Updated: 27 July 2026: The University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra and UMD Concert Choir performed Beethoven’s Ninth in The Clarice earlier this year (in May 2026). It was their own performance so there should not have been any copyright issues, yet they did not record the performance, or if they did, they did not upload it to YT or anywhere else that I can find. Strange. They have this state-of-the-art Dekelboum Concert Hall facility but act like they’re back in the 1970s or 80s with no recording capabilities. Damn odd. The Clarice opened in 2001 on the College Park campus, and 25 years later they only have 53 videos listed and no major performances of any works. So clearly, they’re not using their state-of-the-art technology to its fullest or at all. And at this point, some of their technology is probably becoming outdated since it’s 26 years old. I read that the Smith Family just gave the University USD$10 MILLION more dollars. They could use that money to update their recording capabilities in The Clarice, but since they’ve rarely used what technology they already have — and not used it at all for featuring full performances online — I’m not too hopeful that will happen. FYI: Clarice Smith and her husband, Robert H. Smith, contributed $15 million to help build the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (known as The Clarice) at the University of Maryland.

I’ve thoroughly researched this both on YT and on Vimeo (which the UMD sparsely uses) and nothing comes up for performances of the UMD Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir. If Dr. Paul Traver (Founder and Director of the University of Maryland Chorus, and my choral mentor) were still alive and part of the School of Music Faculty, things would be different. I talked with him about this topic and he was all about exposure. Well, the UMD Symphony Orchestra and UMD Concert Choir are getting no exposure online. None. So how does this encourage prospective students to want to study at the UMD School of Music (which is housed in The Clarice) and have the desire to be a part of either ensemble? Whereas other University Schools of Music and Conservatories do feature their full performances On Demand online. What is wrong with the University of Maryland?

So what does the UMD Concert Choir do all year? Just thought I would ask.

Not much, from what I can tell.  It certainly doesn’t take two semesters to re-prepare Messiah for performances with the National Symphony Orchestra when they’ve done that several times already. And going forward (into 2027) I don’t know that they will even have that performance engagement since the US dictator and 34-count convicted felon and adjudicated sexual pervert pedophile assaulter has shut down the Kennedy Center. The tarp is still up as of this writing. I’m not convinced his name has been removed from the building, despite news reports. And I read a credible article that said that the National Symphony Orchestra might end up disbanding. The dictator would call that, “Making ‘America’ Great Again” as he continues his destruction of the District of Columbia. Can the NSO exist as a “touring” Orchestra, meaning touring around the District, Maryland and Virginia? Or maybe they could move to Constitution Hall or GW University’s Lisner Auditorium, although The Washington National Opera is there, I think, after they chose to vacate the Kennedy Center. The NSO will likely be performing some (maybe, if there are any openings) at Wolf Trap in Northern Virginia, and at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. From what I read, the NSO was paid directly through the Kennedy Center. Well, when they have no performances, there’s no income for them.

As I remember, the Concert Choir is a one credit course and an easy one since they certainly don’t do anything or have anywhere near the performance opportunities that the superb and renowned University of Maryland Chorus had when they were around, not even close, even though the University would have one believe otherwise.

The University says on their website:

Quote:  The UMD Concert Choir is a symphonic Choir that frequently collaborates with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to perform at top venues including the Kennedy Center…   End Quote

Frequently collaborates?  Nah. That’s a stretch too, because no choral ensemble “frequently collaborates” these days with the NSO or the BSO because neither Orchestra programmes symphonic choral works often.

“Frequently collaborates” would apply to the University of Maryland Chorus when they were around.

The University also wrote:

Quote:  The UMD Concert Choir is a distinguished 100-voice symphonic ensemble, recognized as the choir of choice for both the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO).

End Quote

Nah, I wouldn’t call them the “Choir of choice” either since it depends upon the season.  In recent seasons, The Washington Chorus seemed to be the choral ensemble receiving the most invitations, what few choral works were programmed to begin with.  The same goes for Baltimore.  And the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra also invite the Baltimore Choral Arts Society to perform with them.  The Choral Arts Society of Washington has been having some problems in recent years.  Related:  The last days of the Choral Arts Society of Washington?

The works the UMD Concert Choir have performed have included the following, since they became the Symphonic Choir on campus:

Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Britten’s War Requiem, Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony, and Orff’s Carmina Burana.  As well as John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Liszt’s Dante Symphony.  Also Bach’s Magnificat and Weihnachtsoratorium, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Verdi’s Requiem, and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri. This coming season, they will present Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Dett’s Chariot Jubilee in collaboration with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra.

Well that’s all well and good but unfortunately we can’t hear any of those pieces because no one had the intelligence to record any of them in The Clarice with its state-of-the-art recording capabilities (both audio and video, and live streaming – have they used that feature at all?) and upload them to YT or Vimeo. Why is that?   They were all their own performances so no copyright issues. May I assume that the vocal soloists for all performances (when applicable) came from the UMD School of Music Voice Department Faculty and not some artist management? Even the pieces they performed with the NSO or Baltimore SO on the odd occasion, the UMD Concert Choir could have asked the UMD Symphony Orchestra to perform with them in the Dekelboum Concert Hall, such as once a semester or so.  But, nada. “No, we can’t do that.”

