The Princeton University Chapel Choir, composed of approximately 60 Princeton undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty members, sings at Sunday morning services and official university functions in the Princeton University Chapel, as well as performing their own concerts every semester. It is arguably the oldest choir on campus, although it is now[ when? ] very different from its original form. It is the only singing group on campus whose members are paid. The choir had been conducted by Penna Rose since 1992. The choir has been conducted by Dr. Nicole Aldrich since 2021. In recent years[ when? ], the choir has performed internationally, including tours to Prague, Italy, and Spain. [1]
When John Adams visited Princeton in 1774, he wrote in his diary that he "went into the Chappell, the President soon came in, and we attended. The Schollars sing as badly as the Presbyterians at New York." [2] At this time[ when? ], students were required to attend morning and evening prayers before every day before classes, and morning and afternoon services on Sunday. [3] Over the years, the attendance requirements slackened: by 1915, attendance at weekday services was no longer mandatory, and in 1964 even attendance on Sundays was no longer a requirement. But the choir continued as an integral part of the Sunday services [3] and evolved dramatically. Originally a male chorus that sang only sacred music, mostly Renaissance and Baroque, it is now[ when? ] a mixed choir with a vast repertoire, including sacred works from all eras and pieces from non-Christian religious traditions. [1]
From 1958 to 1992, the choir was led by Walter L. Nollner. Since 1992, it has been directed by Penna Rose. The choir is often accompanied by the University Organist, Eric Plutz.
In addition to Sunday morning services, the Princeton University Chapel Choir sings at official university functions, including Opening Exercises for the freshman class, the Service of Remembrance for alumni, and Baccalaureate for the graduating seniors. [1] They also sing at various other services held by the Office of Religious Life, including a yearly interfaith peace service monthly jazz vespers. [4] Every Advent season, they organize a Messiah sing for the community.
In recent years[ when? ] the choir has performed pieces by traditional composers such as Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff, as well as modern works by Bob Chilcott, Ola Gjeilo, Eric Whitacre, James Whitbourn, and Bobby McFerrin.
A cappella music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this fashion. The term a cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato musical styles. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony, coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists, led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.
Saint Thomas Church is an Episcopal parish church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York at 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Also known as Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue or Saint Thomas Church in the City of New York, the parish was incorporated on January 9, 1824. The current structure, the congregation's fourth church, was designed by the architects Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in the French High Gothic Revival style and completed in 1914. In 2021, it reported 2,852 members, average in-person attendance of 224 and $1,152,588 in plate and pledge income.
The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s. Thereafter they began to reach a wider American audience, appearing frequently on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the United States. In 1987, they were prominently featured as guests on the Emmy Award-winning ABC television special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas.
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Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music currently operating on the campus of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's College of Arts and Sciences, the college under which the historic institution has been reorganized, consists of Westminster Choir College as well as three additional schools.
King's Voices is an English choir, and is the mixed-voice chapel choir of King's College, Cambridge. It is a resident choir to the college's chapel, alongside the Choir of King's College, Cambridge.
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Heinz Memorial Chapel is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
Joan Lippincott is an American concert organist and former head of the organ department at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
The Texas A&M University Century Singers are Texas A&M University's 100 member mixed choral group. The ensemble is Texas A&M's first mixed choir, and is the university's second oldest choral group. The Century Singers perform regularly throughout the Bryan/College Station community and annually throughout the State of Texas. The choir is currently under direction of Mr. Thomas Gerber, and is accompanied by Ms. Jesse Novak.
The Princeton University Chapel is located on that university's main campus in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It replaces an older chapel that burned down in 1920. Designed in 1921 by Ralph Adams Cram in his signature Collegiate Gothic style, it was built by the university between 1924 and 1928 at a cost of $2.3 million. The chapel was rededicated in an interfaith ceremony in 2002 following a major two-year restoration.
The Harvard University Choir, more commonly referred to as the University Choir or simply UChoir, is Harvard University's oldest choir. It has provided choral music for the Harvard Memorial Church and its predecessor church for over 180 years, and is Harvard's only professional choir. Each year, a select group of choristers also make up the Harvard Choral Fellows, who sing at the church's daily Morning Prayers service in Appleton Chapel.
The Memorial Church of Harvard University is a building on the campus of Harvard University. It is an inter-denominational Protestant church.
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The Notre Dame Glee Club is a 75-voice, all-male choral ensemble at the University of Notre Dame. Founded in 1915 in the tradition of English and American glee clubs, it is the oldest Glee Club at a Catholic University in the United States.
The University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel is a chapel at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. It was consecrated on 4 October 1929, and is dedicated to the memory of the former students and staff of the university who died in the First World War. It is located in the West Quadrangle of the Main Building of the university, and was designed by John James Burnet. The chapel is protected as a category A listed building.
Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall is a historic 900-seat Richardsonian Romanesque performance hall at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. It is home to both the Princeton University Orchestra and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.
Stone Hill Church of Princeton is a gospel-centered, nondenominational church in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The church was founded in 1956 as Westerly Road Church at the intersection of Westerly and Wilson Roads. In 2013, it constructed a new facility and relocated to 1025 Bunn Drive and changed its name to Stone Hill Church of Princeton. The Rev. Dr. Matthew P. Ristuccia, a member of the Princeton University class of 1975, served as senior pastor from 1985 until his retirement in 2020.
The Choir of King's College London is a mixed-voice choir within British university King's College London whose primary function is to provide music in the Chapel of King's College London, a Grade I listed Renaissance Revival chapel. One of the leading university choirs in England and the wider United Kingdom, since its revival in 1945, it has gained an international reputation as one of the leading university collegiate choirs in the world.