Concerts
85th Annual Winter Concert
Duke Ellington, The Best of the Sacred Concerts
In collaboration with the Aaron Copland School of Music Jazz Department
Sunday December 14, 2025, 4pm
Duke Ellington premiered each of his three Sacred Concerts during the last decade of his life (1965-1974). His exuberance, meditative introspection and devotion shine through these marvelous works, which are one of the most beloved, personal and highly valued expressions of his life and career. Please join us for what is sure to be an incredibly joyful evening!
85th Annual Spring Concert
Saturday, May 16, 2026, 8pm
David Stern, Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass:
Cantata for Soprano Solo, Chorus and Orchestra (World Premiere)
Gabriel Fauré, Requiem
In 1839 Walt Whitman taught in a one-room school house that was on the grounds of the present day Queens College campus. David Stern’s new cantata celebrates the universality of Whitman’s words with music that is ethereal, intimate and profoundly joyful. Fauré’s Requiem is one of the most beloved works in the choral-orchestral repertory, beautiful in its grandeur and deeply comforting in its warmth. Together, these two works offer a heartfelt glimpse into the mysteries of the human soul.
84th Annual Spring Concert
Program
Verdi’s Requiem
Completed in 1874, Verdi's Requiem is a masterpiece of dramatic power and scope, unrivaled in its beauty, magnitude and intensity. Join us for this perennial favorite, one of the greatest masterworks of all time!
Tickets: Tickets $25 — ($5 for students with valid QCID). Free parking. To purchase tickets, please visit: https://kupferbergcenter.org. Note, Ticketmaster fees do apply.
For special family pricing, contact Emily - qcchoralsociety@gmail.com
84th Annual Winter Concert
Program
Joseph Haydn, Lord Nelson Mass
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Dona Nobis Pacem
Frank London, Librettist, Judith Sloan, Final Anthem from 1001 Voices: A Symphony for a New America
Join us for a concert designed to inspire peace and unity in challenging times. Haydn’s Nelson Mass, written during a period of strife in Europe, will be followed by Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem, a heartfelt plea for peace that masterfully combines words from the Latin Mass with poetry by Walt Whitman. The concert will conclude with the final anthem from 1001 Voices: A Symphony for a New America, a project of earsay (composer Frank London/ librettist Judith Sloan) which reimagines Emma Lazarus’s famous poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty as an alternative national anthem.
QCCS will be joined by 200+ high school and middle school singers from across the area, offering a vision of harmony and hope for the future.
Tickets $25 — ($5 for students with valid QCID). Free parking. To purchase tickets, please visit: https://kupferbergcenter.org. Note, Ticketmaster fees do apply.
For special family pricing, contact Emily - qcchoralsociety@gmail.com
For this concert we have a special learning packet available. It’s geared towards families and has worksheets, listening activities, ideas for connections and more to support learning about the music and poetry before the concert. Email Emily for this free packet! Ideal for homeschooling families, music loving families and you!