CHORALFEST USA to Celebrate the Diversity of Choral Music in America

The third annual ChoralFest USA - A Celebration of the Diversity of Choral Music in America, will be presented on Saturday, June 3 from 3 PM to 10 PM at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street in Manhattan.

ChoralFest USA is a marathon concert event created by its Artistic Director Harold Rosenbaum to present performances of choral works written by American and non-American composers, both past and present. In the spirit of Symphony Space's "Wall to Wall" events, audience members may come and go as they please, subject to seating availability, throughout the day.

This event will include performances by groups from throughout New York State, including the John F. Kennedy High School Variety Choir from Bellmore, University at Buffalo Choir, Promise Church Children's Choir from Flushing, Russian Chamber Chorus of New York, the New York Bulgarian Women's Choir, Manhattan's C4: The Choral Composer-Conductor Collective, the Riverside Church Inspirational Choir, Kairos: A Consort of Singers from New Paltz, NYC's Voices of Gotham, LaGuardia High School Women's Choir, The New York Virtuoso Singers and The Canticum Novum Singers of New York City.

After all of the ChoralFest USA participating choirs have individually performed throughout the day, they will gather onstage to perform the William Arms Fisher's choral arrangement of "Goin' Home" under the direction of ChoralFest USA's Artistic Director Harold Rosenbaum. This is presented as part of the New World Initiative (NWI).

The NWI is a community outreach project that evolves from a major event in the New York Philharmonic's history, the 1893 world premiere of Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World, the Philharmonic's first world premiere of a work written in New York.

The concert will conclude with an audience sing-along of Randall Thompson's Alleluia.

The June 3 concert is free and open to the public, however, reserved seats may be purchased for $40 apiece - http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/9435/Music/choralfest-usa. Doors open at 2:30 pm. For more information, call 212-864-5400 or visit http://choralfestusa.org/.

Harold Rosenbaum, recipient of the 2014 Ditson Conductor's Award from Columbia University, is the founder and conductor of the New York Virtuoso Singers and the Canticum Novum Singers. He is the 2010 winner of ASCAP's Victor Herbert Founders Award and the winner of the 2008 American Composer Alliance's Laurel Leaf Award, given in recognition of "distinguished achievement in fostering and encouraging American music."

A strong proponent of and advocate for contemporary composers and American composers in particular, Rosenbaum has commissioned more than 80 works, and has conducted more than 500 World Premieres. Visit him at http://www.haroldrosenbaum.com.