And the choral music scene at that time and today.

(Repost since this article is receiving a bit of attention these days.)

Update 20 July 2025: Like many other artists now, the Choral Arts Society of Washington (CASW) Chorus should refuse to perform at the now-corrupt Kennedy Center under any circumstance with the convicted felon (34 felony counts) criminal and adjudicated sexual assaulter and the insane world’s bully as the chair and his MAGA cultists and members of the regime on the Board of Trustees. The CASW should thank the National Symphony Orchestra for any invitations they receive from the NSO for proposed symphonic choral performances, but reject them and make it clear why they are rejecting the invitation.  That they want nothing to do with a performing arts center run by this corrupt piece of fascist trash who is now a dictator (he’s trying to be the world’s dictator) and who does not have one artistic bone in his septic and corrupt body nor any interest in music or the performing arts.  The other Orchestra Choruses — The Washington Chorus (formerly the Oratorio Society of Washington) and the University of Maryland Concert Choir — should follow accordingly.  They should refuse to perform there.  Because by continuing to perform there, one is being complicit in this corruption. And that goes for the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera.   Why are they still there?  I had suggested other possible venues that the NSO and WNO relocate to.  Do I think that any of these ensembles will stop performing at the Kennedy Center?  No, of course not.  That’s what they all should do if they have any principles, but I live under no illusions that’s what any of them are going to do.  I’m a realist.  In reality, they will jump through all types of mental calisthenics to justify their performing there and consequently (unspoken):  being part of the corruption.  It’s time that someone tell it like it is.  The Kennedy Center is no longer what it was.  And how long before the Kennedy Center gets renamed with this narcissist, this piece of fascist/nazi trash’s name on it?  Since it’s always all about him and how wonderful this degenerate thinks he is, and his enormous, “big and beautiful” ego.  When the guy is really just the scum of the Earth.  Gutter trash, and that’s putting down gutters.  End of Update

Well, let’s hope these are not the last days of the Choral Arts Society, but it is something that has crossed my mind lately.

The Choral Arts Society of Washington in the US nation’s capital, the District of Columbia, can’t seem to find a permanent Chorus Director. Which historically is unheard of, unthinkable. What is going on here?  Update:  Well, they have a new Chorus Director as of this writing, but it certainly took them awhile to find one and they don’t make her easy to find on their website.

When I was coming along and up until fairly recently historically speaking, Orchestra/Symphony Chorus Directors stayed in their positions for years/decades, and many other Chorus Directors would love to have been in those prestigious positions. Chorus Directors such as Robert Shaw and his stellar Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Margaret Hillis and her Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Dr Paul Traver and his superb University of Maryland Chorus, Norman Scribner, John Oliver who founded the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Robert Page and his Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, Simon Halsey and his City of Birmingham Orchestra Chorus in the UK, and I could go on. They are the Chorus Directors who immediately come to mind for me. The same was true with Anglican/Episcopal church jobs — especially cathedral church jobs — and their Organist/Choirmaster. They stayed in their positions for years/decades and parish and cathedral churches had no trouble filling an opening in that coveted position should — for some reason — there was an unexpected opening in the position of Organist and or Choirmaster.

Yeah, well that was then. Things have changed it would appear.

For those who don’t know, the Choral Arts Society of Washington is one of the three Orchestra Choruses in the District of Columbia invited to perform each season with the National Symphony Orchestra and on occasion with (inter)national orchestras touring the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The other two Orchestra Choruses are The Washington Chorus and the University of Maryland Concert Choir, the all-student symphonic choral ensemble on the University of Maryland, College Park campus. They replaced the liquidated/disband renowned and outstanding University of Maryland Chorus, which had quite a legacy with the NSO.

“Most Choruses are on the verge of extinction these days.”