End of Update

When the University of Maryland at College Park disbanded/liquidated the University of Maryland Chorus (also known as The Maryland Chorus), the University designated the all-student University of Maryland Concert Choir as the symphonic choral ensemble on campus.

The term, “Town and Gown”

The Maryland Chorus was what’s known as a “town and gown” Chorus, meaning auditioned University students and auditioned choristers from the Washington Metropolitan Area (also known as the DMV:  District, Maryland and Virginia). Although, when I was in the Chorus, from what I remember it was mostly students from the School of Music, or it seemed to be.

On one occasion in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall before I sang with the Chorus, I heard an audience member say about The Maryland Chorus, “that old guy up there can’t possibly be a student at the University of Maryland.”  His ageism was noted, as well as his ignorance about older people working on a degree programme at the UMD.  All University students are not in their 20s.  Or, the chorister that the audience member was talking about was an auditioned member of the community.

The term “town and gown” was not limited to the University of Maryland.  The University Singers at the University of Virginia School of Music in Charlottesville was also a “town and gown” choral ensemble. I don’t know if that’s still the case. I don’t think “town and gown” was that unusual at that time. The non-student choristers were required to pay a nominal fee to the University to sing in the Chorus.

I remember reading that many people on the Maryland College Park campus — including Faculty and non-music students — were very angered by the University of Maryland disbanding/liquidating their University Chorus. I still don’t know why they did that (I have a few thoughts why that was done), and I’ve not read anywhere why the University did that.

I think most universities have a University Chorus, so to not have a Chorus by that name is unusual.  When the Chorus was disband, some students wrote about how they used to go out of their way to go into the School of Music and walk by the rehearsal hall where the University Chorus was rehearsing just to hear them. Many students and Faculty felt very proud that they had a superb University Chorus on campus that performed regularly in the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra and other (inter)national orchestras, especially under conductor Antal Doráti. How many University Choruses do that or can say that?

The Maryland Chorus was Antal Doráti’s favourite Chorus and he invited them to perform as often as possible with the NSO. He and Dr. Paul Traver had a very special rapport. I remember Dr. Traver saying in rehearsal on occasion when Doráti’s name was mentioned, “There’s only one conductor” and he was referring affectionally to Doráti.

Fast-forward to the present (2026):

The University of Maryland Concert Choir performed Beethoven’s Ninth with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra on 2 May 2026 in The Clarice. Was the performance recorded? No, not that I can find anywhere. And why not?  I thought that The Clarice was this state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center with high-tech recording capabilities.  If so, they really didn’t need all that when the building was built since they’re not using it to the fullest.

Last month, I read about this upcoming May performance of Beethoven’s Ninth and I was wondering if the School of Music planned to record it. The bio I read talked about how the University Symphony Orchestra and the UMD Concert Choir had performed many symphonic choral works together in The Clarice. The repertoire they had performed together included many of the same works that the University of Maryland Chorus performed over the years with the National Symphony Orchestra.

But again, unfortunately, the UMD Concert Choir had recorded none of them in The Clarice with the University Symphony Orchestra. And again, why is that?  To me, this makes absolutely no sense at all. Don’t they have a production crew in this state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center? If so, this production crew never have anything to do to refine their production skills.

So, I wasn’t very hopeful that this May 2026 Beethoven’s Ninth was going to be recorded and uploaded to YouTube. And it wasn’t. And this was one of The Big Three.

As of this writing, there is not one performance video on YT featuring the UMD Concert Choir. Not one.  I don’t understand that. It can’t be a copyright issue because it’s their own performances.

As a comparison, the New England Conservatory upload their performances to YT. The same for Boston University’s School of Music (which is a Conservatory environment).

They have this on YT:

2025–26 UMD School of Music Ensemble:

“Recordings from UMD School of Music large ensembles, including the UMD Symphony Orchestra, the UMD Wind Orchestra, UMD Choral Activities, UMD Jazz Studies, the UMD Wind Ensemble and the Maryland Opera Studio.”

Most videos there are from 9, 10, 14, 15 years ago.

Then there’s this:

2025–26 UMD School of Music Ensemble

Recordings from UMD School of Music large ensembles, including the UMD Symphony Orchestra, the UMD Wind Orchestra, UMD Choral Activities, UMD Jazz Studies, the UMD Wind Ensemble and the Maryland Opera Studio.

Even though that description says, “UMD Choral Activities” there are no (full) performances featuring the UMD Concert Choir.

Didn’t the Concert Choir perform any symphonic choral works in 2025?  Where are they?

