Masterwork Music and Arts Foundation Announces 2020 Community Grant Award Winners

Our 2020 Award winners serve New Jersey and New York communities in promoting the arts. 

Our Community Grant Awards are designed to support organizations that encourage excellence in the arts at the community level. For the 2020-2021 community grant season, the Board decided to add an additional grant, bringing the total to four awards - three at the $500 level and one at the $1000. Artists and arts organizations  in New Jersey and New York were encouraged to apply. 

This year we’re pleased to announce the following winners:

• Morris Arts (www.morrisarts.org)

Morris Arts will receive a $1,000 community grant award. 

Founded in 1973, Morris Arts’ very mission is to build community through the arts. Morris Arts long maintained a vibrant presence in the Morristown community through a number of community arts programs, but the Arts in Education program has the most impressive impact, reaching over 180,000 young minds a year through creative assemblies, workshops, learning opportunities and showcases.  

• The Morris Choral Society (www.morrischoralsociety.org ) 

The Morris Choral Society will receive a $500 community grant award.

Since 1973 The Morris Choral Society (MCS) has been serving the Morristown community by presenting a varied program of music and by encouraging choral music performance. In the process, MCS has been the community’s ambassador for the arts - often spreading the joy of choral music to other communities.

• The Athens Cultural Center (www.athensculturalcenter.org )

The Athens Cultural Center will receive a $500 community grant award.

Located along the Hudson River in Athens, New York, The Athens Cultural Center serves as a beacon for art education in the community that launched America’s first art movement, The Hudson River School over 150 years ago.  Today, the Athens Cultural Center continues with that tradition and celebrates the beauty of the Hudson River Valley by serving as a home for artist, performers and patrons.  

• Art House Productions (www.arthouseproductions.org )

Art House Productions will receive a $500 community grant award.

Art House Productions, a pioneer of artistic and cultural programming in New Jersey’s Hudson County, is the producer of Your Move - the state’s only modern dance festival now in its eleventh year. The award will help with production costs for an event that celebrates a diverse cross-section of dance talent through an event that encourages community engagement.

We’re grateful for all of the applications we received for our community grant award offering. Please follow Masterwork Arts on Facebook or Twitter to find out about more learning opportunities or sign up for our e-newsletter on www.masterworksarts.org. 

For questions or more information, email masterworksarts@gmail.com.

The Masterwork Music and Arts Foundation has been supporting excellence in the arts for over 50 years. 100 percent of your donation funds art and artists through community grants, competitive awards, and a premier award for an emerging artist. Find ou more at www.masterworkarts.org.

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All About our Vocal Competition Awardee, Stephanie E. Leotsakos

Included below is an excerpt from an interview with the Masterwork Arts Vocal Competition Award winner, Stephanie E. Leotsakos: 

Stephanie, congratulations on your Masterwork Arts award!

You are the very first awardee of this level gift, which is significant for Masterwork Arts. As you may know we offer community grants to local arts groups and small arts organizations, competitive awards like our Choreography Competition Award - those are lower level awards meant to help cultivate an appetite for “excellence in the arts.” Your award was offered in the hopes of helping an emerging professional go to the next level in their career. We’re just curious, Masterwork Arts has been around for over 50 years, but was recently revitalized. Were you aware of us before this competition?

I was not aware of the Masterwork Arts Foundation before learning of this opportunity for emerging professionals, but I am so glad that it was recently revitalized. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to have been granted this award, especially in these difficult times for artists like myself. I hope, as you do, that it will facilitate great forward momentum in my professional career. I am very encouraged by your support!

Can you tell us a little more about your background in music? While it wasn’t a factor in your award, we noted that you are also a composer. 

Yes, I’d be happy to! I began my musical journey with a little help from Mr. Rogers back in 1996, when he showed me what a violin was on the T.V. I was only two, nearly three years old, and I fell in love with the sound of the violin while watching that particular episode, after which I asked my parents for a violin and a “stick.” My parents, both non-musicians, granted me that wish on my third birthday and found me a local teacher. I’ll love them forever for that gift and the years they spent afterwards supporting me. I studied classical violin and piano through the end of high-school. The violin was my first voice.

