'Genuine brotherhood': Ridgewood's Orpheus Club Men's Chorus director taking final bow
RIDGEWOOD — Call it his bittersweet final bow.
John Palatucci, director of the 114-year-old Orpheus Club Men's Chorus for 33 years, will conduct his farewell concert with the singing group on April 30, at First Presbyterian Church.
Palatucci prefers to call it a stepping-back rather than an abrupt cutoff from the 40 to 50 men with whom he has developed friendships over a third of the organization's lifetime.
"I'm not leaving entirely," said Palatucci, a resident of Verona originally from Haskell. "I hope there will be some role for me. There's always a question of leaving too early or too late. I did not want to leave the group during COVID, but now that they're coming back, it's time for a new direction, a younger creative force."
Palatucci was one of five candidates considered to succeed the previous director, Jim Bender, in 1990. He recalls being advised by then-President Frank Strobl during his interview that the group was "not a barbershop chorus," nor was it "interested in any high-minded music theoretical lectures during rehearsals." Somewhere in between.
"I guess I said enough of the right things," Palatucci said. "I got the job."
Over the next three decades, Palatucci led the group from small local winter and spring concerts to a multi-performance season, a 2005 debut at Lincoln Center, 2008 charter membership in the New Jersey Choral Consortium, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and a 2013 debut at Carnegie Hall.
"It's a genuine brotherhood," Palatucci said. "We have a wide range of voices. Our only rules are you have to love to sing, have a desire for fellowship, and have a sense of community service."
The group has embraced a seemingly limitless array of music under Palatucci's leadership, said current President Sam Shaw, "from modern stuff to classics to doo-wop."
"The most unusual may have been our cowboy concert, all Western songs, with the Wild West Village actors and dancers," Shaw said. "Even cowboy hats."
Lou Fucito, a member for 25 years, said the current focus is beefing up the group's numbers, which were diminished during COVID.
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"Some singers are still concerned about COVID and have not come back yet," Fucito said. "There's a desire in the club for levels of diversity, men right out of school who want to continue singing, empty-nesters with more time to practice."
The group will welcome Thomas Juneau, who will pick up the director's baton in June. He is currently the music director for Our Lady of Czestochowa in Jersey City, director and coordinator of choirs for Wagner College, and music director for the Summit Chorale. He holds a doctorate in musical arts in choral conducting from Rutgers University.
Palatucci, 67, said he will continue his other directing and performing activities, and that the chorus remains upbeat during the transition.
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"Their attitude is they survived two world wars, the Spanish flu and COVID, they can survive anything," Palatucci said.
Tickets for the April 30 farewell concert are available by calling 201-677-8439 or visiting brownpapertickets.com for event 5759514.
The Orpheus Club Men’s Chorus rehearses Wednesdays from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, 113 Cottage Place, east of the Stop & Shop grocery store. For more information, visit ridgewoodorpheusclub.org, or write to ocmc.ridgewood@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Ridgewood's Orpheus Club Men's Chorus director taking final bow
