to New York City," Witzig said. "To be honest, because we were first contacted by email, I thought it was a hoax. But I did some research, and learned this was the real thing.
"Then I thought, can I get anyone to go? People would need to take off work, we'd have to travel during a holiday weekend, and pay our own way. Am I surprised that 30 of our chorus members decided to go? Yes."
One of the 30 is Joan Keach of Morton, a chorus member since 2005 who continued a family tradition when she joined. Her mother Vurla Martin, who died Aug. 30 at age 96, was in the chorus from 1950-2005.
"Sometimes I feel a letdown after we do our performance of Handel's Messiah," Keach said. "Not this year.
"I never dreamed that I or our group would have this kind of opportunity. The thought of singing such a magnificent work at such an amazing venue gives me the chills."
Keach said she has great respect for the music in Handel's Messiah, a collaboration of pieces that tell the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.
"The music never gets old because it's so challenging," she said. "Singing it is not for the feint of heart."
The Morton Community Chorus group flew to New York City from Chicago on Thanksgiving. There was a rehearsal for the show Friday and two more rehearsals are scheduled for Saturday. The show is at 2 p.m. EST Sunday. The chorus group will return home to central Illinois Monday.
The rehearsals are extremely important given the nature of the concert, with performers from several states and countries.
"Each choir director has his or her own take on the music their choir is performing," Witzig said. "But we received a detailed list of things -- almost too detailed -- on what we'll be doing for this show."
Justin Zang from Distinguished Concerts said Mozart's orchestration of Handel's Messiah will be used in the organization's annual Carnegie Hall show.
The conductor will be Jonathan Griffith, Distinguished Concerts' co-founder, artistic director and principal conductor.
"This concert will be a great end to our 2023 season," Zang said.
The Morton Community Chorus has presented an annual performance of Handel's Messiah in Morton since the late 1940's. The chorus currently has about 95 members from communities throughout central Illinois.
Handel's Messiah is the all-volunteer, mostly-amateur chorus' only show each year. No admission is charged, but free-will offerings are accepted to cover expenses and online donations can be made year-round through the Morton Fine Arts Association.
First Mennonite Church was the chorus' Handel's Messiah concert venue from 1964-93. Grace Church has been the venue since 1994.
Dianne Simmons was the Morton Community Chorus' director from 1967-2010. There was no Handel's Messiah performance in 2011 while a new director was sought. Witzig began serving as director in 2012.
Here are the chorus members who will be performing at Carnegie Hall, listed by their hometowns.
- Congerville: Addison Grimm.
- Deer Creek: Kalahan Aberle, Thad Heinold, Kevin Rocke.
- East Peoria: Denise Romersberger.
- Eureka: Debra Blunier, Kevin Schrock, Hannah Schrock, Rebekah Schrock.
- Fairbury: Sally Fehr.
- Metamora: Janis Sigafus.
- Morton: Kamden Aberle, Klaire Aberle, Scott Aberle, Joan Keach, Phil Witzig.
- Pekin: Gwen Luethold, John Hahn, Brenda McAllister, Judie Noyes.
- Peoria: Ashley Esslinger.
- Roanoke: Rachel Wofford, Samual Wofford.
- Tremont: Tori Kaiser, Lexi Sauder, Sarah Steiner.
- Washington: John Dreyer, Matt Wyss.
- Wyoming: Larissa Nenadov, Phil Nenadov.
There are about 45 people in the chorus' traveling party to New York City, including family members.
