SUMMIT, NJ — Summit Chorale, one of New Jersey’s oldest and most prestigious community chorales, has been presented with a generous grant from The Summit Foundation to support their Spring Concert, “Remembrances”: a performance of songs of the Holocaust, Johannes Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem and the finale of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “The Resurrection.”
The concert will take place on Saturday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m., nine days after Victory in Europe Day or VE Day, the anniversary of the official surrender of all German military operations during World War II. It will be hosted by Calvary Episcopal Church in Summit, a regular partner in programming of the chorale, and host of the annual 9/11 Memorial Sing-In collaboration.
Summit Chorale’s full 2024-2025 season has been focused on World War II, starting with the Fall Concert, La Vie en Rose, a celebration of jazz, which was one of the great controversial musical forms during the period that exemplified creative resistance. The Winter Holiday Concert, Dona Nobis Pacem, took place two days before the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, and consisted of a selection of Christmas songs of the time alongside Ralph Vaughn Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem from 1936, a beautiful anthem for peace composed in hope that a second World War could be avoided.
This is part of the chorale’s continued dedication to educational and historical programming: an effort to bring music with rich history to the Summit and surrounding NJ communities, to make it as accessible as possible to local audiences, and to increase awareness of enduring choral masterworks as well as their significance to our past and our current moment. Dr. Thomas Juneau, in his 15th year as Summit Chorale’s music director, plans to continue prioritizing this mission as the chorale heads into its 117th year of community-music-making.
Summit Chorale’s Spring Concert, “Remembrances,” is the culmination of the chorale’s World War II-themed 2024-2025 season, and thanks to The Summit Foundation’s support, it will feature a chamber orchestra including strings and timpani, and a suite of professional soloists. They will perform alongside the chorale’s membership, which consists of volunteer singers from the community at every level from amateur to professional.
The music selected for “Remembrances” is intended to highlight the great cost of the war despite victory in the European theater. Featured songs of the Holocaust include “Ani Ma’amin” and also a piece by New Jersey composer Mark Miller, “I Believe in the Sun.” The Brahms piece is a requiem for those who remain and the finale of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, while hopeful, reflects on how Mahler lost his own friends and family during the Holocaust. To learn more about this concert and to purchase tickets, visit www.summitchorale.org/concerts-and-events.
The Summit Foundation fosters philanthropy and strengthens resources to address local needs and enhance lives in the Summit area. In the past 10 years, it has invested more than $10 million in the community through grants, scholarships, donor-advised distributions and special purpose funds.