MADISON — “We were the only church choir that was present that day [at Carnegie Hall],” said St. Maria Goretti Choir Director Marco Melendez speaking of the recent five-day trip he and members of the St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison choir went on in April.
The choir had performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City on the Friday of their trip, and Melendez said they may have made a lasting impression on some of the young people they sang with.
Concert of choirs
“We were a part of a larger concert of choirs from throughout the country,” said Melendez.
Dressed mostly in their red church choir robes, Melendez, who has been directing the choirs at the parish since 2020 after leaving his position at the Milwaukee Children’s Choir, said the choir stuck out visually when they performed together with “a group from Harvard University as well as several schools throughout the country.”
“Just being in [our] robes is a symbol of what it is we do regularly,” said Melendez.
The five day trip, paid for by the individual members of the choir, went from the Wednesday after Easter to Divine Mercy Sunday. Twelve adults went on the trip including choir members, Melendez, and Fr. Scott Emerson, the pastor at St. Maria Goretti Parish. Everyone in attendance was under the age of 40, with the majority of the choir members ranging from 23 to 33.
“For some of them, it was nostalgic because they remembered touring with their friends in college or in high school,” he said. “But specifically, being with their Church family, being able to pray before we went on stage, they were just ecstatic.”
A witness to young people
Melendez added that this witness of young adults active in their parishes and in music ministry could lead the high school and college aged singers to realize that they too could get involved in parish ministry.
“For many people in the choir singing world, [it all] ends whenever they leave high school or college,” he said. “[This is] a great opportunity for these children to see that there are young people who are involved in their churches, who are religious in a very secularized world. What we represent as a parish family is something that seems so miniscule, perhaps in the Midwest, and ordinary. It is not so in a major metropolitan city. So [praying and representing our parish] in this kind of a venue is actually quite special and having these young kids see it first-hand.”
The trip took Melendez very little time to plan. He announced the trip last October at the parish, stirring some interest and then contacted an old friend who owns Harmony Tours, “a company that offers performances in different concert halls and venues throughout the nation,” he added.
The rest of the trip
In addition to singing at Carnegie Hall, the choir attended a Broadway musical and visited a show tunes piano bar in Times Square. On Divine Mercy Sunday, they were able to secure the opportunity to sing at Mass at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, the original cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York when it was just a diocese.
They stayed at The Leo House, a dedicated Catholic nonprofit guesthouse in Manhattan which offers daily Mass on most days in addition to lodging.
“Mother Theresa had stayed there at The Leo House in her visit to New York City I think back in 1994,” said Melendez. “So I thought if it worked for Mother Theresa, it would work for us.”
The trip included two days of free time. During those days, members of the choir tended to stay in groups. Melendez said that while that part of the trip wasn’t planned, most of the choir members chose to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“[This trip was] designed to be the culmination of our season,” said Melendez. “I have always been a firm believer in touring as a component of a music program. We are looking forward to continuing to have tours, whether they’re annual tours or every other year.”