For Artistic Director Wen Chin Liu-Young and around 30 singers from the Oak Park-based Heritage Chorale, the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall was “once in a lifetime.”
The choir has been a community staple for more than 40 years and is made up of members ranging from ages 15 to 95. More than a year ago, they were invited by music production company MidAmerica Productions to participate in a five-day residency in New York City, culminating in a final performance at the legendary music hall on Saturday, May 24.
“Once we all walked out onto the stage, looking out at the different tiers of balcony, and it feels like they just kept going up,” Liu-Young said. “When do we ever get to, as a community choir, go to a legendary, prestigious Carnegie Hall?”
When Heritage Chorale was invited to participate in the residency back in 2023, Liu-Young was “very surprised” and “nervous,” but knew that it was a great opportunity for her choir and happily accepted.
For the following year and couple months, the community group rehearsed their music and anticipated the trip ahead of them. The preparation was an additional stress for Liu-Young, she said, because she wanted the group to have a good experience.
“I was eventually excited, because the singers were excited to do it,” Liu-Young said.
Once they arrived in the city, Heritage Chorale collaborated with four other choirs throughout a stringent rehearsal schedule in the mornings and afternoons. In the late afternoons and evenings, the group enjoyed the sights of the city.
Choir member Dove Wilson called the experience “intense” and said there were moments where she questioned whether she could continue. But she relied on her fellow choir members to regain her “second wind” and persevere through the residency.
“In making music, there’s a camaraderie that builds when you share your sounds with other people, that you sort of sense their energy and then that carries you through,” Wilson said. “Camaraderie built with the other singers and the reward of hearing music as it got better and shaped, and it’s quite beautiful.”
The residency culminated in a performance of Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore conducted by Liu-Young and Vivaldi’s Gloria conducted by Lisette Canton, accompanied by the New England Symphonic Ensemble.
Liu-Young said she enjoyed the opportunity to get to know her choir better outside of rehearsals during the trip and was overcome with emotion as the group sang its final notes in the renowned concert hall.
“I was just like, ‘don’t cry right now, because you got to end strong,” Liu-Young said. “That’s why I didn’t look at any of them. I kind of just looked up and enjoyed the last six, seven measures of the piece. I was very, very proud of them, staying strong with me all the way to the end of that masterwork.”
The crew recently returned home to Oak Park and is taking the opportunity to rest after their trip to the city.
Originally from Malaysia, Liu-Young said she would never have envisioned herself having the opportunity to perform in a venue renowned even halfway across the world.
Now that she has had this experience, Liu-Young has no plans of slowing down. Her goal is to gain more recognition for Heritage Chorale in the Chicago area and community of suburbs in hopes of collaborating with other choirs and venues in the area.
“It was a very magical experience for me, not just to conduct, but having (Heritage Chorale) on my side doing this Carnegie Hall debut together,” Liu-Young said.
