A HOOK choir is swapping the village church for one of the most iconic stages in the world this month.

Hook Choral Society will be heading stateside on November 17 to perform at New York’s world-renowned Carnegie Hall.

The members of the choir were left shocked after receiving an invitation to perform at the premiere of famous composer Howard Goodall’s Eternal Light: A Requiem.

The group first performed Mr Goodall’s Eternal Light eight years ago and it was from this initial performance that they have been invited to The Big Apple on a personal recommendation of the composer.

The choir will line up alongside other choral groups from around the world, presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York.

The American organisation provides opportunities for singers and instrumentalists to perform in the most prestigious concert halls.

The Hook choir which is made up of 60 members will only be able to bring 21 singing members to the ‘Empire State’ and group chairman Yvonne Davis explained it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks since the invitation.

“The invitation came completely out of the blue, it was such a surprise, it was brilliant. They e-mailed to say we’d like to invite you to the New York premiere of the show.

“We’re just chuffed, most choirs had to send in audition tape, and we were just invited.

“As you can imagine, it has taken a lot of organising since we were invited!”

She also explained how the choir’s musical director, Nicholas Woods, was one of the reasons behind their upcoming performance across the pond, after Mr Woods contacted Howard Goodall about the choir performing his song.

“He must have remembered us from around eight years ago when we performed it. To be invited on a personal recommendation is amazing.”

Mr Goodall is an EMMY, BRIT and BAFTA winning composer of choral music, stage musicals and film and TV theme tunes.

It has been thought that everyone can probably sing one of his tunes, with some of his works including Blackadder, The Vicar of Dibley, Red Dwarf and The Catherine Tate Show.

The choir’s performance of a lifetime on November 20 will be conducted by Jonathan Griffiths, but will be the result of a further 10 hours of rehearsals once they touch down in New York.

The group will spend the days preceding the show perfecting their performance and the days following the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity exploring the magic of New York.

For the chance to see the group before they head to America, they will be performing this weekend at St John’s Church in Hook in aid of Remembrance Sunday and the Royal British Legion at 4pm.

More information can be found at www.hookchoralsociety.org.uk.