The National Chorale is New York's premier professional
choral company. The Chorale was founded in 1967 as a company of solo-quality
singers. 2008-2009 is the Chorale's
41st Season in Avery Fisher Hall, where it brings a unique repertory of choral masterworks,
including well-known, seldom-performed, and new music to New
York concert audiences.
The National
Chorale
- Is the only professional choral organization to establish and maintain an annual concert
season in a major New York City concert hall
- Avery Fisher Hall with additional concerts at Carnegie
Hall.
- Has created and presented the
Messiah Sing-In at Avery Fisher Hall every December for 40 years.
The Sing-In is New York's most popular annual holiday season music event,
with an audience-chorus of 3,000 singers.
- Has toured nationally since
1967, presenting choral concerts, vocal/instrumental chamber music,
Messiah Sing-Ins, American music theatre concerts, contemporary music, and Concerts for
Young People.
- Has the leading Vocal Music
Education Initiative in New York's public schools, ongoing for 40 years. Every year, through the Chorale's' programs, more than 12,000 children in elementary and high school grades learn to participate in school
choirs and develop skills for life-long
enjoyment of music.
- Presents the popular NYC High
School Choral Festival, involving
choirs from throughout the city. The 15th annual Festival took place
in May 2008 at Hunter College/CUNY, with more than 1,100 high school singers and choral directors
participating.
The 2008-2009 Season
- Oustanding soloists, singing with the Chorale for the first time this season, include sopranos Tonna Miller and Julia Turner Cooke; altos Janara Kellerman, Charlotte Paulsen and Jennifer Roderer; and basses Tyler Duncan and Derrick Parker
- Distinguished soloists returning to sing with the Chorale this season include sopranos Rebecca Copley and Jee Hyun Lim; tenors Dillon McCartney, Scott Murphree, Eric Shaw and Daniel Weeks; and basses James Bobick and Grant Youngblood.
- The Chorale company ensemble is in splendid form with the return of many outstanding long-time members, including sopranos Crail Conner, Elaine Cunningham, and Anna Noggle; altos Jane Askins, Barrett Cobb, and Stacey Cole; tenors Eric Lamp, Jeffrey Reynolds and Gil Yun; basses Donald Barnum, Philip Booth, and Vagarshak Ohanyan; as well as a number of fine new singers.
-
Most of the excellent instrumentalists performing regularly in the National Chorale Orchestra will also return this season, including Mitsuru Tsubota, Concertmaster; Sebu Sirinian, Principal Second Violin; Daire Fitzgerald, Principal Cello; Robert Bush, Principal Flute; Diane Lesser, Principal Oboe; Charles McCracken, Principal Bassoon; and Barry Centanni, Principal Percussion.
National Chorale News
- In 2008-2009 the Chorale has beenhonored with a significant grant from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in support of its 2007-2008 choral-orchestral series at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center and its Music Education programs in the New York City public schools.
- The National Chorale New York City High School Choral Festival moved to a new performing site. The 2009 Festival will again take place in 2009 in the large auditorium of Hunter College, CUNY, at Park Avenue and 69th Street in Manhattan.
- The National Chorale and
Music Director Martin Josman were recently honored by Choral
Director Magazine with a major cover
and feature article about the company's acclaimed performances and its unique
vocal music education programs in the public schools.
What the Critics Say:
The New York Times
- "This is an excellent chorus."
- "The National Chorale is one of the most firmly established professional choral groups in the country."
- "The National Chorale's singing was the special glory of the performance."
- "As usual, the professional choir was first-rate, and the orchestra was excellent, too."
- "Everywhere on the program, the singing of the chorus, conducted by Martin Josman, was admirable: full-bodied, well-balanced and flexible."
- "Voices are well-matched to one another - now strong and unified, now standing out like glistening strands in a sonic tapestry."
- "In purity of tone, enunciation and technical skill, it would be a hard chorus to beat."
- "An expertly trained ensemble."
- "Performances were invariably on a high level, brash, energetic, lyrical and reflective by turn."
The New York Sun
- "...a fine performance of the Mass in B Minor of Johann Sebastian Bach presented by the venerable National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall. Although many assume that this ensemble is based in Washington, D.C., it is a New York institution, mounting high quality choral events at Lincoln Center every year since 1967."
- "The National Chorale demonstrated forcefully that the sacred music of J.S. Bach is not just about sharps and flats."
- "The Chorale is much closer to what most scholars believe was the rather austere sonic experience of the 1740's. The chorus itself is engineered for this type of athletic expression - the individual sections did a fine job."
- "The chorus was remarkably well blended."
- "Music Director Martin Josman solved the orchestration question deftly...and this hand-picked band played splendidly."
The New York Daily News
- "In another most satisfying choral program, the National Chorale and Orchestra, under Martin Josman, gave an immensely affecting performance of Mozart's Requiem."
- "There was urgency, there was clarity, there was heart."
- "Josman led a crisp yet intensely moving reading of the Mass in B Minor."
Gannett Westchester News
- "The Chorale was superb!"
Newsday
- "The Chorale was the very model of a professional choral ensemble."
- "The singing was clear, strong, in perfect dynamic and tonal control."
The Newark Star-Ledger
- "The professional singers of Martin Josman's National Chorale can do it all."
