The Orpheus Glee Club Season Concert

The Orpheus Glee Club will present a concert of music for the holiday season on Sunday, Dec. 11 at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison. 

The Orpheus Club, now beginning its 124th season, is dedicated to performing music written for men's chorus.  Their selections span the range from sacred, to secular, to just plain fun.  This holiday season the men, and women tenors, will sing songs that range all the way from “Ave Maria” to the uproarious “Gee, Officer Krupke” from “West Side Story”.  In between the audience can enjoy a setting of “Ose Shalom”, some traditional Christmas carols, “Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light” by Bach, and “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers”, plus other songs.  The concert will conclude with a medley from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, followed by “O Holy Night”. 

Performing as guest soloist will be Elaine Harned.  Ms. Harned, is Director of Music at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Monmouth Junction, and teaches Voice at the Center Stage Dance Theatre School in East Brunswick.  A member of the Princeton Singers, she holds a Master's degree from Westminster Choir College. 

The Orpheus Club is conducted by Ann Marie Cerciello, a native of Madison and Florham Park, and the first woman to hold the post with the Club.  Ms. Cerciello has been accompanying school, civic, and sacred music productions for over 40 years, and she has conducted and directed from the piano bench for over 35 years.  She teaches mathematics at Career Academy in Jersey City and is the music director at United Presbyterian Church in West Orange. 

The Orpheus Club was founded in Newark in 1888 and takes its name from Greek mythology.  Orpheus was a poet and musician who produced such sweet music that he could charm the beasts and make the trees and rocks move.  The formerly all-male Club rehearses in Roseland, and membership is open to all men, and to women who can sing in the tenor range. 

The concert will take place at Grace Episcopal Church, 4 Madison Avenue, Madison on Sunday, Dec. 11, at 3:00 pm.  Tickets are $10.00 apiece. 

For information and directions, please call 973-822-0298, or go to www.orpheusnewark.org.  You can also find us on Facebook by searching for Orpheus Club of Newark.