Nassau Chorus rocks the house

Baldwin-based group moves audience to its feet

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The Greater Nassau Chorus reached a high note last month with its annual show, “Love Being Here with You!” held Dec. 11 at Mineola High School in Garden City Park.

The 65-member chorus is a Long Island-based chapter of Sweet Adelines International, an organization of women singers committed to advancing barbershop harmony through education, competition and performance. The Nassau ensemble, comprising women of all ages, from all walks of life, has brought four-part a cappella music to Long Island since 1960.

“It was fabulous,” said Master Director Harriet Walters, a Baldwin resident who has led the group for more than 30 years. “Every year we try to put on our best performance ever …”

Under Walters’s direction, the Greater Nassau Chorus has become an award-winning regional and international competitor, with 12 first-place finishes in regional competitions and eight top-10 awards in international events.

This year, it again finished first in the Region 15 competition in Albany. The group’s powerhouse “wall of sound” earned it the chance to represent the region, which encompasses New York and New Jersey, at this year’s SAI International Competition in November in Las Vegas.

One of the highlights of “Love Being here with You!” according to Merrill Weiner, the ensemble’s marketing coordinator, was the participation of the Girl Scouts of Nassau County chorus. The scouts range in age from elementary school through high school, and members of the Greater Nassau Chorus mentored them and rehearsed with them in preparation for the performance.

“We’re really trying to develop a program of mentoring young voices, as part of the mission of our chorus is education and fostering the arts with young people,” Weiner explained. “This was absolutely, far and away, the best performance we’ve ever done.”

The group’s repertoire ranges from Broadway to rock music. During part of the performance, Weiner recounted, “The audience literally jumped up and out of their seats and they were dancing and singing along with us, which was beyond fun.

“The amount of audience interaction was something we hadn’t done before, and this was really a first,” she added. “It just blew the roof off the place.”

The chorus has been invited to sing at weddings and anniversaries, office parties and street festivals. It has performed at Radio City Music Hall, on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” “Fios1 News” and Hofstra’s “For Your Island,” and at charitable events across Long Island.

“I just think that, particularly in today’s world, music connects us,” said Weiner. “And to be invited to sing was a highlight for the audience. To get up and dance was a highlight for the audience.”

The group’s weekly rehearsals, on Tuesdays from 6:45 to 10 p.m. at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1375 Grand Ave. in Baldwin, are open to the public. For information on membership or to book performances, go to www.greaternassauchorus.org.