The Newburyport Choral Society (NCS) performs outstanding choral music for cultural enrichment and education in the greater Newburyport area, for people of all backgrounds to experience the joy of music. THE NEWBURYPORT CHORAL SOCIETY
The Newburyport Choral Society (NCS) is an educational, non-profit organization dedicated to bringing outstanding choral music to the Greater Newburyport area which
includes the many cities and towns of Essex County and southern New Hampshire. For more than 90 years, NCS has performed an extensive repertoire of choral music from the Renaissance to the 21st century with professional orchestra and soloists. Known for the exceptional quality of its concerts, NCS has set the standard in the performance of choral/orchestral masterworks on the North Shore. No two concerts are alike, and they represent musical offerings that span hundreds of years, a multitude of nationalities and musical styles from oratorios to contemporary living composers of varied nationalities. The quality of NCS concerts springs from a single common bond shared by all of its members — a love of singing and sharing outstanding choral music with community audiences – from the known to the new – from the emotional power of large choral works to the tenderness of smaller a ca****la pieces – from dramatic and innovative contemporary works to lighthearted seasonal music. NCS has a longstanding commitment to equal access to choral participation, inclusion and respect for all people. We recommit to working with and learning from organizations in the arts that are dedicated to social justice in the hopes of achieving meaningful change and equality for all. To foster choral singing among children and youth NCS has developed a collaborative relationship with the Greater Newburyport Children’s Chorus to give these young musicians the opportunity to perform with the NCS chorus and orchestra during our Winter Concerts. The NCS concert rehearsal season begins in September immediately after Labor Day and ends with the Spring Concert. The musical season extends into the summer with the popular Summer Sing, a community event with nearly 200 people coming together, admission free, to listen or join NCS members in singing a choral masterpiece with professional soloists. In January of 2025, NCS created the NCS Chamber Music Singers, a small group of auditioned NCS members who perform choral pieces written for smaller groups of singers. THE NCS ORGANIZATION
NCS is a community chorus – rooted in Newburyport, but also drawing singers and supporters from surrounding towns. Each season, NCS attracts approximately 125 singers from more than thirty communities in eastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire. Singers range in age from high school students to retirees and bring diverse musical backgrounds to their choral experience. The only requirements for membership are a love of singing, commitment to learning the music, and a willingness to participate in the life and well-being of the chorus. NCS members join an artistic and cultural community offering both amateur and accomplished singers vibrant, creative and rewarding musical experiences. New members have the opportunity for enrichment through optional musicianship classes. We sing together, learn together, laugh together, and strive together for excellence in performance. NCS employs two part time professionals, Music Director, Dr. Minji Kim, and NCS Accompanist. Dr. Minji Kim, Ph.D. became Newburyport Choral Society’s Music Director in 2023. Dr. Kim holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) in Choral Conducting from the University of Maryland, a Master of Music (MM) in Choral Conducting from The Ohio State University, and a Bachelor of Music (BM) in Composition from Yeungnam University in South Korea. She is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choirs at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. She has held conducting master classes and has participated in conducting competitions in the United States and around the world. NCS piano accompanist Dr. Kirsten Helgeland holds degrees in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati from which she also holds a PhD in musicology. She has served as accompanist to the Newburyport Choral Society since 2005. Kirsten has performed widely in Ohio, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Illinois, and on WGBH-Radio’s Chamberworks. She teaches at Studio K, Beverly, MA, and is a part-time Lecturer in Graduate Music Education at Gordon College. NCS also contracts with professional soloists and musicians for its performances. Concert soloists are most often graduate students of major Boston music institutions who have just begun their professional performance careers while orchestra members are professional musicians from the Greater Boston area. The day-to-day management of the organization is overseen by a 16-member volunteer Board of Directors made up of active NCS singers. These individuals bring a wealth of experience to the table including business and financial management, administrative expertise, grant development, technology and database management, community relations, fundraising, media, and professional music performance. NCS is fortunate to benefit from an extraordinary amount of management expertise within the Board and in the larger organization. The broader NCS community also includes the children and youth we include in our programs along with the sponsors and advertisers who help support our programs, and our concert audiences. NCS Winter Concerts have been enriched through our collaboration with the Greater Newburyport Children’s Chorus. More than 2,000 tickets are sold each year for the concerts offered during two concerts seasons, and our audiences reflect the diversity of communities in Essex County and southern New Hampshire. NCS is a member of the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce and maintains relationships with the business community that has yielded loyal business sponsors and more than 130 advertisers in concert programs
We believe that music is MORE than the right notes and the right rhythms at the right time – that it is the soul and heart of each individual. We believe in growing as humans, as a community, and as musicians through hard work and great fun.
