Cheney United Methodist choir hits Carnegie Hall

Cheney United Methodist Church choir director Mary Jane Shevais had never heard of Distinguished Concerts, International New York City until the day last September when she returned home from judging a dog show for her local kennel club.

Checking her email she found one from DCINY - a producer of musical performances in famous venues - telling her they had reviewed the choir's audition recording, were impressed and wanted to forward it on to their audition department.

"Several minutes later when I regained consciousness, I typed back, 'oh sure,'" Shervais said. "We (the choir) had no part in ourselves putting this forward. It just happened."

In fact, the recording wasn't even sent to DCINY. Shervais said during a 2016 Christmas Cantata performance of a piece by composer/conductor Pepper Choplin someone pulled out their cellphone camera, recorded them and put the recording on Facebook.

It was there that DCINY came across it, reviewed it and then contacted Shervais. Soon after, the audition department contacted her again, this time inviting the choir to be part of a multi-choir performance of Choplin's cantata "Our Father: A Journey Through the Lord's Prayer" at renowned Carnegie Hall on June 17.

"The Cheney United Methodist Church choir received this invitation because of the quality and high level of musicianship demonstrated by the singers as well as the high level of quality of their audition recording," DCINY artistic director and principal conductor Dr. Jonathan Griffith said in an October 2017 press release.

Shervais felt it didn't hurt that the choir was performing one of Choplin's pieces in the recording. A full-time conductor, composer and humorist, Choplin has composed over 250 anthems for church and school choirs, 16 church cantatas and a book of piano arrangements, with over 100 groups commissioning him to write original works.

Choplin will be conducting the June 17 performance as well as being clinician for the choir residency work beforehand. Twelve members of Cheney UMC's choir are going, joining over 100 members of 10-11 choirs to form the Distinguished Concerts Singers International, "a choir of distinction."

Shervais said she originally thought the performance would be later this year. When they found out it was June, they had to do some work not only learning the cantata but raising some money.

The first part was done with the help of UMC's pastor Alissa Bertsch, who is also a choir member. Bertsch put together a sermon series on the Lord's Prayer, which the choir augmented by singing a piece each Sunday of Choplin's cantata as the service's anthem.

"It was a great way for the choir to learn each piece and for the congregation to take part," she said. "Each time we presented an anthem, they knew it was one of the pieces we were going to be doing in New York.

Shervais said the choir is "an excellent group" with a varied composition. Some have classical singing training, others have learned through being in choirs while still others "can't read music" but love to sing.

Members have come and gone over the 10 years Shervais has led the choir, but a good core group has remained. That made it fun to break the news to them about going to New York.

"The thing I enjoyed most was the look on their faces when I read the invitation at choir practice," she added.

As for fundraising, Shervais said they really haven't made a concerted effort, but rather received assistance here and there. During their Christmas Cantata, a basket was put out for people to make a goodwill offering - something that generated a huge response.

Friends at Shervais' dog training club have helped, as have other members' friends and people in the congregation through donations. The church also does a special offering once a month for a specific cause, and funds from one such collection were dedicated to the trip.

Choir members have also contributed, purchasing their own airfare. One of the DCINY provided a travel agent to help with arrangements, getting them booked into the Times Square Sheraton located close to Central Park and Carnegie Hall.

"Everything we need is within walking distance," Shervais said.

The choir left Wednesday, June 13, and will have Thursday to do some sightseeing. After that, its mostly rehearsals and clinics with the other choirs in preparation for Sunday's performance, which begins at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

The choir returns Monday, June 18, bringing back memories to add to future performances.

"I jus think it's going to be the experience of a lifetime," Shervais said.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].