The Heritage Chorale

Liu-Young began her music career in her native Malaysia in 2005 as a music educator and has occasionally returned as a guest conductor. In 2011, she earned a Master’s Degree in choral conducting from Bowling Green State University. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting and pedagogy from the University of Iowa in 2024.

Veteran chorale bass singer Larry Ritsert summed up how chorale members feel about performing in New York and Carnegie Hall saying, “I am looking forward to this once in a lifetime experience.”

Diane “Dove” Wilson, a first soprano and relatively new member of Heritage Chorale, recently completed her first season with the group. “This is beyond my wildest dreams,” Wilson said upon learning of the Carnegie Hall residency.

The members representing the Heritage Chorale are a group of accomplished and talented singers spanning from high schoolers to retirees. All are ready for this amazing trip.

For more information on Heritage Chorale's Carnegie Hall concert, visit https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2025/05/24/New-England-Symphonic-Ensemble-0100PM.

Heritage Chorale Sings Carnegie Hall

The spotlight on Oak Park’s community chamber choir will soon be brighter as Heritage Chorale is set to take the stage at Carnegie Hall in New York.

An invitation to perform in May was extended to the chorale’s Artistic Director and Conductor Dr. Wen Chin Liu-Young in late 2023. The chorale, in collaboration with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, will perform Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, which Liu-Young describes as having “challenging passages but powerful and diverse character throughout the work.” Mozart wrote the work in 1780.

“I am excited to make my Carnegie Hall debut with Heritage Chorale,” Liu-Young said, adding that she will be working with other conductors who are longtime colleagues.

She said the "Carnegie Hall residency will help put a spotlight on choral talent in the Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago communities."

Wen Chin Liu-Young