The piano was my second voice. My journey as a composer is wrapped up with my instrumental development. Being Suzuki trained, my ear developed quickly, I memorized easily, and I found myself inventing music in my head. The first song I remember composing was for piano at age six; a song which I now assign to some of my own young students. I improvised often with my instruments, especially piano, and could pick up or harmonize nearly anything with my violin, which became one of my favorite pastimes. I would simply remember everything I composed rather than write it down, as I had little confidence with notation, but soon found myself unable to keep up with my own ideas as the compositions in my head became more complex and often surpassed my personal skill on my instruments. It wasn’t until half-way through university that I took the leap to become a composer and tackle notating my own ideas, as well as take the leap to become a singer. It was in my junior year at Princeton University that I had a change in identity, from a violinist who could sing to a singer who could play violin.

Singing combined all my previous musical instincts and eventually became my most mature and preferred voice for performance art. During my late high-school years, I was injured and spent months struggling with mental health while in physical therapy for tendonitis in my wrists and hands, which affected my success as a violinist auditioning for collegiate music programs. After countless conservatory rejections, Princeton University, my dream school, accepted me, and with Princeton’s support, I freely explored myself as an artist and academic. Princeton was the birthplace of my love for opera, and was where I met my voice teacher, David Kellett.

I began studying with David in January of 2015, in the spring semester of my junior year at Princeton. Just prior, I had begun experiencing much artistic and intellectual change, self discovering that perhaps my voice, not the violin, was the instrument with which I might ultimately serve music best. It was an extremely disorienting time, one where I felt my musical identity was being broken down, though in reality it was metamorphosing. That school year was the first time in my life that I was no longer a part of an orchestra, but instead fully committed to singing, even serving as assistant student conductor of the Princeton University Glee Club. David, an extremely knowledgeable vocal technician and demonstrative tenor, built me as a singer from the ground up, with expertise passed down to him by his teacher, Charles Reading, and his teacher’s teacher, the tenor Giuseppe DeLuca. Within a single semester, he helped me achieve main-stage roles in a NYC summer program, and prepared me the following year for a full recital in six languages in completion of the certification program in vocal performance. In my senior year, I also composed, produced, and conducted the premiere of my first chamber opera, titled OMG, with an original libretto and score, for my undergraduate senior thesis at Princeton. Upon graduating with a B.A in Music with a concentration in composition and a certificate in vocal performance, I was awarded the Isidore and Helen Sacks Memorial Prize by the music department for “extraordinary achievement in the arts.” 

Presently, David remains my voice teacher, though my lessons have been irregular since graduating, due to the financial struggles of beginning one’s career as a working freelance artist. I have tenaciously pursued as many opportunities as I could self-fund, but while building a private music studio of my own and pursuing those opportunities, like many other artists, I have struggled with the realities of making ends meet while trying to gain visibility and traction as an emerging professional. Some of my various endeavors after graduating were self-producing the revival of my opera in NYC, singing, assistant-directing, and assistant-conducting various operas with Amore Opera Company in NYC, assistant-conducting the NJ Sussex County Youth Orchestras, singing vocal solos with the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra and Riverside Opera Company, administratively working for Paterson Music Project, singing in liturgical settings, concertizing with Adelphi Orchestra, completing a NJ certification in music education through Princeton’s Teacher Preparation Program, and developing an original methodology for teaching music theory through my private studio. Presently, I have been continuing my teaching, research, compositional work, and singing while completing a M.A. in composition at Rutgers University, where I work as section leader and soloist in the Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir, as an undergraduate music theory tutor, and as an administrative assistant. 

Would you explain to our readers what being committed to “excellence in the arts,” a core tenet of our mission, means to you?

“Excellence in the arts” can mean a lot of things. To me, as a creative-performing artist, it means an extreme dedication to one’s inner artistic voice. The ‘excellence’  is in pursuing an honest mastery of oneself, and expressing it authentically through art. The venture of excellence in the arts can take many different forms for everyone, but in the end, the recognition of excellence comes from making an authentic connection with others, after first making and nurturing it with oneself. I believe one’s personal ownership of ‘excellence’ is dependent on the integrity of and belief in the quality of one’s own art.

