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Lenape Choir on WHYY News
On Monday, December 4, members of the Lenape Select Choir travelled to Highland Farm for a ceremony and press conference celebrating the purchase of Highland Farm by The Oscar Hammerstein Museum & Theatre Education Center (OHMTEC), a local non-profit. Choir members also received a tour of the home and grounds, led by Mrs. Jaime Rogers, OHMTEC vice president, and Lenape Choir Director. Dubbed the "Birthplace of the Modern American Musical," Highland Farm was Oscar Hammerstein II's home and creative epicenter for the last 20 years of his life. It is where the Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration was born and the inspiration for many of their works, including "South Pacific," based on the novel by author James Michener, a Doylestown native. Remarkable, at Highland Farm Hammerstein met and mentored a young Stephen Sondheim, who has said, "In one afternoon [at Highland Farm], I learned more about songwriting than most people do in a lifetime." Over 75 Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and Pulitzer Prizes can be directly traced back to Highland Farm. The Lenape Select Choir performed "You'll Never Walk Alone" from the musical Carousel and led the audience in a moving sing-a-long of "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music at the end of the ceremony. Mrs. Rogers has served on the board of OHMTEC for five years, taking on the roll of Vice President in 2021. She was overjoyed to be able to include her students in celebrating this significant milestone in the development of the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center.