Expressing themselves through song

A Five Towns-based choral group with an interesting history that began as the United Temple Chorus and is now called the United Choral Society, based in the Five Towns, is celebrating its 69th anniversary.

The eclectic group began in 1942 when Annette Lang from Lawrence and Mary Shapiro from Woodmere were joined together by their shared love for singing. The two formed the United Temple Chorus and recruited 30 women, who were led at the time by conductor Isadore Freed.

The group’s material focused on classics by great composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Sebastian Bach, as well as religious spirituals. After only a year together they raised $400,000 in war bonds from a concert that they held to collect money for the troops during World War II.

“I feel a certain amount of camaraderie as part of the group,” said co-president Dr. Allen Parks, a choral member for 20 years. “There is a wide mixture of people from the area, and people love doing it.”

Throughout the years the group’s size increased substantially, and different composers stepped in to lead the group. One composer in particular was David Randolph, who was the conductor at the Saint Cecilia Chorus from 1965 to 2010 Randolph was the cofounder of the Masterworks chorus in New Jersey, and was also responsible for creating a series of programs called Young Audiences that ran for a total of 39 episodes on CBS.

In 1964 the group changed its name to the United Choral Society to emphasize the community-oriented nature of the chorus. There are currently around 150 members who live in areas all over the state, including Brooklyn, Queens, Rockaway, and various towns on Long Island.

While some people may think that in order to join a chorus you need to be an expert singer, the career paths of its members — priests, lawyers and even doctors — prove that this isn’t true. “I originally hadn’t sung since high school,” says current co-president Elaine Stein, “but the wonderful thing about the chorus is that all of us get together every week just to make music, and it’s done in a completely supportive atmosphere. If you can hold a tune and enjoy singing, then there is room for you.”

Despite the large amount of participants, the majority of the promotion for the choral group is done by small ads in newspapers and through local libraries, as well as by word of mouth.

The group performs free shows at the Hewlett-Woodmere and Elmont public libraries and for a small admission price at Lawrence High School. Every winter there is also a concert that features Hanukkah and Christmas favorites, as well as a spring concert.

“The concerts that we hold really bring the community together, and I think it’s a wonderful thing,” said Nina Gilgen of Lawrence, a long time member of the United Choral Society. “As a member of the chorus I’ve experienced great pleasure expressing myself through music.”

The chorus meets on Tuesday at Temple Beth El in Cedarhurst at 7 p.m.