The world is in a difficult place right now with the Coronavirus, something that hits the performing arts and entertainment industries particularly hard. What are you currently working on and how do you intend to use these funds?

I pray for all those who have been struggling in our current situation with Covid-19. I have many artist friends who are scared for their future and are back in survival mode, a mode I know all too well. I do think this situation is going to change our industry moving forward, and my goal and advice to others has been to try to embrace the change and stay at the forefront of artistic invention with the resources available to us. I intend to stretch these funds as far as they can go and invest wisely, firstly financing a year’s worth of weekly voice lessons with my teacher, which I have longed for for some time. Secondly, I intend to use some of the funds for online marketing and professional branding, though I’ll be making thoughtful and frugal decisions on that front based on how I see the industry’s climate changing. How I might have spent the money before Covid-19 may change because of the virus, as I anticipate technical expertise and online visibility playing a much greater role in our industry moving forward. My hope is that it won’t be a shallow change, but a fundamentally wholesome one, with new versions of what opera can look like and how the arts, in general, are funded.  

Is there anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

I want to thank everyone once again for their support, and for caring to hear my voice. I hope to remain an active artistic and educational voice in the community moving forward. If anyone would like to follow my career, I can be found on Instragram @stephanieleotsakos and Facebook @StephanieComposerSoprano, or you can subscribe to my YouTube channel @StephanieLeotsakos and visit my website: www.stephanieleotsakos.com. 

We’re looking forward to celebrating your award win over a small concert at some point in the future, Stephanie. Thank you for your example and for sharing some of your story here. 

You are most welcome, and I look forward to the future concert! Thank you for inviting me to share my story with you.

Stay well and continued success with your vocal career, Stephanie!

Masterwork Arts Announces the $10K Vocal Competition Award Winner

The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation is proud to announce the winner of our Vocal Competition Award, Stephanie E. Leotsakos.

The Competition had many excellent candidates. The final winner, Soprano, Stephanie E. Leotsakos, was selected because of her outstanding artistic skill and talent, her commitment to excellence in the arts, and the range of her musical accomplishments. For more about Stephanie E. Leotsakos, visit: https://www.stephanieleotsakos.com/about.

The Vocal Competition Award was designed to aid an emerging singer with his or her career aspirations and development. The Competition was national, and open to singers in all genres.  Each of the many contestants sent a fifteen-minute video, an essay and a biographical profile. 

The Vocal Competition Award is the brainchild of Wayne Walters, an accomplished singer, conductor, music educator and composer. We are proud to have Wayne Walters as a lead member of the Masterwork Music and Art Foundation Board.

We want to thank our team of adjudicators, an esteemed team that included choral directors, music educators and musicians, who evaluated the applications:  Roberta Maher, Jason Tramm, Matthew Lee, Rosemary Messineo, Mary Elena Mammon, Patty Ruggles, Elizabeth Perryman, Bob Hoven, Hadiza Dockeray and Stephen Bryant.

Our heartfelt thanks to all involved - the media outlets and community partners who promoted our award offering, our talented applicants, and our esteemed group of adjudicators. 

The Masterwork Foundation will present Stephanie E. Leotsakos in concert in Morris County.

The date has not yet been set due to Covid-19.

Masterwork Music & Art Foundation was founded more than 60 years ago in Morristown, New Jersey. The Founders, Shirley May and David Randolph, were passionate about the arts and understood the importance of nurturing developing artists, and making the arts available to a broad audience. Generations of artists were influenced by the years of concerts, theatrical events and fine arts projects Masterwork Arts funded and produced. 

Today, Masterwork Arts supports excellence in the arts through a variety of grant offerings and awards. To find out more, sign up for our enewsletter on www.masterworkarts.org. 

Call for entries --- 2020 Masterwork Arts Community Grant Opportunities

May 23, 2020 release

Apply to masterworkarts@gmail.com by midnight Wednesday, June 17th to be considered for the 2020-2021 grant season.

