About
Hailed as “one of the mainstays of the city’s music scene, known for its adventuresome repertoire,” NYCHORAL is widely known for the outstanding artistic quality of its performances of choral music since its founding in 1959. NYCHORAL’s mission is guided by its commitment to present a diverse repertoire, including well-known choral masterworks, great compositions that are rarely heard in concert halls, and newer, culturally significant choral works in New York.
2012 – PRESENT: UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MUSIC DIRECTOR DAVID HAYES, NYCHORAL (NEW YORK CHORAL SOCIETY) IS EXPANDING ITS ARTISTIC MISSION TO INCLUDE PERFORMANCES AND PREMIERES OF IMPORTANT COMPOSITIONS OF THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES ALONGSIDE TRADITIONAL CHORAL MASTERPIECES.
2012: Hayes’ inaugural performance as Music Director of NYCHORAL - Berlioz L’enfance du Christ at Carnegie Hall
2014: New York premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s The Singing Rooms with acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh
2015: John Adams On the Transmigration of Souls and Hindemith When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d with the Mannes Orchestra, The New School of the Performing Arts and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City
2016: Arvo Pärt Te Deum at Carnegie Hall
2017: New York premiere of James MacMillan’s St. Luke Passion
The chorus continues to expand its repertoire of traditional choral masterpieces to include Carnegie Hall performances of the Mendelssohn St. Paul, Handel Israel in Egypt, Beethoven Mass in C and Holst Hymn of Jesus.
NYCHORAL initiates a series of educational symposia to delve more deeply into the composers and works being performed. The first, in 2015, explores Felix Mendelssohn’s St. Paul and is followed in 2016 by Arvo Pärt Day, presented in conjunction with the Arvo Pärt Project and The New School. In 2017 a symposium exploring the music of James MacMillian is held at the New York Library for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center.
A revitalized NYCHORAL CHAMBER ENSEMBLE performs The Tempest with American Ballet Theatre at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center in 2013. In December 2015, the group performs in a radical reinterpretation of Mozart's The Magic Flute at 80WSE Gallery. The performance was included in The New York Times' “The Best in Art 2015.”
1987 – 2012: MUSIC DIRECTOR JOHN DALY GOODWIN CONTINUES THE TRADITION OF PRESENTING PREMIERES OF NEW CHORAL WORKS AND EXPANDS OUR REPERTOIRE OF MASTERWORKS. NYCHORAL BEGINS PERFORMING ANNUALLY AT THE RICHARD TUCKER MUSIC FOUNDATION GALA AND WITH ANDREA BOCELLI. NYCHORAL TOURS IN CHINA, MEXICO, ISRAEL AND EUROPE.
1989: A Holiday Celebration with Peter, Paul and Mary performance is recorded live and broadcast annually on PBS
1993: Our first guest appearance at Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala. These annual performances, which continue to date, were once broadcast regularly on PBS and we perform with superstars of the opera world including Stephanie Blythe, Samuel Ramey, Bryn Terfel, Dolora Zajic, Renèe Fleming, Marcello Giordani, Thomas Hampson, Joyce DiDonato and many others
1998: Performances of Mahler’s 8th Symphony at Avery Fisher Hall and The Philadelphia Academy of Music
2000: Our first of many performances with famed tenor Andrea Bocelli
2008: NYCHORAL performs at the Olympic Cultural Festival in Beijing
Commissions of new works include the Stephen Paulus Whitman’s New York, Joelle Wallach Toward a Time of Renewal and Paul Alan Levi Dayenu, A Passover Oratorio.
NYCHORAL performs the world premieres of the Del Tredici Of Cabbages and Kings, De Cormier Under a Greenwood Tree, Fraser Missa Iona and Ramírez Missa por la Paz y la Justicia as well as the New York premieres of the Glass Itaipu and Gorecki Beatus Vir.
Recording of Thompson Frostiana and Testament of Freedom.
The chorus performs regularly with Opera Orchestra of New York under the direction of Eve Queller. Performances include the Bellini La sonnambula, Delibes Lakmé, Rossini Guillaume Tell, Verdi Nabucco, Wagner Rienzi and many more.
Important guest performances include the 1988 New York City Ballet International Music Festival – Opening Night Gala conducted by Leonard Bernstein, the 1998 Grammy Awards with Aretha Franklin at Radio City Music Hall and seven performances in 2003 with American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House.
1970 – 1987: UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MUSIC DIRECTOR ROBERT DE CORMIER, NYCHORAL GROWS TO 175 SINGERS AND EXPANDS ITS REPERTOIRE WTH NEW COMMISSIONS, WORLD PREMIERES AND CHORAL MASTERWORKS. WE BEGIN PERFORMING AT CARNEGIE HALL, RECORD NUMEROUS WORKS AND BEGIN INTERNATIONAL CONCERT TOURS
1981: Inauguration of A Holiday Celebration with Peter, Paul and Mary at Carnegie Hall
1986: We perform with Pete Seeger at Carnegie Hall
NYCHORAL begins commissioning new works and presents world premieres of the De Cormier Four Sonnets to Orpheus, Legacy and Shout for Joy; Gould Quotations; Levi Mark Twain Suite; Benson Songs of O and Mayer Spring and Yes Forever.
Recordings during this period include the Fraser Christmastide with Jessye Norman; A Holiday Celebration with Peter, Paul and Mary, arr. De Cormier; Songs of Liberty, arr. De Cormier; Christmas is Coming; and Kodály Missa Brevis and Vaughan Williams Mass in G minor, which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
NYCHORAL repertoire expands to include performances of the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem; Handel Israel in Egypt; Mendelssohn Elijah; Ives Psalm 90; Verdi Requiem and Quattro Pezzi Sacri; Walton Belshazzar’s Feast; Bernstein Chichester Psalms; Orff Carmina Burana; Fauré Requiem; Britten Voices for Today; Bloch Sacred Service; Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms; Honegger King David; Vaughan Williams Mass in G minor; Haazen Missa Luba; Henze Moralities and Martinu Military Mass.
1959 – 1970: NEW YORK CHORAL SOCIETY IS FOUNDED IN 1959 WITH 12 SINGERS AND BEGINS PERFORMING UNDER THE DIRECTION OF ITS FIRST MUSIC DIRECTOR, MARTIN D. JOSMAN
1960: NYCHORAL begins the annual Summer Sings program which continues to date
1965: Debut concert at Philharmonic Hall (now David Geffen Hall)
1967: Appearance in Bach and His Songs: The Overwhelming Legacy, an hour-long feature on National Education Television (now PBS)
The early years of NYCHORAL saw the U.S. premieres of many choral masterworks including Vivaldi Credo and Magnificat, Charpentier Missa Assumpta est Maria, Blow Coronation Anthem, Bach Dies irae and Brant Sing O Heavens.
During this time NYCHORAL also performs the Haydn Creation and Der Sturm; J.S. Bach Mass in B minor and Magnificat in E flat; Mozart Requiem, Venite Populi, Vesperae de Dominica, Grand Mass in C minor K. 427 and Inter Natus Mulierum K. 72; Pergolesi Miserere in C minor and Handel Messiah.