Martin Sedek, Music Director
Carol Walker, Assistant Director

Dr. Martin Sedek has been named the fifth Music Director of Masterwork Chorus, starting September 2024. Learn more about Dr. Sedek here.

Founded in 1955, the non-profit chorus is dedicated to enrich, delight and support the cultural life of the community through high-quality inspiring choral performances.

With three major concerts each year, Masterwork has performed throughout New Jersey as well as Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall and Kennedy Center in Washington. Since 1961, the chorus has returned to Carnegie Hall every year for its signature performance of Handel’s Messiah (the group has performed more than 260 Messiah performances).

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Many singers are long-time members and only four conductors have led Masterwork Chorus since the founding. The Masterwork Chorus is a warm and welcoming group celebrating the joy of music. Everyone is more than welcome.

Masterwork has a small choral chamber ensemble named Women’s Ensemble, an Alumni Association, a community outreach program, informal Summer Sings and ReachOut performances for senior citizens in assisted living and health care centers, patients in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities.

Season Subscription

Season Subscription

Season Subscription

As a season ticket holder you are entitled to Orchestra Center seating for Handel Messiah, Golden Circle seating for Beethoven Mass in C and Christ on the Mount of Olives, as well general seating for Sounds of the Season, and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert. Do not delay, purchase today!

Save over 15% off regular season concert tickets by purchasing a Masterwork Chorus Season Subscription for all 4 Masterwork concerts.

Sounds of the Season

Sounds of the Season

Masterwork Chorus rings in the holiday season with selections from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio along with other classical and contemporary holiday gems, from Gustav Holst to Irving Berlin.

Sunday, December 8, 2024 4:00 pm
Chatham United Methodist Church
Conductor: Martin Sedek

Run time: 70 minutes, no intermission. A complimentary reception will follow.

Handel Messiah 2024

Handel Messiah 2024

Masterwork performs its signature oratorio with full orchestra and professional soloists in our annual appearance on the world’s finest stage.

Soloists:
Rochelle Bard, Soprano
Devony Smith, Mezzo Soprano
Bille Bruley, Tenor
Edwin Jhamal Davis, Bass
Sunday, December 15, 2024 3:00 pm
Dolan Performance Hall
St. Elizabeth University

Conductor: Martin Sedek

Run time: 3 hours including intermission.

Thursday, December 19, 2024 7:30 pm
Carnegie Hall
New York City

Conductor: Martin Sedek

Run time: 3 hours including intermission.

Messiah Sing

Messiah Sing

Welcome in the holiday season! Sing choruses from Handel’s Messiah with members of the Masterwork Chorus, directed by Martin Sedek. Patterned after Masterwork’s popular Summer Sings, the community is invited to sing through this iconic oratorio for the joy of it followed by complimentary refreshments. Bring your own score if possible but loaner scores will be available. For further information, contact Katherine at 973-919-2507 or katherine@beckercomm.com.

Sunday, December 1, 2024 2:00 pm
Chatham United Methodist Church
460 Main Street, Chatham NJ

Conductor: Martin Sedek

Suggested Donation: $15 for singers and $10 for members and non-singers.

Run time: 2 hours, including refreshment break.

Freedom! Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert

Masterwork Chorus, with special guests Montclair State University Jazz Band, present an extraordinary and rarely performed sacred oratorio for chorus and jazz band by icon Duke Ellington. A choral oratorio like you’ve never heard before, fans of classical and jazz alike will be blown away by this exuberant and heartfelt masterpiece.

Saturday, March 22, 2025 7:30 pm
Chatham United Methodist Church
Conductor: Martin Sedek

Run time: 60 minutes, no intermission. A complimentary reception will follow.

Beethoven’s Mass in C & Christ on the Mount of Olives

A full professional orchestra and soloists join Masterwork for a performance of two of Beethoven’s most poignant and dramatic works. Though sacred in subject matter, Christ on the Mount of Olives is a humanistic oratorio whose almost operatic emotional weight laid the groundwork for the secular dramatic oratorios that followed.

Soloists:
Seungchan Hong, Baritone
Saturday, May 17, 2025 7:30 pm
The Concert Hall at Drew University
Conductor: Martin Sedek

Run time, 1 hour, 50 minutes including intermission.

Music . . . can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.

— Leonard Bernstein