Each year, The Masterwork Music and Arts Foundation issues a number of community grants to organizations or individuals striving for excellence in the arts. This year, our Board has refined the criteria and expanded our offerings. For the 2020-2021 community grant season, we’ll be giving out four grants. One grant will be given at the $1,000 level. Three additional grants will be issued at the $500 level. Artists and Arts Organizations in New Jersey and New York are encouraged to apply. 

Here are more specifics on our grant criteria: 

• We’re looking for the best proposals for arts projects that encompasses fine and performing arts - including music, dance, visual, theatrical and literary works.
• Individual aspiring artists and arts organizations in New Jersey and New York are encouraged  to apply, including past awardees.
• Applicants will need to fill out the official form and submit to masterworkarts@gmail.com by midnight  Wednesday, June 17th, 2020.
• Works that illustrate a commitment to excellence in the arts -- either through theme or by design will receive greater consideration.
• Works that engage the community in some way will receive greater consideration. 
• Applicants should identify how The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation will be recognized in relation to the work. 
• Awardees agree to be featured in Masterwork Arts promotional materials, promote Masterwork Arts offerings and will be required to participate in a Masterwork Arts fundraising event. 

Awardees will be notified by June 30th. 

How to apply:

Email masterworkarts@gmail.com for your application. Fill it out and email it back to masterworkarts@gmail.com  before midnight Wednesday, June 17th, 2020. 

For questions about the above contact masterworkarts@gmail.com

   The Masterwork Music and Arts Foundation

   Supporting Excellence in the Arts

   www.masterworkarts.org  

   718-964-8841

   Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

#MasterworkArts #LovetheArtist #LovetheArts 

Kudos To Our Choreography Competition Winners

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.” Martha Graham

April 2020

Our adjudicator’s scores are in and we’re pleased to announce that Catie Leasca will receive the top award of $500 for her choreography to Billie Elish’s “badguy.” Catie’s work featured a number of dancers, including Kayla Casellon, Rebecca Corrigan, Elizabeth Dahiell, Emily Knieriem, Gabriella Sibeko, Sophie Tibiletti, in addition to Catie herself. The work was expertly filmed and edited by Jayna Photography.

Among the comments from our panel of professional adjudicators was this, “What’s great and unusual about this submission as a dance work is that when you strip away the (well done) camera work, you have an equally strong and polished choreographic work. Terrifically executed, this piece made me want to see a full evening of the choreographer’s work.”

Catie has a web site at www.catieleasca.com, where you may sign up for her newsletter and stay informed. She also has  an active presence on Instagram at @cati_ay.

We think you’ll enjoy Catie’s work. Click on this image to view her submission:

Masterwork Arts also issued an Award to the choreographic submission with the most votes, which goes to Kayleigh Amerman for her work, “Grow As You Go,” an autobiographical piece that featured beautiful  lines and a great use of space. Click on the image below to view Kayleigh's work:

And a special emerging artist award was issued to Danielle Pinney, who submitted two works - an aerial choreography as well as a lyrical dance piece, which showcased the breadth of her talent and range. Click on this image of Danielle to view her work:

This was our foundation’s first dance award and we couldn’t be more happy with the results. 

We look forward to sharing more from these dancers on Facebook in the months ahead and wish them all the best in their dance careers! 

#MasterworkArts #LovetheArtist #LovetheArts

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Announcing our $10,000 Vocal Competition Award!

The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation is pleased to announce a premiere award for an emerging vocal artist. $10,000 will be awarded to the winner of a vocal competition. The selected finalists for this award will also perform at the new Madison Cultural Center. This is the largest such award the organization has offered since the it was founded, over fifty years ago in Morristown, New Jersey. 

Long committed to supporting “excellence in the arts,” Masterwork Arts recently revised their offerings to provide three levels of support — community grant awards which are issued to organizations, smaller competitive awards which are issued to contest winners in a variety of arts and their premiere award - the largest monetary gift issued to a single artist. While this year the premiere award is going to a vocal artist, Masterwork plans to rotate the award across all of the arts over time. The Vocal Competition Award is accepting applicants through midnight, March 2 via the Masterworkarts.org web site. (see: Vocal Competition Award)

Applicants may also mail their submissions to:

       Masterwork Music and Art Foundation

       P.O. Box 1116, 

       Madison, NJ 07940.