That’s a quote from a former Chorus Director of an Orchestra Chorus, and he should know, and it’s absolutely true. I’ve watched over the years as symphony orchestras have greatly reduced their symphonic choral repertoire performances. I think the only oratorio getting any time these days is that over-performed oratorio Messiah by Händel. That ritual is every December, on cue. And when a symphonic choral work is chosen, it’s usually or two often one of The Big Three, having survived. So these days, most Orchestra Choruses/Symphony Choruses don’t have much repertoire to perform compared to the rigorous performance schedule with the National Symphony Orchestra and (inter)national touring orchestras we had when I was a chorister in Orchestra Choruses. I was fortunate to be a chorister in three, upon audition: Norman Scribner’s Choral Arts Society of Washington, Dr Paul Traver’s University of Maryland Chorus and Margaret Hillis’s/Vance George’s San Francisco Symphony Chorus.

A bit of history: The Choral Arts Society of Washington (CASW) was founded by the late Norman Scribner. Well, to be accurate, the CASW began as the Norman Scribner Choir which was formed for the opening of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on the banks of the Potomac in the District, and for the performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. Norman and Lenny were friends and I guess Lenny told Norman that he needed a Chorus for his Mass, which opened the Kennedy Center. Norman had recently graduated from Peabody Conservatory and moved to the District. Some time later, the Norman Scribner Choir or Norman changed their name to the Choral Arts Society of Washington and began performing regularly with the National Symphony Orchestra and touring orchestras who did not tour with their own Orchestra Chorus. Such as when we — the Choral Arts Society — performed the Brahms’s EDR with the Cleveland Orchestra because they did not tour with Robert Page’s Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.

But that was a very different time, including musically. Today with the public’s short attention span it seems the public only has the attention span and or interest in hearing as I mentioned earlier: 1) Beethoven’s Ninth for the umpteen time or 2) Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana or 3) the annual December ritual of that worn-out oratorio Messiah. This is with few exceptions.

Looking at Orchestra Choruses around the US, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus has the best choral season for the 2023-24 season. They’re even performing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Nobody else is. From what I saw, most Orchestra Choruses are relegated to performing — what I call — incidental music.

The vocal scores for oratorios, cantatas or symphonic choral works such as RVW’s A Sea Symphony are now “collecting dust” on the shelves in what few music stores there are left — or are Chorus Directors ordering their scores online? — and anything much other than orchestral music where a Chorus is relegated to performing something minor just to give them something to do for the season. 

I mentioned RVW’s A Sea Symphony in the paragraph above.  When I was in the Choral Arts Society, we performed this choral symphony.  Norman had the Chorus sight-read the piece before we started working on it, and the Chorus had such good sight readers that our sight-reading sounded practically performance ready.  The sound of the Chorus was glorious in the rehearsal hall.   It was my first season with them and the choral sound was thrilling to hear.

Not to give anyone any ideas, but how long before orchestral mismanagement says: Why do we still have our own Chorus when we programme very little for them to do? Why don’t we just disband our Chorus? And on the odd occasion we perform something that requires a Chorus, find one locally that we can invite that meets our orchestral standards. That’s what the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra did years ago. They disband their Symphony Chorus — I read that they weren’t that good — and they started inviting the superb University of Maryland Chorus to perform with them when they needed a Chorus. And, on occasion, they invited the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.

Speaking of Baltimore, I see that the Chorus Director for the Baltimore Choral Arts Society will be preparing the Choral Arts Society of Washington for one performance. And the Director of the Opera Chorus at Wolf Trap will be preparing Choral Arts for another performance. That concerns me. Will he make the Choral Arts Society Chorus sound like an Opera Chorus and ruin their perfect intonation? I don’t ever recall hearing an Opera Chorus that had ever heard the term perfect intonation. It concerns me when an Orchestra/Symphony Chorus performs operatic repertoire. Operatic repertoire and symphonic choral repertoire are two completely different genres. Although, unfortunately, it’s usually opera divas/screamers who are brought in to symphonic choral performances to serve as vocal “soloists” rather than using the finest choristers to perform the solo parts. But orchestral mismanagement think that only celebrity opera divas serving as vocal soloists will sell tickets. Recently I heard the Vienna Opera Chorus perform the Mozart Requiem. The Mozart Requiem is a symphonic choral work; it’s not opera. The Requiem requires perfect intonation from a well-prepared Chorus. So what on Earth was the Vienna Opera Chorus with its operatic sound doing performing the Mozart? Similar to when I read comments online about the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus (ASOC). I’ve not heard them in some time but one commenter said that the ASOC’s sound had changed because they had been doing too much opera under conductor Donald Runnicles. Even though Norman MacKenzie is the Director of Choruses for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. But why was an Orchestra Chorus performing opera to begin with? Opera — with it’s extreme noticeable vibrato as well as screaming — is best left for Opera Choruses with their screaming, cackling, wobbling and fluttering soprano sections. My friend compares screaming opera divas and their “sound” to that of a jet engine. There is supposed to be a difference, a distinction between an Opera Chorus and an Orchestra Chorus/Symphony Chorus. That’s why the two different names, because they are two very different genres. Symphonic choral music is NOT opera. And don’t get me started on Verdi’s Requiem. The piece is supposed to be a symphonic choral work, a Requiem, but it’s really an opera disguised as a Requiem with all those (screaming) soloists. But sometimes the Chorus is superbly prepared and despite it being opera in disguise, the Chorus sings with perfect intonation and excellent diction such as this performance from Deutschland, Frankfurt specifically.

