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ABOUT
US
History and Description
St. George’s Choral Society is one of — if not the — oldest choral societies in Manhattan. We offer members the opportunity to explore the choral repertory while singing in historic St. George’s Church (1840). Glorious music, a beautiful setting and community spirit together create a challenging and uplifting musical experience. We have 65 members and Section Leaders who join us for our rehearsals. Rehearsals take place on Wednesday evening in the Neo-Romanesque chapel, whose history features J.P. Morgan, on Rutherford Place facing Stuyvesant Square.
When it was founded in February, 1817, as St .George’s Church for the Cultivation of Sacred Music, the Society’s goal was to establish a school for the training of worshippers at the church in “Vocal Sacred Music.” For a long time, though, the emphasis of the Society has been for the presentation of choral music — sacred and profane — in public concerts.
The Choral Society presents concerts twice a year. Most take place in St. George’s Church, but occasionally the Society presents concerts elsewhere. In recent years we’ve performed at the Friends Meeting House, at Calvary Church on 21st and Park Avenue South and at Carnegie Hall. Over the years the concerts have included Carl Orff’s Camina Burana, Duke Ellington’s Sacred Jazz, Britten’s St., Nicholas Cantata, “American Classics,” with music by Copland, Samuel Barber and Randall Thompson. In 2006, the Choral Society performed Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Te Deum in C in the Fall and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle in the Spring. In addition, the Society sponsors an annual series of Summer Sings conducted by noted directors from choirs around the City.
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