Each entry must include a fifteen minute video of vocal performance, an essay on how the award would further the entrant’s professional career, a resume and two references. 

Finalists will be announced on April 15 and selected for a performance on Sunday, May 3rd at the (new) Madison Cultural Center. 

There is no age limit for this award and the award is not restricted to any single music style. However, the contest will be adjudicated by eleven professional musicians, as well as the organization’s Board. 

The inspiration for the award came from Wayne Walters, a longtime community arts leader, the conductor or the Morris Choral Society, composer and singer. Wayne is also a Board member of Masterwork Arts and has adjudicated a number of competitions. 

For questions or more information, email masterworksarts@gmail.com.

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The Masterwork Foundation Online Dance Competition!

Enter to win $500 for the best choreography. $100 for the submission with the most votes.

DEADLINE Extended to February 29th, 2020!

For details and how to submit your work, visit the contest web site: https://platform.heyo.com/…/TheMasterworkFoundationOnlineDa… 

Masterwork supports excellence in the arts.

#MasterworkDanceContest #WeLovetoDance

Introducing...our new logo!

The Board of the Masterwork Music and Art Foundation is pleased to present our new logo -- a new look for an expanded mission:


Special thanks to Tony Turner for his assistance.

Call for entries --- Masterwork Foundation Community Grant Opportunities

May 20th release

Apply to masterworkarts@gmail.com by midnight Wednesday, June 12th to be considered for the 2019-2020 grant season.

Each year, Masterwork Foundation issues a number of community grants to organizations or individuals striving for excellence in the arts. This year, the Masterwork Foundation Board has refined the criteria. For the 2019-2020 community grant season, we’ll be giving out three grants. One grant will be given at the $1,000 level. Two additional grants will be given at the $500 level. Artists and Arts Organizations in New Jersey and New York are encouraged to apply. 

Here are more specifics on our grant criteria: 

• We’re looking for the best proposals for arts projects that encompasses fine and performing arts - including music, dance, visual, theatrical and literary works.
• Individual aspiring artists and arts organizations in New Jersey and New York are encouraged  to apply, including past awardees.
• Applicants will need to fill out the official form and submit to masterworkarts@gmail.com by midnight  Wednesday, June 12th, 2019.
• Works that illustrate a commitment to excellence in the arts -- either through theme or by design will receive greater consideration.
• Works that engage the community in some way will receive greater consideration. 
• Applicants should identify how Masterwork Foundation will be recognized in relation to the work. 
• Awardees agree to be featured in Masterwork promotional materials, promote Masterwork offerings and will be required to participate in a Masterwork fundraising event. 

Awardees will be notified by June 30th. 

How to apply:

Email masterworkarts@gmail.com for your application. Fill it out and email it back to masterworkarts@gmail.com  before midnight Wednesday, June 12th, 2019. 

For questions about the above contact masterworkarts@gmail.com

   Masterwork Foundation

   Supporting Excellence in the Arts

   www.masterworkarts.org  

   718-964-8841

   Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

#LovetheArtist #LovetheArts 

Join Us on March 24th!

You're Invited to Join Us for the Masterwork Foundation Re-envisioning Event!

The Board of the Masterwork Foundation, is happy to invite the public to our “re-envisioning event” scheduled for March 24th, from 3:00 - 5:00 at the Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey.  Please RSVP to the event here: https://www.paperlesspost.com/flyer/go/Bkog0WQSJb5G3qFXN25b

For those from out of town, the Morris Museum is located at 6 Normandy Heights Road in Morristown. You can find out more about the Morris Museum and their roster of exhibitions and events at www.morrismuseum.org.

Can you tell me more about the Foundation:

The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation was founded in 1955 by Shirley May who had a vision for cultivating excellence in the arts, focusing specifically on music. She worked closely with the renowned choral director, David Randolph, to create a choral society that set a prototype for excellence on a national level. The Chorus maintained a peak of critical acclaim through the 1960s and 1970s through winning critical reviews of their performances, special recording and invitations to perform oversees, as well as on a special PBS feature. 

