The Morris
Choral
Society
Welcomes
You
The Morris Choral Society has a twofold purpose: To make
available to all residents of the Morris area varied choral
musical programs and to give residents an opportunity to
perform in the choral organization. We accept new
members to the society by audition in September and in
January, and welcome the opportunity to perform for any
local organization.
We hope that the community will continue to feel as
personal an identification with us as we feel with the
community we serve.
Michael Shane Wittenburg
Hailed as a “real virtuoso” by the late Ruth Laredo, conductor and pianist Michael Shane Wittenburg made his European debut with the Romanian National Theater of Opera and Ballet “Oleg Danovski” conducting Puccini’s Turandot. He has been active with many companies in the greater NYC area, including the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera, the Hudson Valley Chorale, and the Morris Choral Society where he has only recently become the Music Director. He has been an assistant conductor and vocal coach at opera companies in Nashville, Orlando, and Sarasota. While at Nashville Opera, he directed 66 performances of the world premiere children’s opera, The Ugly Duckling by Andrew Duncan. Currently he is the Music Director of the Elite Academy for Strings in NJ, where he conducts the Elite Academy Chamber Orchestra which received Third Prize in The American Prize competition for best youth orchestra. He has been a faculty member of the Heifetz International Music Institute, was the interim Conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony Youth Orchestra, and has appeared in collaborative recital with such artists as Metropolitan Opera soprano Stella Zambalis, violinist Livia Sohn, and Orpheus Ensemble oboist Gerard Reuter. A graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, Mr. Wittenburg’s training includes Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and a Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His teachers include Henry Charles Smith, David Effron, Dr. Steven Bird, and Michael Jinbo at the renowned Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestral Musicians. In The American Prize competition he was awarded Third Prize in youth orchestra conducting, and was a Finalist in the professional opera category.
Director
Repertoire
Since its inception, the Morris Choral Society, (MCS) has developed a vast and varied
repertoire, including many major works.
ln addition to the established repertoire, the Society is also committed to the
performance of new works, and over the last few years, several newly published
compositions have been dedicated to the Morris Choral Society. ln 1980, the Society
was proud to commission its first major work - a setting of the Gloria, by the
renowned American composer Kevin Norris.
As evidence of its dedication to growth, the MCS has consistently demonstrated its
versatility by excelling in a wide range of contemporary music styles and expanding
its venue of performances to such places as the MAYO Performing Arts Center in
Morristown. Examples of the group's versatility include international folk songs sung
in their native languages, American folk music, the Broadway theatre, and an
impressive list of serious choral music from the Renaissance to the present with
several premier performances, and a wide range of sacred music.
Funding has been made possible in part by the Arts Council of the Morris Area
through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner
Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding has also been
provided by the Arts Council of the Morris Area/Dodge Foundation Partnership and
by the Masterwork Music and Art Foundation.
History of the Morris Choral Society
In 1972 fire destroyed the United Methodist Church on the Green in Morristown, and for the next two years
the Methodist congregation held its services in the sanctuary of Temple B'nai Or.
As the new Methodist Church neared completion, R. Wayne Walters, the bass soloist at both the Methodist
Church and at Temple B'nai Or, composed a setting of the Friday Evening Service, Shabbat Hodaah, and
dedicated it to the B'nai Or congregation and Rabbi Z. David Levy. To perform the work, a chorus was
assembled made up of choir members from area churches.
The performance was such a success that in the spring of 1973, Rabbi Levy asked Walters to reassemble the
group and perform a concert of Russian and Israeli folk music for the 25th Anniversary of the State of Israel.
The resounding success of this event caused several of the singers to suggest that the group remain together
under Walters' leadership. In the summer of 1973 the Morris Choral Society (MCS) was incorporated, and it
performed for the first time that December.
Since its founding the ecumenical Society has made significant contributions to the local choral scene and
throughout the Northern New Jersey area as well as appearing on NBC television's "First Estate" program.
Its concert year, in general, includes two major concerts in and about Morris County. It has also served the
Community through appearances at many of Morristown's annual celebrations of Independence Day, the
historical Holly Walk, its popular Fall Festival On the Green, and most recently First Night. The Society has
received international recognition performing successful concerts in England in 1990, Ireland in 1994,
Scotland and Wales in 1996, France in 1998 and Italy in the summer of 2000. Also MCS has been
represented by "ambassadorial" choral contingents in multi-choral units in Eastern Europe in 1997 and 2000.
In the process the Society has assembled a vast and varied musical repertoire, the cornerstone of which is an
impressive list of serious music from the Renaissance to the present.
