Jason C. Tramm to Lead 59th Annual Ocean Grove Choir Festival at Great Auditorium Today

Tonight, July 14, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, Jason C. Tramm will lead the 59th Annual Ocean Grove Choir Festival, one of the premiere sacred music events of the Mid-Atlantic region.

Over 1000 choristers, soloists and musicians will be featured in an evening of works by Ralph Vaughn Williams, Thomas Juneau, John Ness Beck, Rene Clausen, Hubert Parry, and Anton Bruckner. Featured soloists will include Monica Ziglar Soprano, Martha Bartz Mezzo-soprano, Ronald Naldi Tenor and Jeremy Galyon Bass. Renowned musicians Gordon Turk will perform on the Hope-Jones organ with Barbara Prugh, trumpet, John Thyhsen, trumpet, Joan Dowlin, horn, Stephen Shiffer, trombone, and Peter Krill, tuba - members of the Philadelphia quintet, The Festive Brass.

Jason C. Tramm, Music Director and principal conductor of the Ocean Grove Choir Festival for the past seven years, shares the podium with prominent guest conductors Dr. Thomas Juneau, J. Ernest Green, Dr. Cindy Bell, Thomas Berdos, Dr. Mark Boyle and Mark AnDrew Miller. Maestro Tramm is pleased to announce the conducting debut of Ronald Naldi, well known to regional audiences as a long time tenor soloist at the Metropolitan Opera.

The Ocean Grove Choir Festival originally evolved from a workshop for church musicians held in Ocean Grove. Invitations were extended to choral societies in nearby communities and in the Philadelphia area. Dr. Walter Eddows organized the first choir of three hundred singers who participated in the first festival. This year the 59th Annual Ocean Grove Choir Festival represents many of the finest choral and oratorio society's from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Illinois, Louisiana and Tennessee. In addition to his role as Festival Music Director, Jason C. Tramm serves as Director of Choral Activities at Seton Hall University Tramm is the Artistic Director of the MidAtlantic Opera.

In keeping with tradition, the concert and parking is free and open to the public.