You can read more about Masterwork’s history on our blog post here: https://masterworkarts.blogspot.com/2019/02/may-25th-1955.html 

The motivation for the event:

Over the years the Foundation has undergone a number of changes, including establishing itself as a separate entity from the Masterwork Chorus. 

You can find out more about the Masterwork Chorus at www.masterwork.org. 

Information about the Masterwork Foundation is available from www.masterworkarts.org.  In addition, you may email the Foundation at masterworkarts@gmail.com and follow us on Facebook and on Twitter (@ArtsMasterwork). 

Most recently, the Board has decided to expand the vision of the organization to serve masterful work in all of the arts through a series of grant offerings. More specifically, awards will be offered in music, dance, the visual arts and the literary arts.  The Board is holding this event to celebrate this new phase and invite participation from our friends and neighbors in the Morristown community.

Who’s invited:

This event is open to the public, but we’re targeting creative artists, creative art lovers and creative art supporters specifically. The Masterwork Foundation offers a role or benefit for each. 

     Creative Artists -  will have an opportunity to apply for our grant and award offerings.

     Creative Art Lovers - can follow news about arts offerings and eventually, updates on the progress and careers of our    awardees. 

     Creative Art Supporters - can support our work through a donation and may establish awards on behalf of friends or family foundations. 

What the event will feature: 

The reception will begin at 3:00 with light hors d’oeuvres and a visual display. At 4:00 we’ll make a short presentation, featuring some of our awardees from the past, followed by an excerpted performance by a special guest.

Attendees will be encouraged to share their contact information and feedback. 

Where can I get more information:

• You can find out more about the Masterwork Foundation or the event at www.masterworkarts.org or email us directly at: masterworkarts@gmail.com 

• For the event, please RSVP from our Paperless Post here: https://www.paperlesspost.com/flyer/go/Bkog0WQSJb5G3qFXN25b

• For press inquiries, contact Todd Whitley, our Executive Director at tmwusa@gmail.com. 

Thank you! We look forward to seeing you on the 24th!

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May 25th, 1955 ...Our Beginning

The following was excerpted from the program for Masterwork Art and Music Foundation's 100th performance of Handel's Messiah, performed at Carnegie Hall on December 18th, 1983:

The History of Masterwork


The Masterwork Chorus was formed with a nucleus of 28 people on May 25th, 1955 in the living room of Shirley May, in Whippany, New Jersey.

Mr. Randolph and Mrs. May set out to create a chorus which would have as its goal, quality of both music and performance. David Randolph became the Music Director and Conductor of The Masterwork Chorus. Under his guidance, the chorus has performed all works in the original language, and with professional accompaniment. 

Mrs. May was eager to sing in a good chorus. Finding none of the quality she had in mind - she decided to create one. The first step was to find other people who shared her desire. After she had gathered 28 of them, her next step was to communicate with David Randolph, whose work she was familiar with through his radio broadcasts and recordings.

The first performance by The Masterwork Chorus was of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. It took place in October of 1955, exactly five months after the group was formed. It was for a United Nations Day celebration, with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, in Newark's Symphony Hall. 

On January 27th, 1956 the chorus gave its maiden concert under its own auspices. Since the date was the exact 200th anniversary of Mozart's birth, the program consisted of his "Requiem," and excerpts from "The Magic Flute."

The following year, the chorus presented Bach's "Mass in B Minor," and on its second birthday performed Bach's "Passion According to St. Matthew." The New York Times found the occasion of sufficient importance to send to Morristown the critic, Edward Downes, who wrote, "One of the greatest moments in music had its full impact upon the audience."

The chorus was then engaged by the prestigious Westminster Recording Company to make one of the earliest stereophonic tapes. It was of the sixteenth century works for double chorus. Typical of the reviews garnered from across the nation was the one in The Review of Recorded Music, "No praise can e too extravagant for this exceptional group and its talented leader."

Reviewing Masterwork's 1958 performance of Bach's "St. John's Passion" in Morristown, Jarold Schonberg wrote in The New York Times, "This is the sort of performance that choral societies throughout the country would do well to emulate."

