A choir is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm and face gestures.
Elijah, Op. 70, MWV A 25, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn. It premiered in 1846 at the Birmingham Festival. It depicts events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings of the Old Testament.
Eric Edward Whitacre is an American composer and conductor, and speaker, known for his choral, orchestral and wind ensemble music. In March 2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The BBC Symphony Chorus is a British amateur chorus based in London. It is the dedicated chorus for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, though it performs with other national and international orchestras.
Gross-Wien Op. 440 is a waltz by Johann Strauss II written in 1891 and was a choral waltz for the Wiener Männergesang-Verein during the Vienna Fasching (Carnival) of the same year. The text for the choral version of the waltz was by Franz von Gernerth.
John Black Haberlen has served as the Director of the Georgia State University School of Music since 1996. Dr. Haberlen is a past national President of the American Choral Directors Association.
The Baltimore Choral Arts Society is a music organization in Baltimore, Maryland that manages a full orchestra, a chorus and a chamber chorus. The Baltimore Choral Arts Society, now in its 50th season, is one of Maryland's premier cultural institutions. The Symphonic Chorus, Full Chorus, Orchestra, and Chamber Chorus perform throughout the mid-Atlantic region, as well as in Washington, D.C., New York, and in Europe. Performance venues include the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, as well as Goucher College's Kraushaar Auditorium. The Society has collaborated with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Chamber Symphony, Peter Schickele, pianist and scholar Robert Levin, Chanticleer, Dave Brubeck, and the King's Singers.
Margaret Eleanor Hillis was an American conductor. She was the founder and first director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
The Radcliffe Choral Society is a 60-voice treble choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1899, it is one of the country's oldest soprano-alto choruses and one of its most prominent collegiate choirs. With the tenor-bass Harvard Glee Club and the mixed-voice Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, it is one of the Harvard Choruses. All three groups are led by Harvard Director of Choral Activities Andrew Clark. The RCS Resident Conductor is Meg Weckworth. RCS tours domestically every year and travels internationally every four years.
The University of the Philippines Madrigal Singers (UPMS), also known as the Philippine Madrigal Singers or simply Madz, is one of the major choral groups based in the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Its current conductor and musical director is Mark Anthony Carpio. They are the first choir in the world to win the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing twice. To date, only four choirs in the world have attained this achievement.
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. It presents its own annual concert series in the Sydney Opera House the City Recital Hall, and other venues in New South Wales, as well as serving as chorus for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Huddersfield Choral Society is a choir based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1836, and is recognised as one of Britain's leading choirs. Over the years the choir has performed most of the major works in the choral repertoire, and has had numerous works commissioned for it, including works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Walton. The choir has made numerous recordings and broadcasts. Two of its albums made an appearance in the UK Albums Chart. These were The Hymns Album and The Carols Album.
The Royal Choral Society is an amateur choir, based in London. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah in the inaugural concert. On 9 July 1891, the Royal Choral Society performed in a 'Grand Concert for the Visit of Their Imperial Majesties, The German Emperor and Empress', also attended by the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. From the beginning, performing premieres of new choral works has been a feature of the choir's repertoire. Both Giuseppe Verdi and Antonín Dvořák conducted the choir in premières of their own works, as have Edward Roxborough, Ariel Ramírez, Raymond Premru and Geoffrey Burgon in more recent years. The choir continued to be conducted by the most eminent musicians of the day, most notably Sir Malcolm Sargent, whose association with the choir spanned forty years. The present Music Director, Richard Cooke, took over the baton in 1995.
The Cork International Choral Festival is held annually in Cork, Ireland and features choirs from all over the world. About 5,000 choristers take part every year; they come from all over Ireland, from Britain, from the European continent, and sometimes from as far away as Africa, America, and Asia. Since its foundation in 1954, there have been about 3,500 choir entries. The festival will take place April 18th to April 22nd 2018.
The Australian Intervarsity Choral Festival is an annual event in which members of university choirs from all state capitals of Australia and the national capital Canberra meet for two weeks to rehearse, socialise and perform combined concerts. The Festival also serves as the annual conference of the member choirs of AICSA, the Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association
The University Musical Society (UMS) is a not-for-profit performing arts presenter located on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was established in December 1880. While UMS is affiliated with the University of Michigan and is a regular collaborator with many university units, UMS supports itself from ticket sales, foundation and government grants, corporate and individual contributions, and endowment income.
Bradford Festival Choral Society was founded as a direct result of the opening of St George's Hall in 1853. A massed choir of over 200 singers from far and wide was formed for the first Bradford Musical Festival which took place that year. When the second festival took place in 1856 another choir, consisting of rather more locally based singers, was formed and at the end of the festival it was felt wasteful to disband a group which had already gained such a high reputation. A meeting was held on 17 November 1856 under the chairmanship of Samuel Smith, the original instigator of the construction of St George's Hall, and Bradford Festival Choral Society came into being with Mr Smith as its first President. The conductor was William Jackson who had been the highly successful trainer of the chorus for both festivals. The choir sang and rehearsed at the Hall and soon gained the nickname of the “Coffee and Bun Society” as refreshments were provided for those members travelling from a distance. This arrangement was also intended to discourage possible visits to licensed premises before rehearsal!
Andrew Keith Wailes is an Australian conductor and music director. Winner of the Australasian International Choral Conducting Competition in Brisbane in 1999, he is the current Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, Artistic Director of The Australian Children's Choir, Principal Conductor of the Melbourne University Choral Society, Music Director and Conductor of the Box Hill Chorale, and Director of the Australian Catholic University Melbourne Campus Choir. He is a former President of the Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association, and currently is Artistic Administrator of The Chamber Strings of Melbourne.
The Canberra Choral Society (CCS) is an auditioned symphonic choir in Canberra, Australia, and has become one of the most innovative and exciting choirs in the nation’s capital. The choir is known both for traditional choral repertoire, and for surprising audiences with new music, new venues, and new ways to experience old favourites. Members range in ages and abilities, and are passionate about working towards performances that capture the impact and energy of the music while maintaining the clarity and subtlety required for excellence in every performance.
The Choral Arts Society of Washington is a major choral organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1965 by Norman Scribner, it is regarded as one of the premier symphonic choruses in the United States. The Choral Arts Society of Washington consists of three vocal ensembles; the Choral Arts Chorus, the Choral Arts Chamber Singers, and the Choral Arts Youth Choir.
