HISTORY OF THE CHORUS
The Hopewell Valley Chorus was founded in 1959 by two Hopewell neighbors who “loved music and wanted to do something meaningful for the community.” (Hopewell Valley News, January 9, 1987)
In the spring of 1960, the chorus gave its first concert featuring folk songs, spirituals, show tunes and Beethoven's Mass in C Minor. In 1962, a December holiday concert was added to the chorus’ calendar. At its two annual concerts, the chorus has continued to perform the works of major composers of the last three centuries, while introducing new works and arrangements.
Over the past 50 years, the chorus has grown, serving as a musical home to more than 700 singers. It includes 60 members from Mercer, Hunterdon, Burlington, and Middlesex counties, in New Jersey, and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. But the philosophy of the founders remains the same.
In 2000, the chorus added Spring into Song, a new yearly concert to its calendar, inviting six other local singing groups to perform separately and together. Donations from this free, afternoon concert have raised more than $10,000 in support of summer “camperships” for the chorus’s outreach partner, the Trenton Children’s Chorus, an annual Spring into Song participant.
Financial Support of the Hopewell Valley Chorus
Hopewell Valley Chorus expenses include music purchases and royalties, insurance, honoraria for the director and accompanist, rental of space for rehearsals and concerts, payments to instrumentalists, printing and mailing. Our annual fund drive supports all of these costs as well as a $1,000 scholarship, annually awarded to a musically gifted high school senior from the Hopewell Valley who plans to pursue music studies at the college level.
Roughly half of the chorus' income derives from ticket sales, with another quarter coming from member dues. The balance depends on the generosity of members and concert patrons along with friends and businesses in the community.
A $1,000 grant from the MetLife Volunteer Ventures program supported the 2007 Spring into Song. Additional funding for the chorus has been made possible through funding from the New Jersey Council on the Arts / Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by funds from the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commision.
Endless hours of donated time from members and friends also help defray costs.
We are grateful for financial support from:
Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission
