From Ol’ Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra, jazz legend Billie Holiday and pop icons The Beatles to rockers Led Zeppelin, bluesmen The Rolling Stones and countless rousing classical symphonies and concertos, New York’s famous Carnegie Hall has entertained them all.

Now plans are under way for the world-famous concert venue to echo to a spine-tingling performance of Handel’s Messiah, performed by no less than the members of Bearsden Choir.

The amateur choristers have answered a call from an acclaimed conductor with more than 65 combined appearances at the Carnegie Hall and Manhattan’s Lincoln Centre to take part in what is set to be one of New York’s major Thanksgiving events.

Around 50 members of the choir will travel across the Atlantic in November for five days of rehearsals before joining around 150 other choral singers for a stirring rendition of one of the most familiar and powerful of all oratorios.

The invitation took the choir’s leaders by surprise and came after Dr Jonathan Griffin, artistic director and principal conductor of event producers DCINY, stumbled over one of the choir’s performances on YouTube.

“It all came out of the blue,” said John Wotton, chairman of Bearsden Choir. “I received a phone call and the first thought was ‘is this serious?

“Apparently, they had seen our YouTube channel which has recordings of our performances and it impressed them so much that they decided to get in touch.

“Our contact in New York says that because the performance is the Messiah and because it is taking place on the weekend closest to Thanksgiving, they fully expect it to sell out.”

The performance will see Bearsden join other handpicked choristers to form a 200-strong group of talented vocalists specially selected to take part in the event, accompanied by a full symphony orchestra.

It is expected to be among the most significant performances in the 52-year history of the choir, which began in 1968 as a one-off musical event – coincidentally a performance of Handel’s Messiah.

Led for the past six seasons by director of music Andrew Nunn, the choir is now made up of 140 soprano, alto, tenor and bass male and female singers from across East Dunbartonshire and Greater Glasgow.

It has just completed its 50th anniversary season, which included performances of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Mass in B Minor, regarded as one of the great works of choral repertoire.

Mr Wooton said he believed the choir’s recent successful anniversary performances, supported by full orchestral accompaniment and a rise in numbers from around 70 to 140 voices since Mr Nunn’s arrival as musical director, were behind the invitation.

The choir, he added, is particularly successful at recruiting younger members.

Mr Wooton addded: “We recruit through the three Glasgow universities and have around 20 to 30 youngsters. There’s a real appetite for choral singing – it’s astonishing.”

Scotland is currently enjoying a singing boom with rising numbers of choirs springing up.

They include rock and community choirs which usually focus on performing contemporary works and require no auditions, and others such as dementia choirs which harness the power of singing to help improve wellbeing and mental health.

The Bearsden Choir, however, requires participants to audition and focuses on performing classical choral works.

The New York performance is expected to take place in Carnegie Hall’s prestigious Isaac Stern Auditorium.

One of three auditoriums inside the venue, it is known for its five floors of seats and was home to the New York Philharmonic for more than 70 years.

The Carnegie Hall was named after Dunfermline-born Andrew Carnegie, who funded its construction.

It is regarded as an unrivalled concert venue. Famous performers to grace the Carnegie Hall’s stages include Bill Haley & His Comets, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, Harry Belafonte, Nina Simone and Simon and Garfunkel.

Since opening its doors in 1891, it has also hosted many of the world’s most famous performers of classical music.

Dr Griffith, DCINY artistic director and principal conductor said: “The Bearsden Choir received this invitation because of the quality and high level of musicianship demonstrated by the singers. “It is quite an honour just to be invited to perform in New York.

These wonderful musicians not only represent a high quality of music and education, they also become ambassadors for the entire community. This is an event of extreme pride for everybody.”