In 1959, in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the English composer, Henry Purcell, the chorus gave two complete performances in Morristown of his opera, "The Fairy Queen." In his New York Times review of the concert, Eric Salzman concluded with the words, "The Night was hot. The seats were hard. But the performance was worth the discomfort." 

Eugene Ormandy engaged The Masterwork Chorus to appear under his direction with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1959, in a performance of Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy."

In December of 1960, The Masterwork Chorus made its New York City debut with a Carnegie Hall performance of Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" before a sold out house, and to rave reviews in The New York Herald Tribune and The New York Times.

1957 saw the beginning of the series of performances by The Masterwork Chorus of Handel's "Messiah," complete with Handel's orchestration. Ross Parmenter of The New York Times, in his review of Masterwork's first Carnegie Hall "Messiah" performance said, "The chorus is so good that if it decides to come annually to Carnegie Hall, it will be welcome." That statement was somewhat prophetic because every performance for the next three years was sold out. To meet the ever-increasing demand for tickets in subsequent years, the chorus added successively a second, third , fourth and fifth performance. On many occasions, two were given in one day, with the entire chorus and orchestra sometimes giving is afternoon performance in Carnegie Hall, and then moving to Avery Fisher Hall for the evening performance. 

In 1962, The Masterwork Chorus brought to Carnegie Hall its performance of the Brahms Requiem, a work in the romantic style. The New York Post critic said, "It is a joy to report that a mixed chorus of more than 200 from Morristown equalled and possibly surpassed the finest performance of the Brahms Requiem that I ever heard. Of course the star of the evening was the conductor. His chorus must adore him for his musicianship, as this one obviously does. For coherence, fervor, and taste this beat them all, and when the voices were hushed to a ghostly pianissimo, shivers ran down your spine."

Anticipating the opening of New York's Lincoln Center, The Masterwork Chorus reserved a date for an appearance during the very first season of the Philharmonic Hall, as Avery Fisher Hall was then known. On Good Friday, 1963, the chorus, then 242 strong, performed Bach's "Passion According to St. John." In keeping with the intention announced at the time the chorus was formed -- to use the composer's original instrumentation whenever possible -- the orchestra for this performance included the lute, viola d'amore and viola da gamba. 

Commenting on the fact that "a chorus of more than 200 was certainly not a very "Bachian number," The New York Times reviewer, Alan Rich said: "But Mr. Randolph, in addition to being a fine conductor, is also a very shrewd one -- he set himself the task of lightening the tone to fit the kinds of music the chorus is to sing during the long and complex work. It was an excellent compromise, and it worked well." The review ended, "Mr. Randolph's contribution to the evening was in the form of a swift-paced and dramatic reading of the score...which concentrated with considerable success on making an exciting and enlightening evening out of a subtle and difficult masterwork."

Early in 1964, Peter G. Davis wrote in the nation-wide magazine Musical America, "David Randolph's Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra gave a first-rate performance of Mozart's Requiem at Carnegie Hall on November 3rd. It is remarkable how a chorus of this size can adapt to the nature of the work at hand, be it Bach, Brahms, or Mozart. The group brought lucid choral singing to its reading, resulting in a light, floating texture and a lineal clarity perfectly suited to this great work. Furthermore, here was a joy of making music infectiously communicated to the audience. The orchestra provided an excellent accompaniment."

The New York Times critic, Ross Parmenter, wrote of the same performance, "The massed tone was beautiful, the flow of line was controlled and the singing was expressive."

Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall was again the scene of one of Masterwork Chorus's  greatest successes. A May 1964 performance of Bach's monumental "Mass in B Minor" elicited the following statement from the critic of The New York Times, "The performance added a high point to a season that has been particularly blessed with fine choral singing." He concluded with the statement, "Because Mr. Randolph knows the baroque style so well, he inspired his performers to communicate what they were feeling and evoking in ways congruent with the character of Bach's music."

Just a few weeks after the Lincoln Center performance, the chorus repeated portions of Bach's "Mass in B Minor" in Princeton in a program that was shared with the organist, Virgil Fox. The concert was part of a several day series of programs given to celebrate New Jersey's Tercentenary. 

