The Starlite Chorale is a vocal ensemble currently comprising 18 professional-level singers and instrumentalists. Starlite performs all over NJ,presenting the music people love to hear – the great American songs from Broadway to the “Big Band” era, from Cole Porter to Jerome Kern to George Gershwin.
Whether performing the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein or Duke Ellington, patriotic tunes or inspirational pieces, the Starlite Chorale performs with joy, energy, enthusiasm and a heartfelt love for the music and the people that listen to it.
The singers are in bright costumes, and the show has a lively visual presentation. A “sing along” is part of every show. Audiences love our Starlite Chorale performances. If you liked Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, you’ll love the Starlite Chorale!
In the Beginning | Our Director | Places We’ve Performed
On the crisp autumn evening of October 5, 1995, at a table in theRustic Mill Diner in Cranford, Tony Godlefski and a small group of talented, dedicated friends decided to establish a new singing group.We didn’t even have the name yet, but knew we wanted to establish a new group with the ideal of bringing bright, lively music to its audiences. Some of the folks around that table had sung together with Tony for about 17 years at the time. A major part of its reason for being would be to sing for people who could not get out to hear live performances: people in nursing homes, senior residences and hospitals. We wanted to do this with a small, skilled, dedicated ensemble, operating in a family atmosphere. The Starlite Chorale was born.
With help from the wonderful people at Osceola Presbyterian Church (which Tony served as Music Director and Organist, Jan. 1971-June 1977) we established a musical home and began our search for a name. “Starlite” seemed just right – we wanted to bring music that was elegant, bright, optimistic, and “reaching far the stars”. We were inspired by a line from a Gershwin classic:
I’ve got starlight,
I’ve got sweet dreams,
I’ve got my gal,
Who could ask for anything more?
The alternate spelling makes us, well, just a little unique.
More than a decade has passed since then. In that time, Starlite has become a musical family. We have sung in churches, each summer at Ocean Grove’s Tabernacle, “First Night” New Year’s Eve concerts in Somerville, Montclair, East Orange, and Nyack, NY, and outdoor pre-firework shows on the fourth of July. We were proud to sing the songs of America outdoors along the candlelit main street of Linden, NJ, in the aftermath of the 9/11 crisis. We have also sung in hospital rooms, rehabilitation facilities, around outdoor bonfires, as well as in many diners and in a circle in their adjacent parking lots. Numerous hilarious stories have developed around Starlite diner adventures.
Starlite is proud to host the Sparklers, our children’s and youth choir, and to now have a fine set of Malmark handbells to enhance our Christmas show. We sing two show formats per year, (Christmas and a “Great American Songbook” style Spring show) with a total of about 15 performances each year. We sing public concerts with faithful and growing audiences, benefit concerts which raise funds for charitable organizations, and good will concerts for senior centers and medical facilities.
The Starlite Chorale is truly a musical family. That family includes
our faithful audiences.
We are pleased indeed to welcome you to the
circle of the Starlite musical family.
Dr. Tony Godlefski is a graduate cum laude of the Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ where he studied organ and choral conducting. His teachers include Fred Waring, Robert Shaw, Virgil Fox , Walter Reinhold, Harold Zabrack, and Alice Parker. He holds a Master of Divinty and Doctor of Ministry degree from Drew University. He serves. as pastor of the Montgomery United Methodist Church in Belle Mead, NJ.
- The Tabernacle, Ocean Grove, NJ
- First Night (New Year’s Eve) Celebrations:
- Nyack, NY
- Somerville, NJ
- Maplewood, NJ
- Fourth of July Celebrations:
- Clark, NJ
- Hillsborough, NJ
- Fundraisers:
- Various Churches
- Asbury Park Rotary Scholarship Fund concerts
- Community Needs
- Christmas Celebrations
- For the Bishop of the United Methodist Church
- For hospitals and nursing homes
- … plus many, many spring and Christmas shows for hospitals, veterans homes, and senior residences.
Starlite Chorale Performances
Starlite presents a new “spring show” each year, as well as a very traditional
Christmas show. A Starlite show typically lasts about one hour, but can be
customized to fit your occasion.
Shows are accompanied by piano and possibly drums and bass as well.
Although the theme and content of each show
varies from year to year, here’s a sample of the kind of songs we sing:
- Broadway — selections from
- Showboat
- Oklahoma!
- Man of La Mancha
- Oliver!
- The Sound of Music
- South Pacific
- Les Miserables
- The Music Man
- Big Band and Swing
- Route 66
- Take the “A” Train
- Tuxedo Junction
- Stormy Weather
- The Jersey Bounce
- Satin Doll
- This Joint Is Jumpin’
- The Golden Era
- I’ve Got Rhythm
- Embraceable You
- They Can’t Take That Away from Me
- I Can’t Give You Anything but Love
- S’ Wonderful
- Inspirational
- One God
- I Believe
- What a Wonderful World
- Hineh Ma Tov
- Oseh Shalom
- This Little Light of Mine
- Patriotic and Americana
- God Bless America
- You’re A Grand Old Flag
- I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy
- Give My Regards to Broadway
- God Bless the USA
- The Star Spangled Banner
- America the Beautiful
- Sing Along
- Shine On, Harvest Moon
- For Me and My Gal
- Heart of My Heart
- Carolina in the Morning
- Ja Da
- Let Me Call You Sweetheart
- I Don’t Know Why I Love You like I Do…
- Christmas and Holidays — we have performed so very many beloved religious and popular songs of Christmas and Hanukkah, old and new.
Copyright © 2010, The Starlite Chorale
P. O. Box 1175, Belle Mead, NJ 08502
Dr. Tony Godlefski, Musical Director
Please place us on your e-mail list for upcoming shows. Thank you