MCS has participated in a number of particularly exciting events. It performed with Judy Collins in her
Christmas Show; and with Dave Brubeck in La Fiesta de la Posada, at the Community Theatre. Another
highlight was singing the Beethoven Ninth (Choral) Symphony and Bloch's Sacred Service under Leon
Hyman with the New NJ Philharmonic. Several collaborations with Jazz Pianist Rio Clemente and Friends
have been popular as well. A Gershwin concert at the Morristown Community Theatre was sung to a sold-out
audience of enthusiastic listeners.
As stated, MCS touring ensembles have performed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy,
Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, at premier churches and municipal sites. Especially moving were
appreciations expressed to all Americans by municipal officials at two Morris Choral Society concerts in
Caen, France, on the 50th Anniversary of D-Day liberations.
Funding has been made possible in part by the Arts Council of the Morris Area through the New Jersey State
Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional funding has also been provided by the Arts Council of the Morris Area/Dodge Foundation
Partnership.
R. WAYNE WALTERS is a well-known New Jersey musician who sings,
composes, and conducts in the Morris area and beyond.
Mr. Walters was the founder, conductor, and music director of the Morris
Choral Society of Morristown, New Jersey, which he founded in 1972.
The chorus performs locally throughout the concert season and has
toured England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Italy, The Czech
Republic, and Poland. In December of 2005 and again in 2006 Mr.
Walters was selected as one of the conductors for the New York Choral
Society's annual Messiah Sing-in in Avery Fisher Hall. For the Morris
Choral Society's 2007 concert season, the chorus included the premier performance of the Walters
Requiem Mass in D-minor along with the Bernstein Chichester Psalms. In July, 2007, Mr. Walters
conducted the chorus on a concert tour of Germany and Austria.
After graduation from Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania with a B.S. degree in Music
Education, Mr. Walters was granted a graduate voice scholarship by the Juilliard School, where he was
a student of the renowned coach and music editor, Sergius Kagen. He earned an M.A. degree in voice
and conducting at the College of New Jersey in Trenton.
As a professional bass-baritone, Mr. Walters has performed in concert, recital, oratorio, opera, and
musical comedy throughout Europe and the Eastern United States, and with musical organizations
including the Wyoming Valley Oratorio Society, the New Shrewsbury Choral, The University Men's
Glee Club of New York, The New Philharmonic Orchestra, Summit Symphony, Montclair Civic
Chorus and Orchestra, Princeton Opera Theater, Sussex Symphony and Lyric Opera Company, and the
College of New Jersey Opera Workshop. Mr. Walters sang the bass solos in Verdi's Requiem with the
original Masterwork Chorus under David Randolph, and made his Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center
debuts in Handel's Messiah with the same chorus and conductor.
Mr. Walters was a music educator in the New Jersey Public Schools for thirty-six years, a member of
the faculty of Fairleigh Dickenson University and the Encore Music Camp at Wilkes University in PA.
He was theory instructor and director of choruses at Morristown High School, and was a guest
conductor for the New Jersey School Music Association. In 1986 he was selected as Master Choral
Music Teacher by the NJ Music Educators Association. He received The Governor's Award for
excellence in the "Arts In Education Program" in New Jersey. Mr. Walters achieved national
recognition as one of eight educators selected to participate in the filming of Craft And Joy In
Teaching, a videotape for teacher training in American Colleges and Universities, made possible
through The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. In 2001 Mr. Walters was recognized by the Arts Council
of the Morris Area as "Outstanding Professional in the Arts." Mr. Walters was instructor of voice and
adjunct professor of music at the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown. Wayne and his wife, Ann,
live in Morris Plains, New Jersey.
Director Emeritus
The scholarship is now the R. Wayne Walters Scholarship in honor of our
Director Emeritus.
If you are:
1. A New Jersey resident or student currently attending a New Jersey school,
2 Age 19 or older,
3. Pursuing a major or course of study in one of the following disciplines:
a) Vocal performance
b) Vocal conducting
c) Music education with a major in voice
The student must send the completed scholarship application, as well as a digital audition submission, (preferably
YouTube), to the Scholarship Chair, Karen Kreckel at karenwyck@aol.com by February 28, 2025.
Finalists will interview with the Scholarship Committee.
Please consider applying for our $2500 scholarship for the 2025-26 school year. To apply, click on the Application
button and when the file appears, click on the print icon at the bottom of the page to print the application form. We look
forward to hearing from you!
2022-2023 Award Winner Yun Xie
Yun Xie (Chinese for tuneful melody), soprano, has appeared as a soloist
in several classical opera works including Puccini’s “LaBoheme” and
Donizatti’s “L‘elisir D’amore.”
In addition to performing as an opera singer, Yun has participated in the
international art song concert series in the US and China, and has
performed in many world-renowned concert halls and churches, such as
Carnegie Hall in New York and the Tokyo Concert Hall in Japan.
