Catonsville Singing Ensemble to Perform at Lincoln Center

For roughly 10 years, a group of seven members of has been singing as a sextet at community events, church functions and for a larger audience at places like Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

But this weekend in New York City, the group will perform before one of their largest audiences yet at a concert at the Lincoln Center.

The concert is a Memorial Day concert featuring the work of composer Joseph Martin, whose songs the CUMCwhats sing regularly.

Jan Strevig, one of the group's members, said they are extremely excited to perform the composer's music before such a large audience. Choirs from across the country have been invited to perform, but there was only one other group from Maryland invited, she said.

The other members are: Deb Henkel, Richard Henkel, Glenda Henkel, Clinton Loar-Scott and Judy Loar-Scott.

The first part of the group's name, CUMCwhats is the initials of the church they belong to: Catonsville United Methodist Church. After starting with CUMC and not coming up with anything other than "CUMC what," the group stuck with CUMCwhats, which they pronounce like the word kumquats.

The connections among the members are numerous. Some are siblings, couples or have relatives who work for the same company. All have strong ties to Catonsville.

This will be the second time the group has performed in New York. The group went to Carnegie Hall in 2009. That experience, along with singing the National Anthem at Oriole Park, mark the high points for most group members.

Recalling the Carnegie Hall experience, member Judy Loar-Scott said singing on the stage with so many other people was truly special.

"When we sang the last song, I just wanted to stand there and smile because I didn't want to get off the stage," she said.

The group paid for their own way to travel to New York, but if you would like to donate them, contact Jan Strevig at jbrahms1@verizon.net