The Kennedy Center’s resident Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, has never had their own Symphony Chorus by choice. The idea has been proposed several times, but the local Orchestra Choruses have fought the idea. Understandably, because if the NSO had its own Symphony Chorus, the three local Orchestra Choruses would no longer be invited to perform with the NSO ever again probably. So, per tradition, three choral ensembles have performed with the NSO by invitation, even though at this point one Chorus could do it all considering the piddly amount of symphonic choral repertoire that the NSO programmes. I’m not suggesting one Chorus do it all. I’m merely making the point that with the small amount of symphonic choral repertoire the NSO programmes, the Choral Arts Society of Washington gets an invite or two per season — nothing like it used to be when I sang with the CASW — and the same for The Washington Chorus and occasionally the University of Maryland Concert Choir gets an invite (usually for the annual Messiah rut/ritual). If memory serves correctly, in recent seasons The Washington Chorus had the most invites during one season. In another season, the University of Maryland Concert Choir had the most invites including performances in Kennedy Center and in Carnegie Hall with the NSO for Rossini’s Stabat Mater. But even then, the amount of symphonic choral works performed was still small in number.

When I lived in the District, the University of Maryland Chorus was practically the Official Chorus for the NSO and received the most invitations during the Antal Doráti years because they were his favourite Chorus. The University of Maryland Chorus had quite a legacy under Doráti. Well, that all changed when Rostropovich came in — from what I read Doráti’s contract was not renewed by NSO management — and Rostropovich seemed to prefer the Choral Arts Society. I think they were the first Chorus he worked with. I tend to think that the first Chorus that a conductor works with — when an Orchestra does not have their own Chorus — becomes the conductor’s favourite Chorus.

As of this writing and as I said earlier — well since February 2023 — the Choral Arts Society of Washington has been having trouble finding a Chorus Director. Quite unusual really. Most of the legendary and time-honoured Chorus Directors of our day (Robert Shaw, Margaret Hillis to name two) are dead. There’s still Simon Halsey in the EU — originally Chorus Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus in the UK — and the superb Chorus Directors who have prepared the Orchestras Choruses I feature on this site in the Conservatory. The names of the one-time, temporary Chorus Directors who will step in to prepare the Choral Arts Society Chorus for some of their performances are not “household names” like Robert Shaw, Margaret Hillis et al. Although I suspect most people, most “households,” had never heard of Shaw or Hillis. One had to be a “choral person” to have heard of Robert Shaw or Margaret Hillis, even though both of their names were on recordings by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, respectively. It’s usually the celebrity orchestral conductor who gets all the credit for performances, not the Chorus Director. Most people have no idea who he (sometimes she) is, and I suspect most people don’t care. Instead, most people are into celebrity conductor worshipping instead.

