For the Mineola Choral Society, the holiday season is a time when the spotlight shines brightest and this year is no exception.
The group has upcoming concerts at Chaminade High School in Mineola and the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City.
The Chaminade performance is a collaboration with the Nassau Pops Orchestra and will take place on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 3 p.m.
Popular Christmas tunes and sacred seasonal music will be on the program at Chaminade. The choral society will sing “Oh Holy Night,” and “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” along with selections from Handel’s “Messiah” and Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” oratorio. The concert will conclude with the choral society’s rendition of “Let There Be Peace On Earth.”
“We get to sing very beautiful music with them,” Mineola choral director Thomas Jones said of a tradition of performances with the Pops over more than 23 years . “It’s quite a combination of seasonal music.”
The Mineola Choral Society of Long Island was formed in 1947 as a part of an adult education program at Mineola High School and presented its first concert in 1948.
The group quickly became an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the performance of choral music. Today, the choral society consists of 50 members from all walks of life who live in Mineola, New Hyde Park, the Willistons and other central Nassau County communities
The chorus also has performed for civic organizations, nursing homes and hospitals, libraries and at a variety of special events.
The choral society boasts a broad performance repertoire. Over the years, the choral society singers have covered the works of Bach, Handel, and Mozart as well as music by Berlin, Copland, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Gershwin.
Most of the members of the amateur choir have had prior experience singing in a church choir or another local singing group before they audition for the choir. Some people join the choir – which has a range in age to match its repertoire – after having taken a hiatus from performing music for a number of years.
“As a music educator, I find it exciting that someone wants to come back after having done this in school and do it again,” Jones said. “Once these seeds are planted, they are lifelong.”
Jones has been the choral society’s director since 2006. He has been the assistant conductor of the New York Choral Society and the New York Choral Society Chamber Singers, and continues as conductor of the Huntington Men’s Chorus, a group he’s conducted for the past 11 years.
The Mineola Choral Society’s other big performance of the season takes place on Jan. 29 in the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, performing the full oratorio of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Elijah,” which presents a full range of musical styles.
“Here’s a great musical l mind that kind of catalogues everything that someone could do with a chorus in that era,” Jones said.
Last year, they performed Duruflé’s “Requeim,” and performed Mozart’s “Requiem” the year before.
“I’m just so impressed with the work ethic some of our singers have. We’ve done demanding pieces from different eras,” Jones said.
The cathedral is a favorite venue for Jones, who said the group enjoys the variation in venues, which also include the Mineola High School, where the choral society performs its annual spring concert.
Jones said the Garden City Cathedral is a ‘pocket cathedral,’ relatively small but “big enough so that it has that cathedral sound.” It is reputedly the world’s smallest Gothic cathedral.
There’s something special about performing Mendelssohn or Handel in a space like the cathedral, Jones said.
“It’s been a great experience. We’ve just had a series of great concerts,” Jones said about his six years with the group.
