Mission Statement
The mission of the MUSIC CLUB CHORUS of NEW CASTLE is to prepare and perform George Frideric Handel's Messiah - the watershed oratorio that has excited and challenged humankind for generations -- and to offer to our listeners and performers the distinct opportunity to be a part of this truly monumental classic. We strive to continually develop the musical, artistic, educational, and spiritual aspects of this single work. We aim to include participants across age, racial, and physically challenged spectrums. (The chorus has included the blind and regularly offers an interpreter-in-sign language for the hearing impaired. All performance sites are accessible to the handicapped.) It is common to have both teenagers and octogenarians working on and performing the same voice part.
Did You Know?
In 1939, the MUSIC CLUB CHORUS of NEW CASTLE premiered its annual performance of Handel's Messiah at the First Presbyterian Church in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Originally comprised of members, associates, and friends of the New Castle Music Club, the chorus has recruited members from over forty area churches as well as students from several local high schools and colleges and citizens from across western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. This production has historically featured talented, regional musicians and music educators-- including organists, pianists, vocal soloists, trumpeters, flautists, percussionists, and choir members. The chorus has performed annually (excepting 1969 and 1970) under the leadership of three experienced conductors: Mrs. W. Walter (Ruth) Braham (1939-1968), Mrs. Kenneth (Betty) Gibson (1971-1990), and Harry M. Cunningham (1991-current). Performances have previously been hosted by over a dozen New Castle area churches, the Scottish Rite Cathedral of New Castle, the Third Baptist Church of Youngstown, and Westminster College. The Saturday, November 28, 1998 performance marked the first collaboration between the New Castle Music Club Chorus and Penn State/Shenango.
A Message From Our Director
July 23, 2020
April 2, 2020 We have officially cancelled our Nov. 29, 2020 performance of The Messiah. Without detailing our too-many-reasons-to-list, we've concluded this is best for all of us.
At this writing, we aim to present our 80th anniversary performance on November 28, 2021 at the HOLY REDEEMER ROMAN CATHOLIC PARISH in Ellwood City. (Host, Dave Kosior, will so plan/prepare.)
Meanwhile-- as encouragement you might read through Ecclesiastes 4: 1-12. But be assured that "you are not left with despair. Solomon reminds us of the meaning & satisfaction we find in community with others." -Arthur Jackson (from the Our Daily Bread "insight" for May 9, 2019) We are that community; we are "family." God gives us friends to help face life's battles. -Kirsten Holmberg
Please continue to be safe, well, blessed (for we surely are in so many ways,) & as happy as you can be.
May God [richly] bless you & keep you,.. & may He grant you His [sweet] peace-- today, this summer/fall, throughout the rest-of-2020, & into the new year. We'll be together again before you know it! 
w/ our best as always, -Harry & our NCMCChorus Staff
Dear NEW CASTLE MUSIC CLUB Chorus/Messiah Family,
March has finally "marched" into the history books, & what an unanticipated & incredible month it's been for all of us. At this writing, it seems April may even be bleaker. So many Americans (& fellow world travelers) are sick-- many seriously, & many others may soon leave us. Please know that Carol & I send all of you our warmest virtual hugs 
. I 
that this finds you to be safe & well. It's been too long since we've last seen many of you; for some of you we haven't seen or heard from you for over a year or more. Eugene Peterson once wrote, "I can not be myself by myself."
. I that this finds you to be safe & well. It's been too long since we've last seen many of you; for some of you we haven't seen or heard from you for over a year or more. Eugene Peterson once wrote, "I can not be myself by myself."It's been such a long, lonely, & uncertain Lenten season, & with PASSION SUNDAY, HOLY WEEK, MAUNDY THURSDAY, GOOD FRIDAY, & RESURRECTION SUNDAY now on our horizon, it all seems surreal. This week's evening news casts suggest ominous days & weeks ahead.
If you haven't referred to Psalm 62 lately, you might find some comfort in the psalm of David-- to the choirmaster:
For God alone my soul waits in silence. He only is my rock & my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly moved... For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope* is from Him. He only is my rock & my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests [our] deliverance... Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart[s] before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah Men of low estate... [and] men of high estate... are together lighter than a breath. ...Power belongs to God; ...to Thee, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
And from St. Paul, we read, Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus, [the] Christ... [And] we know that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,* and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. ...having been reconciled, we will be saved by His life.
-from Romans 5
In closing, you might also contemplate: Be still, and know that I am God. (Be still, and know that I AM; Be still, and know; Be still; and Be! ) -Pastor Barry (ST. LUKE's LUTHERAN CHURCH, Cabot, PA)
Stay safe/well/dry/warm/blessed-- for we have been and are still-- / happy as you can be! 
with much 
, in His peace, & for His glory, -Harry
, in His peace, & for His glory, -Harry