Yun has studied with Mignon Dunn, Joan Dornemann, Rainer
Armbrust, Hemdi Kfir, Ying Huang, and Ruth Falcon and has been
coached by music masters such as: Cecilia Bartoli, Diana Damrau, Renee
Fleming, Hongbo Wang, Mark Markham and Sumi Jo. She is
continuing her vocal training with Professor Beth Roberts at the J. Cali
School of Music.
Lyric Soprano, Sydney Swearengin is an emerging artist from
California pursuing a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance at the
Cali School of Music – Montclair State University under the guidance
of Beth Roberts. Recognized for her versatility, Ms. Swearengin has
appeared in opera, oratorio, recital, and music theater productions.
She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Pepperdine University
under the guidance of Kate Bass.
Ms. Swearengin is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda society for
music and academic excellence and will be the recipient of a Graduate
Assistantship for her final year at MSU.
2024 Award Winner Sydney Swearengin
2010 - 2011 Award Winner: Chelsea Rose Friedlander, of Port Murray, NJ
Chelsea recently received her Master's degree from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied
with the head of the Vocal Department, Maitland Peters.
She has an active performance schedule, along with audio and video of recent performances, at
mchelseafriedlander.com
Funding has been made possible in part by the Arts Council of the Morris Area through the New
Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National
Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding has also been provided by the Arts Council of the
Morris Area/Dodge Foundation Partnership.
2011 - 2012 Award Winner: Taylor Kurilew, of South Plainfield, NJ
Taylor is a senior at Montclair State University, where she is pursuing a degree in Music Education with a
concentration in Voice at the John J. Cali School of Music. Taylor studies with Professor Anastasia Swope.
After Taylor finishes her degree in the spring of 2013 she plans to go right back to school to pursue a
Masters in Vocal Performance.
2013 - 2014 Award Winner: Emily Sung of Lawrenceville, NJ
Emily is a first year graduate student at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where she is
studying for a Masters Degree in Choral Conducting. Emily grew up in Lawrenceville, NJ and earned
her Bachelor's Degree in History at Princeton University. After graduating, she continued on at Princeton
for two years to study choral conducting with Gabriel Crouch, and to assistant conduct the Princeton
University Glee Club under his mentorship.
Upon completion of her Masters Degree at Westminster, Emily plans to pursue a Doctorate in Music.
Stephanie Leotsakos is a senior at Princeton University majoring in music composition and minoring in
vocal performance and teacher preparation. She aspires to be a professional opera singer and attend
graduate school soon after graduation. Stephanie has performed various roles with the New York Lyric
Opera Theatre, Princeton Music Department, and the Princeton Opera Company including Susanna and
Barbarina in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Anna in Jonathan
Dove’s Tobias and the Angel, Athena and Venus in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea, and
Amelia in Menotti’s Amelia Goes to the Ball. She currently studies with David Kellett, active lyric tenor
and voice faculty at Princeton University. At the completion of this academic year she will be giving a
full vocal recital on May 15
th
and two full productions of her senior thesis, an original opera titled
OMG, at the end of April.
Recent Events
The Morris Choral Society performed its
spring concert, entitled, “Looking Back-
Looking Forward”, at the Methodist
Church on the Green in Morristown. The
chorus was directed by Michael Shane
Wittenburg, and was accompanied by
Jennifer Yang. A special rendition was
“Three Musical Expressions on the poetry
of Myra Brooks Welch”, written and
directed by R. Wayne Walters, a founder
of the Morris Choral Society, and current
Director Emeritus.
Soloists in the program were sopranos
Sydney Swearengin, the 2024 wnner of the
scholarship offered by the chorus, and
Jacqueline Brooks.
Performances also included the Express
Male Sextet, and the High Society group of
female singers from the chorus. Special
guests were the Imperial Brass and
Students of Mason Gross School of the
Arts, Rutgers University.
May 18, 2024
The Morris Choral Society presented our
fall concert on December 15, 2024 at 3 PM.
The concert was entitled “Home For The
Holidays - Celebrations Around The
World”, and was held at the United
Methodist Church on the Green in
Morristown, NJ.
The chorus was directed by Michael Shane
Wittenburg, and was accompanied by
Jennifer Yang.
Special guests included the Frelingheuysen
Middle School Select Choir, High Society, a
selection of female singers from the chorus,
and the Express Male Sextet.
Dec. 15, 2024
Upcoming Events
The Morris Choral Society will present our Spring concert on
May 17, 2025 at the United Methodist Church on the Green in
Morristown at 7:00 PM.
The program will include an orchestra and soloists. Among other
numbers, we will be singing PDQ Bach’s Oedipus Tex, with
Johnathan Green as soloist, and Poulenc’s Gloria.
Please stand by for more information, and we hope to see you
there.
See and hear us!
