History - Jamestown Community Chorus
Great Choral Singing Since 1949
The Jamestown Community Chorus was founded in 1949 by Mrs. Rita Murray
in conjunction with the Exchange of Topics and Crafts Club, a women's group
on the island. Since then over 400 people have sung with the chorus under
four directors -Mrs. Murray, Virginia Tennant Eastman, Capt. Wilbur Holmes,
and since 1989, B.J. Whitehouse. Janet Grant has been the accompanist since
1989. Joanne Loewenthal was a guest director during the fall of 2000.
We celebrate our 60th anniversary in December 2009 with an eclectic program of
all sorts of music from the last sixty years.
We celebrated 50 years of singing in December 1999 with a gala set of
performances. We staged a very special program that included chorus,
a youth chorus and an Alumni Chorus made up from the 400+ singers that
had sung with us throughout the years. Virginia Tennant Eastman was named
Jamestown Community Chorus Director Emerita at the performance.
The chorus is quite active and has participated in concerts, Christmas
tree lightings, choral festivals, exchange concerts, talent shows, and
sentimental journeys. Current director, B.J. Whitehouse has written a history
of the chorus, which is available at the Jamestown Philomenian Library
as well as the Adams Library at Rhode Island College. The volume at the
Jamestown Library includes a collection of memorabilia donated by past
and present members.
The Chorus is secular, and is a federally-recognized not-for-profit (501(c)3)
community organization that exists solely for the purpose of singing in
and for the community and to encourage choral singing. The chorus supports
a collection of choral music compact disks available at the Jamestown Philomenian
Library. Also, the chorus has always been open to everyone - there are
no auditions. There is a charge for music and a nominal membership fee.
Anyone interested in joining the chorus is encouraged to do so.
The chorus puts on a winter and spring show each year, in addition to appearances
at various events. Preparation for the winter / holiday show starts in
September, and rehearsals for the Spring show start in mid-January. Rehearsals
are on Monday nights, from 7 until 9 PM at the Central Baptist Church at
99 Narragansett Avenue, Jamestown, RI.
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