In 1986, Jennie Feigenbaum, a former opera singer, was giving voice lessons in Highland Park. She wanted to form a community chorus that would include some of her musical acquaintances. Through their efforts, the Highland Park Community Chorus was born.

Its first concert was in the spring of 1987, and three major pieces were performed: Mozart’s Te Deum, Handel’s Coronation Anthem #4 and Vivaldi’s Magnificat. For the next ten years, the chorus, retaining some original members and adding additional ones, rehearsed weekly and performed one major concert a year in the spring. In 1998, the chorus added a winter concert to its schedule by performing Handel’s Messiah in collaboration with several area choirs. The performance of both a spring and a winter concert each year has remained a chorus tradition.

The chorus, which currently has 45 members, supports itself through members’ dues and some fundraising activities, and arts grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The grants are made possible in part by the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission. With its funds, it pays a professional director and an accompanist, who have changed over the years, and have each contributed uniquely to the development of the chorus. The chorus also maintains an extensive music library, maturing from its early days when it borrowed its music from the town’s high school music department, with whom it shared a director, and rehearsal and performance space. Since 1994, the chorus rehearses and, generally, performs at the Reformed Church of Highland Park.

Some of the chorus’s recent performances included the following major pieces, most of which were accompanied by a small orchestra: Pergolesi’s Magnificat (2001); Vivaldi’s Gloria (2003); Mozart’s Regina Coeli and Faure’s Requiem (2004); Mozart’s Requiem (2005); Schubert’s Mass in G (2006); Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (2007) and Mendelssohn’s Elijah (2008).