Queens College Choral Society Will Present Duke Ellington’s The Best of the Sacred Concerts in Collaboration with the Louis Armstrong House Museum for Its 85th Annual Winter Concert December 14
—A jazz orchestra that includes students from the college’s music school will accompany over 100 Choral Society members in a presentation featuring vocal soloists and tap dance performances—
Flushing, NY, December 8, 2025—The Queens College Choral Society (QCCS) will present Duke Ellington’s The Best of the Sacred Concerts for its 85th annual Winter Concert on Sunday, December 14, at 4 pm in Colden Auditorium in the Kupferberg Center for the Arts. Ellington wrote three Sacred Concerts in the last decade of his life, drawing on spirituals, jazz, blues, and other genres to create moving, nondenominational music. He conducted the premiere of each work. As the title implies, The Best of the Sacred Concerts is a compilation published and performed separately.
Over 100 members of the Choral Society will perform 17 selections accompanied by a jazz orchestra led by Bruce Harris, artistic director of programs at the Louis Armstrong House Museum, a designated national historic landmark administered by the college. The orchestra’s rhythm section will comprise students from the college’s Aaron Copland School of Music.
The concert, conducted by QC music professor James John, will feature tap dancer Marshall Davis Jr., a member of the QC faculty who has appeared on and off Broadway; narrator Randall Keith Horton, a QC alumnus who served as Ellington’s conducting and composing assistant; and vocal soloists Maya Raisha, Briana Swann, and C. Anthony Bryant.
In addition to leading the Choral Society, John directs the college’s choral studies program, the graduate program in choral conducting, and the school’s Vocal Ensemble.
Tickets are $32 and $7 for students with a valid QCID. Free parking is available. Visit the Kupferberg site to purchase tickets; Ticketmaster fees apply. For special family pricing, contact Emily John at qcchoralsociety@gmail.com.
Founded in 1941, the Queens College Choral Society is “a singing organization of and for the public, students and staff of Queens College.” The Society typically performs two concerts per year with orchestra—in December and May—devoted to the great masterpieces of choral literature such as Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Bach’s Magnificat, and Handel’s Messiah. The QCCS has also performed multiple premieres of new compositions, including works commissioned by the Queens Symphony Orchestra. The group is open to singers of all backgrounds and skill levels, from high school students to adult community members.
-30-