Sometimes it seems hard to find the meaning in what we do. We can spend years perfecting and months rehearsing, only to find that our souls have been absent from the process.

Conductor Jahja Ling will lead the Juilliard Orchestra and Choral Union in Mahler’s Second Symphony at Carnegie Hall on December 10. (Photo by Peter Schaaf)

How wonderful it has been, then, in times like these to find a community in a stalwart and unexpected band of merry men and women known as the Juilliard Choral Union. Every Wednesday, 160 Juilliard students, faculty, staff, and community members registered through the Evening Division gather together, under the leadership of its director and conductor Judith Clurman, to learn, laugh, and work their vocal chords off in hopes of connecting with the audience. Be it for the congregation of Temple Sha’aray Tefila, the firemen at Lincoln Center’s station, or the families attending the memorial at ground zero, these singers have found their voices just in time.

This month, let the Juilliard Choral Union and Ms. Clurman take you outdoors one week and indoors the next. On Monday, December 3, Lincoln Center’s annual Holiday Tree Lighting ceremony, which begins at 5:30 p.m. in front of the fountain, features the Choral Union performing a song by Stephen Paulus, carols arranged by Juilliard’s own Brett Abigaña, and the world premiere of “We Are Lights” by Academy Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz, with a text by David Letterman writer Stephen Young. (For those who wish to stay indoors, the event will be aired live on ABC television.) Directly following the tree lighting, join the chorus for a carol sing-along with Academy Award-winner, Broadway star (and native West Sider) Celeste Holm, as part of “Winter’s Eve at Lincoln Square.”

		Making Mahler’s Second a Reality

The following Monday, December 10, the Juilliard Orchestra and Choral Union, under the baton of Jahja Ling, appear at Carnegie Hall (the latter making its Carnegie debut) in a program featuring Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.” A profound masterpiece, the symphony, whose themes of death and rebirth are vividly realized in the climax of the final movement, has appeared from time to time on programs marking historic occasions. Following Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six Day War, Leonard Bernstein led the Israel Philharmonic in a performance of the symphony atop Mt. Scopus, in a concert now considered legendary. Mahler’s Second remains timeless in its ability to connect with audiences and with the eternal. As New Yorkers still reeling from the horrific events of September 11, members of the Choral Union have found unexpected resonance in the power of this work. Although the piece was not programmed specifically in response to the attacks, we look forward to sharing its healing and life-affirming message with you. (Paid tickets are sold out; however, a limited number of free tickets for Juilliard students, faculty, and staff are available beginning November 26. Check with the Juilliard box office.)

Finally, lest readers think that Ms. Clurman has been idle this season, be sure to check out her latest recording with the New York Concert Singers: A Season’s Promise, available on New World Records. Featuring works by Rorem, Bolcom, Paulus, Juilliard faculty member Philip Lasser, and composition students Wayne Oquin and yours truly, “A Season’s Promise” celebrates our world with new music for the holidays. (This CD is available at the Juilliard Bookstore; mention this article and you’ll get a 5 percent discount.)

For more on who we are and what we do, e-mail us at: choralunion@juilliard.edu.

Lance Horne will earn his master’s degree in composition from Juilliard this spring.