Collegiate chorale in New York, New York

• Business name: Collegiate chorale
• Address:
• 115 East 57th Street
  11th floor
  New York, New York 10022
• Phone number: 646-202-9623
• Year established: 1941
• Credit cards accepted: Yes
• Number of employees: 1-5
• Map:
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• Email address:
• Category: Arts & Entertainment
• Description:
• The Collegiate Chorale has been a prominent force in the cultural life of New York City for more than 60 years. Founded in 1941 by Robert Shaw and taking its name from its first rehearsal space, the Marble Collegiate Church, The Chorale rose to prominence when it performed Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. Subsequently, This New York City based chorus has performed with such conductors as Beecham, Bernstein, Koussevitzky, Maazel, Mehta, and Mitropoulos. Through the years The Chorale has established an international reputation through its commitment not only to the traditional choral repertoire but to American music, commissioning works from Barber, Bolcom, Britten, Copland, Dvorák, Hindemith, and Sessions. Under the leadership of its Music Director, the late Robert Bass(from 1980-2008), The Chorale expanded its vision to include operatic repertoire, multi-media productions and cross-discipline presentations. The Chorale's newly appointed Maestro, James Bagwell stands ready to champion this vision and carry The Chorale forward into the next great phase of its musical life. In 1982, The Chorale joined Juilliard's American Opera Center for the New York premiere of Montezuma by Roger Sessions. Other premiere concert performances of operas followed: 1984, the American premiere of Dvorák's Dmitri; 1987, the New York premiere of Respighi's La fiamma; 1989, the New York premiere of Strauss' previously unrecorded one-act opera, Friedenstag. In 1997 The Chorale gave the New York premiere of Schubert's Fierrabras. This marked the beginning of an important artistic partnership with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall: "Opera-in-Concert." Performances for the series include: 1998, Verdi's Nabucco; 1999, Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco; 2000, Ponchielli's La Gioconda; 2001, Verdi's Macbeth; 2002, Weber's Oberon; 2003, Verdi's La forza del destino; 2004, Verdi's Un ballo in maschera; and 2005, Puccini's Le Villi and Act III of Turandot with the New York premiere of the Luciano Berio ending. For the 2009-2010 Season, The Chorale will present the World Premiere Two Act Concert Version of Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie's opera, The Grapes of Wrath. The addition of opera to The Chorale's repertoire further expanded The Chorale's mission to present the full spectrum of the vocal arts, through the presentation of an array of musical works, including opera, choral classics, contemporary vocal pieces and multi-media staging. Recently, The Chorale has reinvigorated its dedication to this vision, working with acclaimed actor Roger Rees. As The Chorale's Artistic Associate, Mr. Rees has collaborated with The Chorale on several varied music programs that investigate the relationship between music and text and the vocal language they create. Recent performances have included An Evening of American Operetta, An Evening of Kurt Weill, Shakespeare & Verdi; and Scott Joplin's Treemonisha. Critically acclaimed, this series proves valuable to both The Chorale and the audience by expanding the range of color that the choral sound encompasses. The continued strength of classical music as an art form depends on retaining and revitalizing existing audiences as well as creating new ones. To that end, The Chorale's education programs bring an understanding and appreciation of the concept of "the full spectrum of vocal arts" to students, audiences and the broader community. One of The Chorale's flagship programs is the Side-by-Side initiative. Launched by The Chorale in 2002, it provides an opportunity for musically advanced high school students to rehearse and perform with the chorus "side-by-side" with the the regular members and professional singers. The program enriches the school's vocal music curriculum with a series of masterclasses and gives students valuable experience performing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center with professional musicians and world-class soloists. The effort to diversify the vocal impact on classical music has garnered The Chorale growing accreditation in the artistic community. In 2005, The Chorale and Robert Bass received an invitation from Maestro James Levine to sing under his leadership at The Verbier Festival in Switzerland. The Chorale performed Verdi's Requiem in its festival debut, and returned in August 2006 to perform a broader program: Verdi's Simone Boccanegra and Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" with Mr. Levine. Mr. Bass made his Festival conducting debut with The Chorale on August 5th, presenting Schubert's Mirjams Siegesgesang. In July 2009, The Chorale returned to Verbier to perform Mozart's Don Giovanni and Faure's Requiem. The Chorale's presence on the international music scene continues to expand. In July 2008, The Chorale traveled to Israel at the request of Zubin Mehta and Avi Shoshani of the Israel Philharmonic to perform with the orchestra in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. The Chorale has performed on radio and television since its inception under Robert Shaw. Its first feature was a 1948 performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. In recent years it has appeared in various educational programs and concert broadcasts. The Chorale sang in Pavarotti Plus!, of which all six programs were televised nationally on PBS, the latter as part of the Live From Lincoln Center series in 1990. MTV invited The Chorale to perform "O Fortuna," from Orff's Carmina Burana at the nationally broadcast "MTV Video Music Awards" in 1999. WFMT has carried The Chorale's "Opera-in-Concert" series, providing national carriage of acclaimed performances. In October 2006, Robert Bass participated in WNYC's "Beethoven Festival." Speaking on The Spirit is Willing: Beethoven's Vocal Music with George Preston, Maestro Bass discussed the challenges of the composer's few pieces for the voice. The program featured The Chorale's recordings of Beethoven's works, including the 2005 opera-in-concert of Fidelio with Deborah Voigt and the historical recording of Toscanini's "Symphony No. 9". The Chorale's recordings include: Mahler's "Symphony No. 2" (Resurrection) under Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic for Sony; Dvorák's Discoveries from America for Music and Arts; Strauss' Friedenstag for Koch; Beethoven's Der glorreiche Augenblick and Cantata on the Elevation of Leopold II with Deborah Voigt and the Orchestra of Saint Luke's for Koch International. Highlights of recent seasons include: The New York premiere of Bernstein and Lerner's A White House Cantata, Mendelssohn's Elijah featuring Bryn Terfel; Scott Joplin's Treemonisha; The Chorale's performance of Leonard Bernstein's Mass-- its first New York performance in over 25 years;and the sold out performance of Kurt Weill's Firebrand of Florence featuring Nathan Gunn. Among the many guest artists with whom The Chorale has performed in recent years include: Thomas Hampson, Bryn Terfel, Nathan Gunn,Victoria Clark,Stephanie Blythe, Kathleen Battle, Lauren Flanigan, Renee Fleming, Hei-Kyung Hong, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Salvatore Licitra, Aprile Millo, Ewa Podles, and Deborah Voigt.
• Last update: 2010-03-08
• Visits: 1011

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