FBC Pine Bluff choir members perform ‘This is Christmas’ at Carnegie Hall

A concert poster is displayed on the Carnegie Hall marquee, announcing the ‘This is Christmas’ performance. (Submitted)

Members of the Sanctuary Choir of First Baptist Church in Pine Bluff recently went to The Big Apple to perform at Carnegie Hall.  

The historic and iconic music venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, is known for its legendary acoustics and as a premier destination for world-class performances.  

The group of 20 choir members, along with their families and friends, traveled to New York from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2 to participate in a special performance of “This is Christmas” on Monday, Dec. 1, with the composer, Mary McDonald, conducting the Distinguished Concerts International (DCI) singers and full professional orchestra. This was the choir’s second time performing at Carnegie Hall.  

The first time was in 2019. Minister of Music and Children Dr. Bryan Bolton said McDonald is a long-time family friend, and she invited the choir to audition. They submitted a video, were accepted, and made their Carnegie Hall debut. After that performance, they became alumnus of DCI, opening the door to future possibilities of performing at the venue.  

When the invitation was sent out at the end of last year to perform at Carnegie Hall this fall, Bolton said they accepted and began preparing for the performance. They flew out of Little Rock on Nov. 28, arrived in New York, and began rehearsals that Saturday.  

They performed in Act 1 of three Acts. Bolton said they were one of 18 choirs, totaling around 275 singers, on stage for Act 1. Once their parts were complete, singers in Act 1 and Act 2 took seats in the audience to listen to the remainder of the concert. At the end of the concert, all the choir members joined in with the singers of Act 3 to sing the final chorus.   

“That was a big thrill for everybody involved,” Bolton said. Following the concert, each Act was escorted to a reception at a local restaurant near Carnegie Hall.  

“The really cool part about the choir, the rehearsal time, is that you’re sitting next to someone you may not ever see again. But for this moment, we are doing the same thing at the same time, making music together and doing it in such a way that it lifts up the name of the Lord in such a secular environment,” Bolton said. “We don’t know who was in that audience that needed to hear that for the very first time. And the fact is, Mary’s music, it just glorifies God from start to finish in her lyrics that she uses. Her lyrics just lift you up. … She conducts with such compassion and joy because she’s conducting her music that she has written that God has inspired.”  

Bolton encouraged all the churches in the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC), if they have the opportunity to do this, do it. He would be happy to talk to anybody that wants to know more about it.  

Outside of rehearsals and the performance, the group also had the opportunity to explore New York City, try local cuisine, and take in some of the sights.  

The full choir will present the same “This is Christmas” program at First Baptist Church in Pine Bluff at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14. They will be accompanied by a string ensemble from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. “It’ll still give us that feel of the Carnegie Hall experience,” Bolton said. “I wanted to bring just a little sample of that back here at home.”