HOPEWELL VALLEY CHORUS
History and Philosophy of the Chorus
The Hopewell Valley Chorus was founded in 1959 by two Hopewell neighbors who “loved music and wanted to do something meaningful for the community.” (Hopewell Valley News, January 9, 1987)
In 49 years, the chorus has grown, serving as a musical home to nearly 700 singers. It includes 70 members from Mercer, Hunterdon, Burlington, and Middlesex counties, in New Jersey, and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. But the philosophy of the founders remains the same.
In the spring of 1960, the chorus gave its first concert featuring folk songs, spirituals, show tunes and Beethoven's Mass in C Minor. In 1962, a December holiday concert was added to the chorus’ calendar. At its two annual concerts, the chorus has continued to perform the works of major composers of the last three centuries, while intruducing new works and arrangements. (To see the chorus’s repertoire since 1999, visit: www.princetonol.com/groups/hvchorus/rep.html)
In 2000, the chorus added Spring into Song, a new yearly concert to its calendar, inviting six other local singing groups to perform separately and together. Donations from this free, afternoon concert have raised more than $10,000 in support of summer “camperships” for the chorus’s outreach partner, the Trenton Children’s Chorus, an annual Spring into Song participant.
The Hopewell Valley Chorus is for people who love to sing. There are no auditions and the only requirements for membership are payment of dues, regular attendance at rehearsals and enjoyment of singing. Through performances and the annual scholarship, chorus members have the satisfaction of contributing to the community. The group is governed by a board whose officers are elected by the membership.
Hopewell Valley Chorus
PO Box 93
Pennington NJ 08534
609-737-2468(membership)
609-737-3177(information)