Another appearance at Philharmonic Hall followed in March of 1964, when the chorus was invited to participate in a program of contemporary Israeli music together with Jan Pierce, Jennie Rourel, Julius Rudel and Charles Munch. The chorus opened and closed the program with a series of modern Israeli works in different styles. 

In 1965, just ten years after its founding, The Masterwork Chorus was designated by The Music Journal, a nationwide publication, as one of the "Twenty-Five Outstanding Choruses in America." 

The tenth anniversary of The Masterwork Chorus was celebrated with two concerts -- one in May of 1965, in Morristown, and the second, one week later in Carnegie Hall, titled "Joyous Baroque Works." The critic, Louis Biancolli, referred to the latter as, "One of the season's most soul-satisfying concerts. Whether in straight orchestral music by Bach and Handel or in choral masterpieces by Back and Vivaldi, the standards were of the highest quality last night. "Writing in the New York Work-Telegram and Sun, he continued, regarding Bach's "Magnificat,"" Bach's work lives up to its title, as last night's performance, thanks to Randolph's inspiring command of detail and outline, lived up to Bach. It refreshed and lifted the spirit."

The following year, 1966, saw the chorus bring to Carnegie Hall Bach's "Passion According to St. Mathew." Carnegie Hall was also the scene of its presentation of two widely contrasting twentieth century works -- Vaughn Williams's "Mass in G Minor" and Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," in 1967.

In July of 1967, The Masterwork Chorus was invited by Channel 13 to give two one and a half hour telecasts of David Randolph's actual rehearsals of Bach's "Mass in B Minor." The programs were considered important enough to have been re-broadcast twice. 

In May of 1968, The Masterwork Chorus repeated its success with Bach's "Mass in B Minor," this time in Carnegie Hall. That was followed, in October of the same year, by a Philharmonic Hall performance of Purcell's opera, "The Fairy Queen," the same work that had been given in Morristown on the 300th anniversary of the composer's birth. 

The critic, Byron Belt, wrote of this performance, "David Randolph and Leopold Stokowski performed neglected music over the weekend. In any contest for quality, Randolph and his splendid Masterwork Chorus of Morristown would have won hands down."

"It must be noted for the record that the chorus was probably 10 times too large for the work, but they were so handsomely prepared and conducted, by one of the best conductors in the business, that their lightness and articulation would have done honor to any professional group."

New York's newspaper, The Villager, said, "The Masterwork Chorus is capable of exquisite refinement of tone in addition to possessing the massiveness that can be expected from 150 healthy voices."

A partial listing of The Masterwork Chorus's subsequent undertakings includes three performances of the Brahms "Requiem" in 1970, one in Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall with The Masterwork Orchestra, one with the Suburban Symphony Orchestra in Cranford, New Jersey, and one with the Philharmonic Symphony of Westchester, in Mount Vernon, New York. 

The following year saw two performances of Verdi's Requiem, one in Morristown, and one in New York City. In 1972 the chorus was engaged by the New Jersey Symphony, conducted by Henry Lewis, for a Garden State Arts Center performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. A re-engagement resulted the following year for two performances of the same composer's  "Choral Fantasy" --- first in Hackensack, New Jersey, and then in Carnegie Hall.

Included in the repertoire of the chorus were Handel's "Solomon," Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" and Vaughn Williams's "Sea Symphony," all of which were performed for New Jersey's "Spectrum" Festivals. 

There was an appearance with the Waterloo Festival Orchestra, under Gerard Schwarz, in Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy." 

The chorus has not limited its repertoire to just the standard classical works. Among the twentieth century masterpieces performed by The Masterwork Chorus are Vaughn Williams's "Dona Nobis Pacem," "Poulenc's "Gloria," Bloch's "Sacred Service," Honegger's "King David," Durufle's "Requiem," and Kodaly's "Missa Brevis."

Writing in the Sunday Star-Ledger on October 2, 1983, Gordon Bishop said: "There's nothing quite like The Masterwork Foundation anywhere in America." 

Renowned choral conductor, David Randolph

Masterwork Art and Music Foundation visionary and founder, Shirley May

For more information about The Masterwork Foundation, contact MasterworkArts@gmail.com, or follow us on Facebook @MasterworkFoundation and on Twitter @ArtsMasterwork.