The “Sail Away: Exploring the Sea” performance will take place on Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. at BCIT in Medford.
Sail away and embark on a musical journey with the South Jersey Pops performance of “Sail Away: Exploring the Sea” scheduled for Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. at Burlington County Institute of Technology in Medford.
Twelve of the 23 Seneca Chamber Singers will accompany the nonprofit orchestra for two musical pieces, including the opportunity to perform the opening piece.
“I’m always striving to find opportunities for experience for the kids, we want them to experience new things,” Seneca Chamber Singers Director Rob DiLauro said. “In the years we’ve been here, my choir has never sung with an orchestra.”
DiLauro reached out to SJ Pops to set up a performance taking place in the spring, and coincidentally was offered the chance to have singers take part in “Sail Away.”
James Hoffman, a junior at Seneca, is taking part in his second year with Chamber and is looking forward to the experience to sing alongside a professional orchestra.
“When an opportunity is there you really have to take it and be ready for anything,” Hoffman said.
Similarly, junior Hannah Butler, who is partaking in her first year of Chamber, said “It’s just really cool to have these new experiences and share it with everyone. It’s all fresh and new and really different from what I was doing last year.”
Not only is this a fun experience for the singers, it is a chance for growth and development as musicians.
Emma DiLauro, senior at Seneca, plans to pursue music education as a career path, and expressed the importance of singing with an accompaniment. She stated that being able to hear the choir and the orchestra fit together at the rehearsal provided her the chance to grow even further as a singer.
“We’ve never sung with an orchestra before and we’ve done different things over the years, but I think this is something that is really important for everyone in the choir to experience. I feel like it’s a different realm of music, it’s a different atmosphere,” Emma said. “It’s a very strong performance. The songs we’re singing are very powerful, loud, strong. I think the audience is going to be blown away by the power of it.”
Rob chimed in and said collaboration is one of the things that makes one strive to be a better musician, and the experience of being around other musicians can be very rewarding. As for the students he directs, he feels lucky to have students so eager to grow musically.
“I feel fortunate to have singers that were so willing to jump at the chance to do something new and exciting,” Rob said. “For me it’s just wonderful working with them.”
To purchase tickets, visit www.southjerseypops.org/events.
