The Cecilia Chorus of New York

Early Years

A secular, unaffiliated organization, the Chorus was formally founded in 1906 as a women's chorus; since then, the Chorus has evolved into one of the finest non-professional performing arts organizations in New York City, and has left its mark on American musical history.

The nucleus of the chorus was formed in 1900 by a small group of women who met at each other’s homes on Tuesday mornings

because they loved to sing together. Of these, Miss Susan Warren and Mrs. Henry Burden were the active heads, and Mr. Elliot Schenck was the pianist and leader. The ladies established an all-women’s chorus and named it the Tuesday Morning Singing Club. Membership was by invitation only, and rehearsals were held at the Waldorf Astoria for many years. In 1906, Metropolitan Opera coach Victor Harris. was invited to be Conductor of the chorus. Mr. Harris accepted on the condition that they designate his studio for rehearsals and that they would really work. From this initial core the "Saint Cecilia Club" was founded in 1906. Under Mr. Harris' leadership the Club grew rapidly and soon became known as one of the outstanding choral organizations in New York City.

In 1922, while still a women's group (it remained so until 1965), the Chorus gained significant recognition when it appeared with The Philharmonic Society of New York under Willem Mengelberg in the first New York performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 3. Since then, the Chorus has given world and U.S. premieres of more than sixty works, by composers including Mrs. H.H.A. Beach, Deems Taylor, and Virgil Thompson.

Harris continued as the Chorus’s conductor until 1936; he was succeeded as Music Director/Conductor by Léon Barzin (1936–37), Willard Sektberg (1937–42), Hugh Ross (1942-195?), David Buttolph (195?-1965), David Randolph (1965-2010) and Mark Shapiro (2011- ). The Chorus has also performed with such other noted conductors as Lukas Foss, John Alldis, John Nelson, Romano Gandolfi (La Scala), Peter Tiboris, and Eve Queler (Opera Orchestra of New York).

David Randolph

In 1965, when David Buttolph resigned, the Chorus recalled how much they had enjoyed making music with David Randolph when he had substituted at a rehearsal in October 1959, and invited him to become their sixth Music Director/Conductor. Mr. Randolph remained conductor until his death in 2010.Under Mr. Randolph's direction, the Chorus grew in size and ability, and in 1969 the Chorus performed its first concert in Carnegie Hall. In addition to its now traditional twice-yearly Carnegie Hall concerts, some of which have been broadcast live on WNYC Radio, David Randolph led the Chorus to appear in other reputable venues, including Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall.

In April 1981, prompted by the popularity of the Broadway play Amadeus, The St. Cecilia Chorus performed a program in Carnegie Hall which featured the U.S. premiere of Antonio Salieri's Mass No. 1 juxtaposed with Mozart's Great Mass in C minor. The program was broadcast on WNYC, and Amadeus author Peter Shaffer was in attendance and made a short speech from the stage of Carnegie Hall.

In December 1986, also in Carnegie Hall, the Chorus presented the North American premiere of a significant work by a talented but neglected female composer: Oratorium nach Bildern der Bibel by Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn's sister.

During his 37 years with The Masterwork Chorus, Mr. Randolph developed a specialty as a conductor of Handel's Messiah, and his much-acclaimed interpretation of that beloved masterpiece became a seasonal tradition in New York City. In 1995, Mr. Randolph directed the St. Cecilia Chorus in Messiah for its very first time, much to the joy of the chorus members and audience. Its two 1995 Messiah performances at Carnegie Hall were a notable success, and by popular demand the work was brought back for two successive performances on December 20, 1997, and for performances in 2005, 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2015.

In 1993, members of the Chorus made a recording with Liza Minnelli for the benefit of AIDS research. In 1996, a small group of Chorus members appeared as Christmas carolers in The Preacher's Wife, a major motion picture starring Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington.

Mark Shapiro

In July 2011, following the death of David Randolph the prior year, Mark Shapiro was appointed the seventh Music Director/Conductor of the Chorus. In 2012 the Chorus changed its name to The Cecilia Chorus of New York.

Under Mr. Shapiro's direction, the Chorus began premiering commissioned works, such as Rafael Fusco's Divis Cetera: an Ode from Mount Soracte (2012), Jonathan Breit' s Der Zippelfagottist (2016) and Tom Cipullo's Credo for a Secular City (2014); that latter performance was honored in 2015 with the receipt of the Chorus America/ASCAP Alice Parker Award.

Other notable accomplishments include the long-delayed New York premiere in 2013 of Dame Ethyl Smyth's Mass in D, which the composer had completed in 1891; and a rare revival of The Christmas Story (1949) by neglected American master composer Peter Mennin, a former president of The Juilliard School.

Repertoire

Below is a list of performances over the past 1/2 century.

Performances from 2011 and later conducted by Mark Shapiro, unless otherwise indicated.

Performances from 1966 through 2010 conducted by David Randolph, unless otherwise indicated.