Stockton Professor of Music Beverly Vaughn, right, leads the choir during a performance of ‘Messiah’ in 2022. The university is recruiting singers for this year’s production. Photo credit: Stockton University

(GALLOWAY, NJ) -- The Stockton University Performing Arts Program is recruiting singers for the 16th production of Handel's "Messiah," in December. All members of the community interested in singing are welcome, no audition is required.

Rehearsals begin Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at 6:30pm in the Campus Center Theatre at Stockton and continue Sundays and Mondays until the performance on December 8 at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. Solo auditions for the performance will take place  on October 13 at 3:30pm.

Stockton Professor of Music Beverly Vaughn will again lead the Stockton Oratorio Society community choir, which is open to all interested singers, regardless of the level of experience. The group includes Stockton students, members of area choirs and community members.

“The Stockton Oratorio Society and the School of Arts and Humanities have been involved in producing Handel’s ‘Messiah’ for 40 years,” Vaughn said. “We are anticipating that this year’s concert could be the largest in the university’s history.”

To sign up, or for more information, visit stockton.edu/oratorio or contact music@ stockton.edu.

The Stockton Oratorio Society is a community choir and is open to all interested singers, regardless of the level of experience. Through its supportive rehearsal atmosphere and congeniality, all members feel connected and enriched. The choir is particularly noted for its by-annual messiah galas and wide range of performance repertoire.

The Stockton Oratorio Society community choir, formerly known as the Stockton Chorale, was founded by Dr. Leonard Klein in the early 1970s. From the very beginning, the non-auditioned choir has been composed of both students and the community who join together to present outstanding choral music in performances in an inclusive, supportive environment.

Stockton University is ranked among the top public universities in the Northeast.  Our almost 10,000 students can choose to live and learn on the 1600-acre wooded main campus in the Pinelands National Reserve in South Jersey and at our coastal residential campus just steps from the beach and Boardwalk in Atlantic City. The university offers more than 160 undergraduate and graduate programs.