Scott Tucker who prepared the Choral Arts Society Chorus for the past 20 years stepped down. I take it he had had enough for some reason and had burned out. Perhaps there’s an unspoken story there. It’s true that Chorus Directors do get tired of preparing their Chorus for celebrity orchestral conductors and the Chorus Director doesn’t get much credit for his or her hard work. As I said earlier, most musically-ignorant people think that the conductor of the performance is entirely responsible for the quality of the performance by the Chorus, which is not true at all. Usually, the conductor of the performance does not prepare the Chorus and usually doesn’t see the Chorus until the dress rehearsal on stage. Nevertheless in YT comments of symphonic choral works, the musically-ignorant commenters genuflect to the celebrity conductor and engage in conductor worshipping, and completely ignore the Chorus Director and the work he did preparing the Chorus for the performance.

So, after Scott Tucker resigned, the CASW hired a new Chorus Director. There’s a story there, I can tell you that! Well, that person could not decide what gender “they/them” [sic] was, so that person was referred to and or wanted to be referred to as “they, them” rather than he or she in the press release. Okay. And that’s how Choral Arts referred to “they/them” when they announced that “they/them” had been hired. Even though one source in DC who wrote about this new Chorus Director chose to use the pronoun “he” when referring to the person. They refused to go along with the “they/them” nonsense apparently. I read the press release from the CASW and my first thought was: WTF is going on here? What are they thinking? This would have never happened when I was a chorister in the Choral Arts Society. But that was a different time. I thought: This ain’t going to work, I predict. And it didn’t. Their new Chorus Director who went by the pronouns “they/them” lasted about 5 months (September-February roughly) and then resigned. “They/them” prepared the Choral Arts Society Chorus for the 2022 Messiah performance at the Kennedy Center, and maybe one other performance.

It should be pointed out that “they/them” are plural pronouns so apparently that person thought “they/them” had 2 different people inside “they/them.” This is getting insane.

Anyway, “they/them” is now gone and the Choral Arts Society asked (begged?) Scott Tucker to come back to prepare the Chorus for their performance of Rachmaninov’s Колокола, Kolokola/The Bells, Op. 35 with the National Symphony Orchestra in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. That’s one of the same pieces I performed with them years ago. I remember that the Russian text was not easy; I remember that about it.

The following is one of the Choral Arts Society’s reviews for their performance of Rachmaninov’s Колокола, Kolokola — prepared by former Chorus Director Scott Tucker — with the NSO at the Kennedy Center:

Quote: In the extensive choral part, especially the all-choral third movement, the large forces of the Choral Arts Society of Washington provided a startling range of sound, from warm and nostalgic humming to apocalyptic thunder. The ensemble is searching for a new music director after conductor Jace Kaholokula Saplan lasted only one season, a parting of the ways reportedly resulting from a difference in artistic vision. Former music director Scott Tucker, who was able to save the day and prepare the chorus [sic] for these performances, took a well-deserved bow. End Quote.

One wonders: What were they thinking? How could the CASW have hired Jace to begin with without making sure “they/them” were in agreement with the artistic vision for the Chorus? How did that happen? And Jace Saplan didn’t last even one season. “They/them” began in September, I believe (that’s when our rehearsal schedule began), and resigned in February. That’s only roughly five month. The choral season usually runs until May or June. That’s when our rehearsal schedule ended. And as usual, the reviewer used the wrong word for “Chorus.” They used lower case “c” which is the chorus of a hymn or for a song. Capital C for Chorus is for the names of ensembles, such as San Francisco Symphony Chorus or just Chorus when the Chorus is referred to without their full name. It’s amazing how most people don’t know that, even people who should know better. The San Francisco Symphony is one of the few ensembles who uses the correct capital “C” Chorus when referring to their Symphony Chorus by just the name the Chorus. Also, I should think they would be happy rather than “saddened” that “they/them” resigned since “they/them” didn’t agree with the Chorus and or its administration on their vision. And see what I mean about the plural pronouns, “they/them” thing? Hopefully the next person they hire will know what gender they are.

When I sang with them, the Choral Arts Society was amongst the best Orchestra Choruses of that day along with the superb University of Maryland Chorus (Dr Paul Traver) and Robert Shafer’s Oratorio Society of Washington, which was later renamed The Washington Chorus so that they were not limited to performing oratorios. All three Choruses were excellent.

