Town Singers to Join Queen Latifah at Super Bowl

The
Advanced Chorus of the New Jersey Youth Chorus, including twelve (12) girls,
from Millburn-Short Hills, will be raising their voices to sing America the Beautiful with Queen Latifah
at MetLife Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday. 
After being contacted last week with the exciting invitation, Trish
Joyce, the Artistic Director and Founder of the Chorus, had to keep it a secret
while the choristers gathered for their standard Monday rehearsal.  The good news was delivered during rehearsal
with an invitation from Queen Latifah herself, via Skype.  The clip will be on The Queen Latifah Show on Friday, January 31.  The Advanced Chorus was selected from among
nearly two dozen other choirs that were considered for the honor. 

The
local choristers are Sophia Fernandez-Poyatos, Rachel Rubinstein, Caroline
Casey, Ambika Chetal, Sophia Fanelle, Arielle Kasnetz, Anya Parker-Lentz, Kate
Parker-Lentz, Simran Sawhney, Sarah Burn, Eloise Burn and Leah Green.

The
whirlwind week began with the tremendous honor of recording three of
internationally-known composer Randall Stroope’s music, with the composer in
attendance.  Dr. Stroope, who personally
extended the invitation to the NJ Youth Chorus, is Director of Vocal and Choral
Activities at Oklahoma State University, and is one of the most active choral
conductors and composers today.   In addition to performing at the Super Bowl
itself, the Chorus will also perform on Super Bowl Boulevard in Times Square on
Friday evening.  They will be singing
songs from the Great American Song Book, including A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, by Manning Sherwin, Clap Yo’ Hands and I Got Rhythm, by George Gershwin, Harry Warren’s Lullaby of Broadway, Jerome Kern’s Just the Way You Look Tonight, and God Bless America, by Irving
Berlin.  

In addition to performing at
the Super Bowl itself, the Chorus will also perform on Super Bowl Boulevard in
Times Square on Friday evening.  They will be singing songs from the Great
American Song Book, including A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square by
Manning Sherwin, Clap Yo’ Hands and I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin,
Harry Warren’s Lullaby of Broadway, Jerome Kern’s Just the Way You
Look Tonight, and God Bless America by Irving Berlin.  

The New Jersey Youth Chorus,
founded in 1992, is an auditioned choral program for children in grades one
through twelve, divided into five ensembles:  First Steps to Music (grades
1 – 2), Apprentice Chorus (grades 3 – 4), Intermediate Chorus (grades 5-7), Advanced
Treble Chorus (grades 8-12), and Young Men’s Ensemble (grades 7 – 12 for
changing and changed voices).  The Chorus performs locally, nationally and
internationally for community, civic and corporate audiences.  Over two
hundred choristers come from almost 40 towns in six counties of New
Jersey. The heart of its mission to provide quality music education that
encourages young people’s love and appreciation of choral music and nurtures
their individual growth and development. 

The Advanced Chorus performs frequently with many
professional ensembles, including the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
and Canadian Brass. They have worked with Oscar and Grammy-award winning
composer Marvin Hamlisch and Bill Conti, composer of television and movie
themes, including Rocky.  They
were a featured choir at the 2008 and 2012 American Choral Directors
Association’s Conference, and the only children’s choir to be invited to sing
at Chorus America’s 2009 National Conference. They have also sung with Irish
tenor, Ronan Tynan, appeared on the Today
Show, and have sung at Carnegie Hall.   The Advanced Chorus has
participated in numerous festivals in New Orleans, Hawaii, Canada and England,
and has toured Italy, Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.

The Chorus regularly
hosts visiting youth choirs, such as Cantus, the premier men’s
ensemble in the United States, the Drakensberg Boys Choir from South Africa,
the Bach Children’s Chorus from Canada, the Crypt Choir from King's School in
Canterbury, England, the Lincoln Boys Choir from Nebraska, Colgate 13 and Ithacapella.   

The choir's "Kids for Kids" mission
includes opportunities to perform and assist children’s organizations and
charities.  The choir's "Kids for Kids" mission includes
opportunities to perform and assist children’s organizations and
charities.  Funds have been raised for a summer camp for children of September 11 victims, Hearts Across the
Ocean, for children needing open heart surgery in India, the American
Cancer Society, Bryan’s Dream Foundation, for children with brain
tumors, and others.  In the fall of 2011, they performed at the Saving
Grace Gala in NYC, which benefited the Preeclampsia Foundation and the
Foundation for America’s Blood Centers. 
During the Gala, they premiered a new piece written by Jim Papoulis,
specifically for the event.  They have performed
for the Matthew Larson Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s Gala in NYC, and the
Greg Wolf Foundation, among other fundraising events.

The next event to
hear a performance by all the choirs will be at the Chorus’ annual Chocolate Fest fundraiser, to be held at
The Dolce, 300 North Maple Ave., Basking Ridge, NJ.  It will feature many wonderful vendors, a
Silent Auction, Tricky Tray, and special guests.