MORTON, Ill. – A central Illinois group spent their Thanksgiving holiday performing on one of the grandest stages for music in the world.
The Morton Community Chorus were part of a performance Sunday of Handel’s Messiah at New York City’s Carnegie Hall.
Chorus Director and conductor Phil Witzig says the group were invited to perform more than a year ago via email. He says he didn’t fully believe it at first.
“I thought it might be a hoax,” Witzig said. “It seemed so much out of the blue, I had never heard of anything like that. I didn’t know Carnegie Hall did things of this nature.”
Witzig says Carnegie Hall will reach out to choirs to perform on their stage, and found videos of Morton’s performances, which he calls an honor.
Witzig says after it was confirmed, the preparation began. He says that included figuring out which members would make the trip, because they had to pay their own way, along with practicing the show. 30 members of the chorus made the trip to New York City.
The group left on Thanksgiving and had rehearsals each day, not seeing Carnegie Hall until the day of the performance on Sunday. The Morton group was only part of the show, with a worldwide cast brought in to sing. Witzig says a majority of the performers were from the United States, but there were also singers from Canada, Germany, Australia, and Dubai.
“When you come together, there really is an instant musical bond with people,” Witzig said. “Music draws people together. It always has. And especially when you’re singing a piece that you’ve all independently rehearsed, and you come together to perform it.”
The group was also able to explore New York City on the trip. Members of the group did sightseeing at places such as the 9-11 Memorial and the Empire State Building. There was also a trip to Central Park, with an impromptu performance at Bethesda Terrace.
“There just happened to be this guy that was playing the guitar, classical guitar, in the same place, and we just kind of gathered around him, and started to sing with him, and, of course, he was thrilled,” Witzig said. “We ended up doing a number of different songs with him just for fun, and we both had a great time.”
Reflecting on the trip, Witzig called it a “surreal” and “humbling” experience, with numerous photos and a lifetime of memories.
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