Photo Courtesy of ESU Insider
BY DANIELLE ERTLE
SC Staff Writer
On Saturday, December 14, ESU’s A Cappella Ensemble performed at the White House for the Holiday Open House.
This Ensemble consists of about 14-18 student singers and they were asked to perform holiday and classical songs for the White House after an audition.
This opportunity was conducted by Associate Professor of Music, Dr. James Maroney, who founded the group. The students have also performed in China, Austria, Italy, Toronto, and Boston.
Dr. Maroney submitted an application and recorded performances of the group back in September 2012. Soon after he received a letter of acknowledgment, but nothing was heard for a year.
By November 2013, he received the invitation for the A Cappella Ensemble to perform at the White House for their Holiday Open House.
Unfortunately, the president and his wife were not present for this event, but they performed their musical selections several times for about two hours.
It was a long performance, but Dr. Maroney had a lot of music that the audience would enjoy for the upcoming holiday season.
“Some of them were holiday oriented, and we added a few extra holiday selections—which had to be learned in only a couple rehearsals—to round out the program,” said Dr. Maroney.
He also had the group perform other music they had rehearsed for their December 4 Winter Choral Concert which included historical eras and languages.
“To perform at the White House by invitation is an experience and honor that the singers will remember for the rest of their lives,” Dr. Maroney said.
“We were proud to represent East Stroudsburg University musically to a large group of people attending the event from around the country and internationally.”
According to Dr. Maroney, most of the members are non-music majors, but they work hard to bring music to life.
“The singers work hard to finely polish often-challenging music in many different languages, and do so in addition to carrying heavy course loads in their major,” said Dr. Maroney.
Email Danielle at:
dertle@live.esu.edu
