The Columbus Choral Society is heading to Carnegie Hall.

Conductor Alisha Toy said the choir would be performing at the famed concert hall in June.

“It’s been on my bucket list for years but I never thought it would come to task this soon,” she said. The 25 members of the choir are excited as well.

“It was a dream that they never thought they would be able to fulfill and here it is,” Toy said.

The choir, which has only been in existence for five years, will perform The Blue and the Gray with composer John Purifoy. And it’s thanks, in part, to a YouTube video.

For months, Toy searched for the perfect piece of music to be the choir’s “signature piece.”

“I wanted something that would be meaningful to us as well as ties to the community,” she said. When she stumbled across “The Blue and the Gray” by Purifoy, Toy knew she had found the right piece.

“We loved it, the community loved it,” she said. “It was absolutely our signature piece way in every way, shape and form.”

One of the choir’s members then put the video on YouTube. Less than a week later, Purifoy contacted Toy and asked the choir to travel to New York City to perform with him at Carnegie Hall. They will perform “The Chronicles of the Blue and the Gray” which will include the piece that started the whole encounter.

“It was really quite by chance, by fate, really,” Toy said. “It was pretty incredible how it all worked out.”

To help raise funds for the trip, the group is holding a Valentine’s Day fundraiser. For $30, members of the choir will serenade that special someone in your life. The unique gift is sure to please, Toy said.

“Anyone who does it will enjoy it,” she said.

The choral society will also be singing at Pilgrimage Ball as well as performing at their annual concert in April.

Toy said the group is made up of busy professionals who carve out time to enjoy the benefits singing brings.

“We are all really busy adults, from a doctor to a school teacher, and for them to give up one more evening is difficult especially when most of them are in church choirs,” she said. “It’s a lot of time commitment but when we get together and we sing it is so much fun.” She added, “Half of the time I’m just trying to get them to stop laughing. Everybody in that room has some sort of background in music. The sounds that we create are just really, really fun”

While Toy has traveled and performed all over the world, she and the singers are preparing themselves for the “thrilling” experience that is Carnegie Hall.

“There really is no greater thrill than to come together as a large amount of human beings and create a glorious sound,” she said. “It’s thrilling right to the soul.”

Those interested in purchasing a signing Valentine or donating the group can contact Lori Pierce at 662-243-1688

Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.