Oratorio Society to bring ‘A Little Night Music’ to Newton

NEWTON — The Sussex County Oratorio Society will present “A Little Night Music” as its spring concert May 6 at 2:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church on Ryerson Avenue in Newton.
From “O Schöne Nacht” by Brahms to a modern opera piece by Samuel Barber, from standards such as “The Way You Look Tonight” to the driving rhythms of West Side Story, there will be something for everyone.
With this concert, Oratorio introduces its new artistic director, Joe Piccirillo, and new accompanist, Paul Fersch. Piccirillo holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from New York University and a master's degree from Westminster Choir College in Princeton. He spent more than a decade as a conductor, educator and performer in New York before returning to Sussex County. He was a rehearsal conductor at Carnegie Hall, working with some of the greatest orchestras and solo artists in the world.
He conducts the Salute to Music Chorus of New York City and is an adjunct professor of music at Sussex County Community College, principal of Walnut Ridge School, and director of special projects and district supervisor of the performing arts department of the Vernon Township school district.
Fersch attended Wilkes College and has worked in a piano bar, in a wedding band and as a church organist.