PATCHOGUE, NY – OCTOBER 23, 2006 – As part of its 2006-07 cultural arts series, the St. Joseph’s College Council for the Arts is proud to present the internationally acclaimed choir, The Young People’s Chorus of New York City. The performance will take place on November 19, 2006 at 4:00 p.m. in the D’Ecclesiis Auditorium located in O’Connor Hall on the College’s Suffolk Campus. The event is open to the public. All proceeds will go toward a fundraiser for the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Having performed in cities around the world, in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to the White House, the Young People’s Chorus (YPC) has performed for such audiences as Christmas congregations at St. Patrick’s Cathedral to the Queen of the Netherlands. Internationally renown, they have not deserted their New York roots and are often called upon to represent the City of New York. In 2004, the YPC performed at a tree-lighting ceremony in Rockefeller Center and the reopening of the Statue of Liberty. Last summer, they represented the United States on a trip to Kyoto, Japan to perform at the Seventh World Symposium on Choral Music.

Through a group of 250 choristers ranging between the ages of eight and eighteen, the YPC emphasizes its “commitment to musical excellence” alongside its devotion to penetrate economic, ethnic and religious boundaries by providing young people an open atmosphere where the only requirement is desire to further one’s “personal and artistic growth through the study and performance of music.” Recognized by the President’s Commission on the Arts and Humanities, they have been heralded as “a national model of artistic excellence and diversity.” The YPC has also been inducted into the WNET/Thirteen Community Hall of Fame for their work in promoting the arts while not ignoring social and economic implications.

Artistic Director, Francisco Núñez, has received the Child Champion Award from Child magazine, a Liberty Award from the New York Post and a Luminary Award from Casita Maria as a result of his work with the YPC. In 1988, Núñez began the YPC with the idea of kicking off a new youth choir, but leaving soon after. Eighteen years later, Núñez is still the Artistic Director and conducting. Since the beginning, Núñez has brought together the youth of New York City in a completely indiscriminate way, uniting not under social, economic or racial terms, but under the desire to sing and share their voices with the world.

Please join St. Joseph’s College in welcoming Núñez and his choir to perform a variety of songs from their extensive, multicultural, multilingual repertoire. General admission tickets cost $20; discounted tickets for SJC students cost $10. For information or reservations, please call Theresa Sheridan (631) 447-3323 or visit www.sjcny.edu.

About St. Joseph's College

St. Joseph’s College has been dedicated to providing a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. Independent and coeducational, the College provides a strong academic and value-oriented education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aiming to prepare each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual and spiritual values, social responsibility, and service. With campuses located in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn and in Patchogue, Long Island, the College offers degrees in numerous majors, special course offerings and certificates, affiliated and pre-professional programs through its School of Arts and Sciences and its School of Professional and Graduate Studies.