Fiat Pax in Virtue tua, from "The Peacemakers", by Karl Jenkins:
Solitude, from "The Peacemakers", by Karl Jenkins
Byung Kook Kwak, Violin Soloist playing his Stradivarius violin:
Beethoven Choral Fantasy, Op. 20
with Michael Fennelly, Piano accompanist:
Purchase concert tickets
using a credit card or
PayPal:
Note: $1 has been added to the price of tickets purchased on-line to cover the cost of processing.
Rather than send out tickets in response to ticket purchases on our web site, we will use the
PayPal receipt, which has all of the required information on it concerning the purchase.
Please print the receipt and present it to our personnel at the door for entrance to the
concert. Your ticket is good for either concert on the schedule.
Should you be unable to print the receipt, please advise us, and we will send you a copy by
mail. A copy of your PayPal purchase will also be held at the door on the date of the
concert, should you not receive it in time.
You may purchase tickets at the door on the date of the performance by check, cash or
credit card.
To order tickets by mail, please send your request at least two weeks prior to the
performance to:
The Morris Choral Society
P.O. Box 1783
Morristown, NJ 07962-1783
Donate to the Morris Choral Society
Make a donation to the Morris Choral
Society General Fund
Make a memorial donation to honor a
loved one or friend
Donate to the Morris Choral Society using a credit
card or PayPal:
Make a donation to the Morris Choral
Society Scholarship Fund
Please consider purchasing an ad in our fall and spring concert
folders. Ad costs are $70 for a ¼ page, $125 for a ½ page, and $225
for a full page. A full page on the inside cover is $250. The above
payments purchase an ad in both the fall and spring concert
programs. Please contact Elsie Donohue at 973-723-6424 to
purchase an ad. Ads must be purchased by Nov. 13 to be included in
the fall and spring programs.
Contact Us
Mailing Address: Morris Choral Society
P.O. Box 1783
Morristown, NJ 07962-1783
Telephone: 973-723-6424 (Elsie Donohue, President)
E-Mail: mcssingers@gmail.com
E-Mail 2: baileysmorgan125@gmail.com
Rehearsals: Monday evenings, 7:30 to 9:30
Trinity Lutheran Church
131 Mountain Way
Morris Plains, NJ
Executive Board
Music Director:
Michael Wittenburg
President:
Elsie Donohue
Vice-President:
Karen Kreckel
Treasurer
Robert Kennaday
Membership Secretary:
Roberta Foster
Recording Secretary:
Audrey Schultz
Corresponding Secretary:
Marla Mueller
Members-At-Large:
Barbara Stromberg
Anita Crompton
Bill Walter
Public Relations/Media:
Mr. Don Jay Smith
Telephone: 973-714-4763
e-mail: don@lksassociates.com
Morris Choral Society Policy Statement:
The Morris Choral Society has a firm commitment to safeguard the privacy of our customers.
We collect the e-mail addresses of those who purchase tickets from our web site so that we may send ticket confirmation to the
purchaser’s e-mail address, or so that we may respond to questions regarding our organization or our performances. We may
also collect your e-mail address under the following circumstance:
When it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected
fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, or as otherwise required by law.
The Morris Choral Society uses your personal information only to conduct business with you. Your personally identifiable
information will not be rented, sold or shared with any third party except as otherwise agreed by you.
The Morris Choral Society uses collected information for the sole purposes of forwarding ticket confirmations to your e-mail
address, or for responding to questions you have asked about our organization and our performances.
Security:
We may record your computer’s IP address with your order to help us identify fraudulent credit card use. We may share this
information with the financial institution that issued the credit card with which an order was placed, or with law enforcement
authorities if we determine, or are notified, that the use of the credit card was fraudulent.
Disclosure:
The Morris Choral Society may periodically update this policy. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we
treat personal information by placing a prominent notice on our web site.
Delivery Method:
Purchasers of tickets on the Morris Choral Society web site will receive a confirmation e-mail which may be presented at the
door for any public concert being performed by the Morris Choral Society.
Refunds:
Funds used to purchase tickets on the Morris Choral Society web site will be refunded if the Morris Choral Society is notified
at least five days before the concert for which the ticket was purchased, that the ticket cannot be used.
Once the funds for the ticket purchase have been deposited in the PayPal account of the Morris Choral Society, a refund check
will be issued to the purchaser by the treasurer of the Morris Choral Society within thirty days of such deposit. Or, at the
purchaser’s option, a purchased ticket may be used for any future concert being performed by the Morris Choral Society.
Cancellations:
Should a concert be cancelled for which a ticket has been purchased, the ticket price will be refunded as per the above Refunds
Policy, or at the purchaser’s discretion, a purchased ticket may be used for any future concert being performed by the Morris
Choral Society.
Access to the concert:
The Morris Choral Society is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, (ADA). Ticket purchasers with
disabilities who are not able to access the concert venue will be refunded the full purchase price of the ticket, plus
reasonable travel expenses.