The Bemus Point United Methodist Church’s Women’s Choir has been brought back for a special concert at the end of October. Submitted photo

BEMUS POINT — The Bemus Point United Methodist Church will bring back its women’s choir for a special concert this month.

Approximately 20 years ago the church had three different choirs — a mixed choir that sang on Sunday mornings as well as a men’s choir and a women’s choir. Current choir director Sandra Josephson began as director in 1988 and helped to form the original women’s choir. Both the men’s and women’s groups faded away, leaving the only choir group at the church the one that sang on Sundays.

That is, until Josephson was encouraged to bring the women’s choir back.

“We haven’t had a women’s choir in 20 years,” Josephson said. “Right now the only choir is the mixed group that performs on Sunday mornings, though since I have started the women’s group again I have had some inquiries about starting the men’s group again as well. This is the first time this exact women’s choir will be singing, but there are seven members in the group that were there in the 90s. This is an old and new group.”

The concert will take place Sunday, Oct. 23, at 2 p.m. in the Bemus Point United Methodist Church sanctuary. The performance is planned to be under an hour and refreshments will be served afterward.

The church has two different services — a traditional service and contemporary service — and Josephson went to both for recruits for the upcoming concert. Josephson intended this to be a short commitment for everyone involved because of everyone’s busy schedules. Altogether there will be four main rehearsals for the choir and a dress rehearsal, along with recordings of each song so choir members can practice at home and come into rehearsals with more of an idea of what their notes are.

“Then at rehearsals we can just focus on finesse,” Josephson said. “I used this method for a year with the mixed choir and it works well. I’m so grateful I did that for this group as well. It makes rehearsals more pleasant and everyone can remain engaged instead of waiting for others to figure out their notes.”

While she has not chosen all of the songs yet, Josephson said she is planning on having the women’s choir sing 10 songs overall. The songs will be church songs, with short scripture readings before some of them. There will also be one song played by the accompanist by themselves to give the choir a break. Attendees will also be asked to sing one hymn along with the choir so they will have a chance to participate as well.

The final number of women involved in this choir is 27, which Josephson said is about twice the amount that there used to be in the 80s and 90s. Additionally, she said she had hope for the upcoming concert because the concerts were extremely popular back then.

“These kinds of concerts were very popular,” Josephson said. “We had maybe six in the ’80s and ’90s. I assume this one will be as well received as those. I’m hoping this choir is something we can continue in the future. I am 65 so I’m not looking for a career, but we will have to see what the response to the concert is.”

Josephson said the women’s choir concert is set to be unique because a choir that is all women has its own unique sound. Also, because of the two different congregations in the church, Josephson did not know some of the women when they signed up.

“The two services are on opposite ends of the building,” Josephson said. “This choir integrates the congregations. It was a surprise to me how all of these women’s voices sounded together. I got a big response from both congregations. I think they’re all having a great time and I’m very excited.”

As a retired music teacher, Josephson said she always thought that singing was a great way to bring people together. For her, singing with other Christians or believers is something even more.

“I think singing is a great reason to get together but singing with other believers is a thrill on another level,” Josephson said. “I would encourage everyone to not only come out to our concert but to also take part in their own church choir. We have some of the same people in this choir from before, and their dedication to the choir is amazing. They just love singing and praising so much that they’re still here four or five decades later. It just shows what you can get out of it, which is wonderful.”

For those planning on attending the concert Josephson asked that they call or text her to let her know, and include the amount of people coming to accommodate the space. Josephson can be reached at 716-753-0705.