University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
The Messenger
Vol. 5, No. 4/1996
Chorus makes Carnegie Hall debut

     Carnegie Hall, here we come!" was the cry of 23 alumni and
13 faculty and staff and students as their choral group
Jubilieren performed at the world-famous institution on Mother's
Day, May 12.
     The group of amateur, Delaware-based musicians from various
professions and other singers from Delaware and surrounding
states performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the New York
Youth Symphony.
     The symphony was conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya, music
director. Peter J. McCarthy, UD associate professor of music,
conductor of the UD Orchestra and Jubilierien artistic director,
led the choir.
     Thoughts of a collaboration between Jubilieren and the New
York Youth Symphony began about six years ago when Harth-Bedoya
and McCarthy met as fellow students of Otto-Werner Mueller in
Philadelphia. Details were worked out in the summer of 1995.
     A much larger choir than the usual 30-35 member Jubilieren
was needed to perform the Ninth Symphony, resulting in the
recruitment of singers from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
and Maryland. A total of 85 singers was assembled for the May
performance.
     McCarthy started rehearsing the singers in January, and
Harth-Bedoya came to Newark for two rehearsals with the choir and
also held a master class for the UD Orchestra on April 15.
Rehearsals and two concerts were held in New York with the New
York Youth Symphony in late April and on the day before the
event.
     According to Marianna Preston, Delaware '73, assistant to
the director at UD's Office of Public Relations and choir member,
"The choir, orchestra, soloists and conductors received a
standing ovation and five curtain calls. It was really a dream
come true. To perform on that world-famous stage was both an
honor and a thrill."
     "The concert was exquisite," says Adele Knopf, Delaware '70.
"The hall was breathtaking. It was exciting to sing for such a
large and appreciative audience."