Messiah Time in Scarsdale

The New Choral Society performed two sold out Messiah concerts for the 32nd year. (Photo credit: Tony Allen Photography)Hallelujah and Amen!

If you are a devout and regular reader of The New Yorker magazine like I am, you no doubt read in its December 8, 2025, issue in the “Goings On” column that “you may be able to hear faint chants of ‘Hallelujah’ starting to emerge from classical-music venues throughout the city. That’s right, it’s Messiah season.

“Catch Handel’s masterpiece at Carnegie Hall, with the Oratorio Society (Dec. 22); at Lincoln Center, with the New York Philharmonic (Dec.10-13) or National Chorale (Dec. 15); or at Trinity Church (Dec.10-12), St. Thomas Church (Dec. 11), St. Helena Church (Dec. 13), or St. Ann’s Church (Dec. 22). Probably any church, really. They (the New Yorkers) like this kind of thing,” The New Yorker said.
But Westchester New Choral Society fans, forget all that New Yok City stuff, especially if you were smart enough to purchase tickets ahead of time to Messiah Part I at either of the New Choral Society’s sold-out performance on Friday night, Dec. 5th or Sunday afternoon, Dec. 7th.

If you’re a Westchester person and a fan of the New Choral Society’s music like I am, you probably beat the New Yorkers and their musicians to the punch for a Messiah concert of your own in your own neighborhood. Congratulations! The Choral Society’s Messiah, Part I was as good as it’s ever been in the last 32 years. Dr. John T. King, founder of the New Choral Society (NCS) in 1994 and always the Artistic Director and Conductor for all those years and his singers and orchestra, did it again for both 2025 performances. First class indeed, again!

As usual, all four soloists were excellent and on point. They were Véronique Filloux, Soprano; Hannah Jones, Mezzo-Soprano; Angel Raii Gomez, Tenor, and Ben Strong, Bass-Baritone. Their bios are impressive, and I am sure you’ll be hearing more about them in the future. It was difficult to pick a favorite, so I didn’t. Jones, Gomez and Strong appeared by kind permission of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera.

Dr. John T. King backstage with soloists Véronique Filloux, Ben Strong, Angel Raii Gomez, and Hannah Jones. (Photo Credit: Tony Allen Photography)
As the concerts progressed, it was obvious that hard work in rehearsals, dedication and professionalism had prevailed. The audiences responded by singing along at the end of each recital and stomped their feet while ushering in a “BRAVO” to salute the performances.
In addition, there were some side bars to report.

They included: (1) Amazingly, 6 of the 23 original NCS members performed with the chorus, including Bonnie Gould who came out of retirement for Sunday’s performance; (2) Sopranos Anita Kaplan and Angela Nally singing in their final NCS performances who have sung with the group for 30 and 32 years respectively; (3) Debra Hess traveling once again from Athens, GA, to sing the alto part in both performances; (4) Una Tone, Concertmaster, back from her professional violin work on Broadway, to sit in her expected Violin 1 spot; (5) The chorus sitting in a new arrangement where the soprano and bass sections were mixed together on the left and the alto and tenor sections were mixed together on the right; (6) Photographer Tony Allen quietly roaming the sanctuary to get special shots, and (7) Soprano Dorothy Kroenlein, another NCS original, smiling throughout both performances.

Dr. John T. King with singers Anita Kaplan and Angela Nally who are retiring from the chorus after 30 and 32 years respectively. (Photo credit: Justin O'Leary)
Also important to note, as mentioned in the program, NCS has launched a “Partners in Music” program where it records select live concert performances to share with partner senior residences whose residents can’t easily attend in-person. The first partners are The Osborn in Rye and Kendal on Hudson in Sleepy Hollow.