I should think that the UMD Concert Choir would perform symphonic choral works with the UMD Symphony Orchestra on a regular basis, at least one a semester, since they only have Messiah to do with the NSO during the first semester.  As I said, they don’t seem to do much.  It’s only a one credit course per semester, an easy credit when you don’t do anything.  You have Messiah in December which (you) performed last December and the December before that.

So again, why doesn’t the University of Maryland School of Music do the same as New England Conservatory and Boston University’s School of Music (and there are others)? I have asked this question umpteen times and still nothing changes at Maryland. Not that anyone at UMD would read what I write, or care about what I write.

I have asked if anyone on the campus remembers the University of Maryland Chorus and their legacy, and is Dr. Paul Traver’s name ever mentioned or talked about on the campus?

The sense I have is that the University hoped that both the Maryland Chorus and Traver would be forgotten about as quickly as possible.

The choral programme being what it is today at Maryland is because of the legacy of Dr. Traver, but the University attributes it entirely to the guy who came after Traver, which is unfortunate and an insult to Dr. Traver.

Knowing Dr. Paul Traver as I did (he’s one of my choral mentors) — I’m not trying to channel Dr. Traver from the grave — if he were alive, things would be different regarding recording.  Dr. Traver would be recording and using The Clarice to its full capability to heavily promote and give exposure to his choral ensembles.

I talked with Dr. Traver on the phone about recording and he favoured recording, but in a realistic sense.  I asked him why the University of Maryland Chorus had not recorded Beethoven’s Ninth, for example. He said, “Have you seen the number of Beethoven Ninths in the catalog? He continued,”People will come into the Kennedy Center and ‘ooooh and aaaaaah’ over our Beethoven’s Ninth, but the catalogue is full of performances of it.” Then I asked him about recording Messiah. He said: The same goes for Messiah. I said: But Maryland does Messiah differently with the Chorus adding Baroque ornamentation to the choral writing. He said: But most people don’t know that, and the catalogue is full of Messiah performances and people will buy those based on the conductor most likely, and not the Chorus.” Of course he was correct.

It’s about exposure.

But Traver was all about exposure and that’s what recording performances on the campus and putting them on YT would do. It would give the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir exposure.  I told Dr. Traver that on occasion the Chorus I was performing with at the time in the District was not always quite prepared, in my opinion, because we had too much repertoire to prepare for the season at the Kennedy Center (we were in demand) and there was only so much time to prepare it all. He said, “That doesn’t matter. You got the exposure anyway.” He was correct.

And featuring one’s performances on YT is a way of exposing/promoting the University’s School of Music and their level of excellence. It could encourage viewers to want to be a part of what they see and want to apply to the School of Music. Does the University not understand that?  Apparently someone there doesn’t!

Perhaps that’s not something the College Park campus is not interested in doing. That’s the perception I have, otherwise things would be different, no?

As I wrote up above, the NSO rarely programmes any symphonic choral works — other than The Big Three — and there may be a total of 3 works each season and that gives each of the three Orchestra Chorus one piece to perform for the season (1. Choral Arts Society of Washington, 2. The Washington Chorus (formerly the Oratorio Society of Washington) and 3. the University of Maryland Concert Choir).

The UMD Concert Choir might perform once a season with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Baltimore also invites the Baltimore Choral Arts Society or the UMD Concert Choir to perform with them when they programme a symphonic choral work.

Baltimore did have their own Symphony Chorus at one time. I never heard them, but I read that they weren’t that good, so the Symphony Chorus was disbanded. Then, they started inviting one of the best Choruses around: the University of Maryland Chorus to perform with them. It’s as if someone in the administration there said at a meeting: Why do we have our own Symphony Chorus (and they’re not that good), when we could be inviting the best one, University of Maryland Chorus, to perform with us instead. Then they all agreed: Well let’s do that!

The reality is that it doesn’t take an entire semester or two to prepare pieces that — in some cases — the Concert Choir has already performed in the past and they just need to re-prepare them with any new choristers. That’s why I began with: What does the UMD Concert Choir do all year? Not much, it seems. They certainly don’t upload what they do perform — whatever that is! — to YT. Sigh.

Also, as I said earlier, the UMD Concert Choir does not have the performance opportunities that the renowned and superb University of Maryland Chorus had with the NSO and (inter)national orchestras, such as performances with The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam comes to mind. Although admittedly that was a different time.

What about oratorios? Ha! Oratorios were performed in those days, especially by Robert Shafer’s excellent Oratorio Society of Washington, which later became The Washington Chorus. Other than the perfunctory annual oratorio Messiah every December on cue, all oratorios are collecting dust on book shelves these days.

Even Israel in Egypt for Double Chorus is collecting dust, all those Editions Novello. That oratorio was surviving until some time ago, and now that’s gone. Here’s one of the last performances I’m aware of (from Early Music Vancouver):

In a symphonic choral sense, with few exceptions, we’re down to The Big Three, and Maryland just performed one of them: Beethoven’s Ninth. But if you were not there at the performance — which their website says was “SOLD OUT” — you’re not going to hear it, which is a shame.