2019

Spring Concert Highlights
‘Music of the Immigrant Experience’​ 

Picture
Orpheus Club Men's Chorus, Spring 2019.
Our Spring 2019 Concerts were held Saturday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 7 at 4 p.m. at Ridgewood United Methodist Church. The theme was Music of the Immigrant Experience. (See repertoire below.)

The Village of Ridgewood honored Orpheus, celebrating 110 years of music-making, with a proclamation naming April 2019 as Orpheus Club Men's Chorus Month. Village Mayor Ramon M. Hache, Sr. and Deputy Mayor Susan Knudsen read and presented the proclamation on Sunday, April 7, during the chorus' spring concert.

​Orpheus President Vernon Reed and Music Director John J. Palatucci accepted the award on behalf of the club.
Repertoire:
  • ​We Sing As One - Richard Lane
  • Arirang - Korean folk song
  • You'll Be Back from "Hamilton" - Lin-Manuel Miranda
  • Prelude in G Minor - Sergei Rachmaninoff, performed by Ron Levy
  • Soldiers' Chorus from "Faust" - Charles Gounod
  • Hear, O Israel - traditional Jewish service music (English and Hebrew)
  • Roving - sea shanty
  • Siboney - Ernesto Lecuona (Spanish)
  • Selections from the Marx Brothers' "A Night At The Opera"
  • Brush Up Your Shakespeare and So in Love from "Kiss Me Kate" - Cole Porter
  • In the Still of the Night (doo wop) - Fred Paris
  • Danny Boy - THE traditional Irish folk melody
  • O, Mio Babbino Caro from Gianni Schicchi - Giacomo Pucci (sung by soprano Ula Goldstein, Roland L. Meyer Memorial Scholarship winner)
  • Ride the Chariot - American spiritual
  • At the River - Aaron Copland
  • No Man Is An Island, words by John Donne
  • Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor from "Miss Liberty" - Irving Berlin 
  • God Bless America - Irving Berlin

Honoring Flag Day at The Valley Hospital

July Brings Independence Day,
​Holland Christian Home Performances

The chorus sang again at Ridgewood's 2019 Fourth of July Parade. "The Orpheus Club IS Ridgewood" and also represents the best of our greater northern New Jersey community.
Below: We sang for our friends at Holland Christian Home on Tuesday, July 16, 2019. Our music director, John J. Palatucci, played "Carnival of Venice" on the euphonium, and our pianist, Ron Levy, played Scott Joplin's "Pineapple Rag." Photos courtesy of Holland Christian Home. 

Celebrating Ron Levy​’s 15th Anniversary

Orpheus Club Men's Chorus celebrated Ron Levy's 15th anniversary as pianist and assistant conductor during the 2019-2020 season.

Singing in Ridgewood: Winterfest and Holiday Concert, ‘Stars of Wonder, Songs of Light’

On Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019, we performed Christmas carols in Ridgewood's Winterfest at Van Neste Square, from noon to 1:30 p.m. 
Picture
Our Holiday Concerts (with the theme "Stars of Wonder, Songs of Light") were held the weekend of Dec. 14-15, 2019, at Ridgewood United Methodist Church, Ridgewood, NJ. Guest soloist: trombonist Bob Ferrel. ​
  • Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. (included "afterglow" reception) 
  • Sunday, Dec. 15 at 4 p.m.

The Holiday Concerts featured the music of Praetorius, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Lauridsen, Hoagy Carmichael, Louis Armstrong, Jerry Herman, and as always, a song composed by the late Richard Lane, Orpheus' longtime pianist. 

​Repertoire:
​
  • Salutation: Hail, Friends of Music! - William Bentz
  • Processional: Deck the Hall - Traditional, lyrics by Thomas Oliphant
  • Winter Song – Frederic Bullard
  • O Magnum Mysterium – Morten Lauridsen
  • “There Shall a Star from Jacob Come Forth” from Christus – Felix Mendelssohn
  • Psallite – Michael Praetorius, arr. by Russell Robinson
  • Silent Night - Joseph Turrin
  • Soul Bop – Bob Ferrel
  • Tenor Madness – Sonny Rollins
  • Stardust – Hoagy Carmichael
  • “Swinging on a Star” from Going My Way – James Van Heusen & Johnny Burke
  •  “That Man Over There” from Here’s Love – Meredith Willson, arr. Clay Warnick
  • My Girl (Doo Wop) – William “Smokey” Robinson, Jr., Ronald White, arr. by Allen Billingsley
  • “Lost in the Stars” from Lost in the Stars – Maxwell Anderson & Kurt Weill, arr. by William Stickles
  • What a Wonderful World – George David Weiss & Bob Thiele, arr. by Russ Foris
  • It’s You or No One – Sammy Cahn & Jules Styne
  • A Child Is Born (with Bob Ferrel)
  • “Shalom” from Milk and Honey – Jerry Herman
  • We Three Kings of Orient Are – John H. Hopkins, Jr., arr. by John Leavitt
  • Wiegenlied (Lullaby) – Johannes Brahms, arr. by A. Zander
  • Sing Unto the Lord – Richard Lane

‘A City Singing at Christmas’
​at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

On Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, we performed in the 40th Annual "A City Singing at Christmas" concert, under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Pascual at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. The entire video (2 hours, 15 minutes) from the event is here and also below. Click the play button then the arrow symbols to open in a full screen.

​Click on any title below to see video at the start of that specific performance. (The times and durations include introductions and applause.)
Song (linked to video)
* With St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir
† With Young People's Chorus
​​Start time / end time (h:mm:ss) / duration (m:ss)
O Come All Ye Faithful *
​start 0:16:06 / end 0:20:37 / duration 4:31
The First Nowell *
​start 0:22:03 / end 0:25:00 / duration 2:57
Psallite – Michael Praetorius, arr. by Russell Robinson
​start 0:25:02 / end 0:29:29 / duration 4:27
​​“There Shall a Star from Jacob Come Forth” from Christus – Felix Mendelssohn
start 0:29:39 / end 0:35:00 / duration 5:21
O Magnum Mysterium – Morton Lauridsen 
start 0:35:02 / end 0:40:50 / duration 5:48
Sing Unto the Lord – Richard Lane
​start 0:41:01 / end 0:46:00 / duration 4:59
Angels We Have Heard on High †
start 0:46:16 / end 0:49:29 / duration 3:13
O Holy Night *
start 1:42:14 / end 1:51:10 / duration 8:57
Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah * †
​start 1:51:36 / end 1:56:24 / duration 4:48
Silent Night * †
​​​start 2:00:54 / end 2:09:20 / duration 8:26
Photos from the concert and rehearsals: