Voices rise in harmony, bringing together the Taghkanic Chorale’s singers from varied backgrounds, all bound by a passion for choral music and the discipline it demands.
Led by musical director Jason Tramm, the Chorale features roughly 40 members of all ages and skill levels—including four Yorktown residents: Christie Herman, Deborah May, Linda Kingsbury and Mary Anne Wirth. Their joy for sharing the music with one another is palpable.
For many Chorale members, there is a shared story. Early lives steeped in music—playing piano, singing—were often followed by years spent pursuing more practical career paths that pushed their passion for music into the background.
Wirth started playing piano at age 8 and continued until she went to college. She recalled a conversation in New York City with her Russian teacher when she was 17 who encouraged her to study music in college. But Wirth knew deep down that she wanted to be a lawyer.
“I remember her saying to me, ‘With so much beauty in the world, why do you want to do that?’ But that's what I wanted to do and I did it,” she said.
With no piano to play in college, she said music “went fallow for that entire period of time.” Her career then took over. She was a prosecutor for 10 years and a criminal defense attorney for 20.
“I have a second home in Massachusetts—I joined a small choir in a congregational church and that's when I started singing again. And that was 20 years ago,” Wirth said.
She later joined another choir nearby before coming to the Taghkanic Chorale. She realized she “just missed it terribly."
Kingsbury, who has a PhD in molecular biology, joined the chorale in 2012 after first encountering the group at an all-Bach concert under former director Steven Fox.
After looking for a group, she settled on the Chorale for “the music and the people," she said. "And it’s now 10 minutes from my home.”
Herman, who joined in September 2025 and is a member of Yorktown’s First Presbyterian Church—where the chorale rehearses on Tuesday evenings—spent a decade in an Ossining choir that disbanded after COVID, which left her devastated.
And while she would go on to sing with a Catholic church choir in Chappaqua, “I always had my eye on the Taghkanic," she said.
"Just from Googling, I found out about it,” Herman added. “Miraculously, I live right down the street—I had no idea how good this group really was.”
Last fall, Herman decided to give it a try.
“I think I signed up that night,” she recalled. “I was just so impressed with the music.”
While the demanding repertoire and fitting rehearsals in around all her other commitments present challenges, Herman said there are many rewards.
“I’ve never worked harder in my life on an extracurricular activity. But I love it,” she said. “Just the sense of accomplishment—I think the gift that we gave everybody who came to hear us sing was just a remarkable experience.
“It’s a gift that you give, and it's a gift that you receive just being in a room where you can share your music with someone else.”
That sentiment is shared among the singers Yorktown News spoke with.
“There's nothing like it—they'd call it a state of flow,” Kingsbury said. “You're just only focused on the music: what you're hearing, what you're singing, what you're doing, you're trying to make it better, however good it is. You're trying to be even better and [having] just this absolute focus.”
She said the experience can mimic meditation—and be deeply personal.
“You're surrounded by people who are breathing with you,” Kingsbury added.
May joined 11 years ago after attending a performance to see friends, including Kingsbury, who was already part of the group.
“I came to hear them,” she said, noting that she then learned the group would next perform The Messiah.
May, who went to college as a music major and later joined Cushman & Wakefield in Manhattan, said, “I thought, 'I've never sung The Messiah all the way through—and with an orchestra.'”
Although she didn’t really have the time at first—commuting to New York City and participating in various local groups, such as the Girl Scouts—she decided to come and sing that one piece.
But the experience left a lasting impression. May not only made the time; she is now the group's president.
She said the group’s high standards are a defining feature.
“The people in the Taghkanic Chorale are serious musicians. There’s accountability—if [singers] don’t read music well or don’t have a good ear,” May said, they must put in the work to come up to the standard.
The Taghkanic Chorale will perform its spring program, “American Echoes" with a repertoire celebrating America’s 250th birthday in early May.
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