Singers’ concert of a lifetime

The delighted singers in New York . . . (from the left) Gerry Ball, Ann Illingworth, Alice Rae, MD Jonathan Griffiths, Chrissie Whitehead, composer Karl Jenkins, David Illingworth, Valerie Kavanagh, Ian Ball and Martin Kavanagh

THE BIG Apple beckoned for a team of singers from Saddleworth as they swapped their quaint villages for New York as part of a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Members of the Saddleworth Musical Society were stunned when they received a phone call inviting them to perform at the world-famous Carnegie Hall.

It was their performance of Karl Jenkins’s Stabat Mater in Uppermill last spring that had caught the attention of the stateside group Distinguished Concerts International.

Never would they have dreamed that in under a year they would be giving a repeat performance in front of the composer himself in one of the world’s most iconic cities.

Singer Gerry Ball, from Mossley, said: “We were completely surprised and puzzled as to how they found out we had performed the piece. We can only assume they had a record of who had purchased the music and gone through a list.

“It was a bit out of the blue and we were a bit dubious, but once we found it was the real deal we could not believe it.”

It was an offer they couldn’t refuse, and nine members packed their bags for a week in the city, almost 3,500 miles from home.

Standing alongside 250 singers from across the USA, they belted out the number in style as part of the Martin Luther King Jr Day celebrations.

They later got a chance to meet Mr Jenkins at a meet and greet.

It was 58-year-old Gerry’s first trip to the Big Apple and her chance to live out the American dream.

She said: “It was amazing, to get up on that stage and sing at Carnegie Hall, it doesn’t get much better.

“The society tends to be quite locally based and it just never occurred to us that something like this would happen to us.”

The city’s first snow flurry couldn’t stop them taking advantage of famous sights such as the Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue and the Statue of Liberty.

Gerry said: “It was just like you see in the movies.”

The society have since been offered an open invitation to take part in any future events.

But for now, it’s back to earth with a bump as they start rehearsing for their next joint concert with Diggle School Choir at the Uppermill Civic Hall on March 27.