The Northeast Piedmont Chorale

The Northeast Piedmont Chorale will lead “A Celebration of Light and Peace” for its Spring concerts in early May. The 84-member Chorale will be joined by a 10-piece orchestra to present two concerts — the first on Friday, May 2, 2025, at Wake Forest Baptist Church, 107 E. South Avenue in Wake Forest, the second on Saturday, May 3, at Trinity Baptist Church, 4815 Six Forks Road in Raleigh. Both concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. and admission, as always, is free. The program is anchored by Elaine Hagenberg’s “Illuminare,” a five-movement choral work for choir and chamber orchestra that is “narrative in nature, exploring themes of distress and turmoil transforming to hope and peace,” according to Debi Simons, a speaker and writer well-known in the choral field for her blog, “Behind the Music.” The chorale’s entire program focuses on that theme of finding light, hope and peace from darkness with a great variety of musical selections, from Raymond Wise’s “Shine the Light,” which brings in the well-known gospel melody, “This Little Light of Mine,” to “Let There Be Light” by Craig Courtney and Susan Boersma. The program is also very “audience friendly” in that there will be an emphasis on rhythmic accompaniments provided with drums and electric bass for popular songs such as a medley of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s “Something’s Coming” and “Tonight” from “West Side Story” to Carly Simon’s award-winning “Let the River Run” from the movie, “Working Girl,” among other selections. The Chorale is led by Cindy Edwards of Henderson, and the group is accompanied on piano by Kristen Allred of Raleigh. “As always, members of the Northeast Piedmont Chorale are working hard to prepare for our upcoming spring 2025 concerts,” said Judy Miller of Youngsville, president of the Northeast Piedmont Chorale’s board of directors. “The celebration of light and peace through music is a powerful expression of unity and hope. With the harmonious melodies and uplifting lyrics in each piece of music we sing, we want to share the gift of joy and the message of peace with our audiences. We hope you will join us for what promises to be a beautiful and extraordinary concert season.” The Chorale is a non-profit, non-sectarian, volunteer organization whose mission is to perform fine choral music for the residents of the Northeast Piedmont area at no charge. Members of the Chorale come from Wake, Durham, Vance and Franklin counties.