2020

Our in-person concerts for 2020 ​were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They had been scheduled for April 25-26 (Spring), and Dec. 19-20 (Holiday).

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Meyer Scholarship Awarded to Kieran Corcoran

In April 2020, Orpheus awarded its annual Roland L. Meyer Scholarship to saxophonist Kieran Corcoran, of Ridgewood.

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Orpheus Annual Meeting Is Held Online

Orpheus enters the Zoom age, with its first annual meeting held online (Wednesday, May 20, 2020).

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Performing at ​‘Welcome Back, Ridgewood’

On Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, we performed for the first time publicly in 2020, at the "Welcome Back, Ridgewood" street festival. Our socially distanced performance included a rendition of "Brothers, Sing On!"

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Celebrating Halloween

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, we met online via Zoom to celebrate Halloween and to hear member Lou Fucito's presentation on the history of male choral singing going back to Gregorian Chant through the catches and glees of merry olde England to our present day.

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​‘America, the Beautiful’ Video Honors Veterans

On Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in celebration of Veterans Day, Orpheus Club Men's Chorus (OCMC) unveiled its very first virtual chorus performance, "America, the Beautiful," with words by Katherine Lee Bates and music by New Jersey's own Samuel Ward. In this video, we sing an arrangement by Ladislas Helfenbein that has been the opening selection at every OCMC spring concert for some two decades.

We hope you enjoy this video and find it appropriate for this particular celebration of our veterans as well as the end of World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.​

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​‘A Seasonal Celebration’ Holiday Videos

On Christmas Eve 2020 Orpheus released "A Seasonal Celebration" with Orpheus Club Men's Chorus, and our guests, the 53rd Annual Lincoln Center Messiah Sing-in Chorus. This 25-minute video includes:

• Selections from Handel's Messiah.
• Two piano solos by Ron Levy ("Christmas Time Is Here" and "Für Elise Navidad").

Three holiday classic choral songs, also available in separate videos (as shown below):

• "Maoz T'sur (Rock of Ages)," celebrating the first night of Hanukkah (Dec. 10, 2020).
• "Lo, how a rose e'er blooming," celebrating Advent and Christmas (released Dec. 19, 2020).
• "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (also released on Christmas Eve).