Choral Politics: Jealousy over the University of Maryland Chorus. Yes, there are politics in nearly everything. I encountered politics in the Conservatory where I trained, especially in the Voice Department — it was pretty intense — and the Keyboard Department over the different “schools”/thoughts or ways of training. Those promoting vocal politics thought their way was the only way to train and made snide remarks about the other professors, whether it was with vocal training (a dark tone versus a bright tone, for example) or piano studies. It made my time there much less enjoyable because of immature politics. I even considered leaving at one point because of the nasty politics. And unfortunately there was politics in the Choral Arts Society. When I sang with the CAS, there was this unfortunate jealousy that some of the choristers had towards the University of Maryland Chorus — also known as The Maryland Chorus and the UMD Chorus — and the number of engagements they were receiving, which I assume the choristers thought we (Choral Arts Society) should have received.  Some choristers made up stories (lies) to feed the jealousy/dislike for The Maryland Chorus.  One lie I heard was that Dr Paul Traver, the Founder and Director for the UMD Chorus, had stormed into the Kennedy Center and demanded that his Maryland Chorus get the engagement to perform with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam in the Kennedy Center.  Of course, Dr Traver would never have done such a thing because he would know that doing so would be the end of his career and the end of any future engagements that The Maryland Chorus would receive from the Kennedy Center administration or the NSO. A couple of years later after I had sung in the University of Maryland Chorus I asked Dr Traver about that without telling him the gossip I had heard at a Choral Arts rehearsal. He said they got that engagement with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam because Margaret Hillis had recommended them to conductor Claudio Abbado.  She had been on the University of Maryland campus for a choral workshop, so she knew the University of Maryland Chorus, and when Claudio Abbado called her in Chicago and asked her for a recommendation for a Chorus in the DC area, she recommended them. It had nothing to do with Dr Traver “storming into the Kennedy Center.” 

I also remember I invited a soprano friend of mine from the CAS to go hear the Maryland Chorus perform Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.  They gave a superb performance but my “friend” from the CAS could not find anything positive to say about the performance. Which was not the case for The Washington Post. Their music reviewer who had been to the performance said, “The University of Maryland Chorus was glorious throughout.”  Yet my friend, due to her devout allegiance — like a cultist — was to the Choral Arts Society.  So, I regretted inviting her to go with me because I don’t think she enjoyed it because the “wrong Chorus” was on stage in her narrow twisted mind.  Even Norman fostered this jealousy to some degree.  At one rehearsal, he said, “A Chorus that shall remain nameless — it was the University of Maryland Chorus — is performing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis this week with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam at the Kennedy Center.”

That same week, the classical music station at that time WGMS, interviewed the soprano soloist (Sheila Armstrong) for the performance one afternoon. During the interview, Ms Armstrong said — it came sort of out of nowhere — “I’d like to make mention of this Chorus for this performance. This Chorus is one of the finest I’ve ever heard.” (Absolutely! I was nodding my head in approval during that part of the interview). The interviewer said, “We should mention that the Chorus is that of the University of Maryland.” I guess my friend from the CAS didn’t agree with Ms Armstrong. 

Maryland got invites that we in the Choral Arts didn’t get at that time, and Choral Arts got invitations that The Maryland Chorus didn’t get. Although I never thought of the other Choruses as being competition with us. We were all in this together was my thinking. I’m not aware that the Oratorio Society had any jealousy over The Maryland Chorus. In my opinion, the choral politics were most unfortunate since, again, I liked them all. By the way, the jealousy was only one-way.  I never detected any jealousy over the Choral Arts Society when I was in The Maryland Chorus a couple of seasons later.  No one ever talked about the other Orchestra Choruses when I was in the UMD Chorus. Dr Traver never talked about the other Orchestra Choruses.

So, is anyone performing oratorios these days? Rhetorical question. No, they’re not except for the perfunctory and obligatory Messiah ritual/performance in December. The University of Maryland Concert Choir usually gets that engagement, although I think for 2023 Messiah is going to the Choral Arts Society, if I’m remembering correctly. Correction: The University of Maryland Concert Choir will be performing Messiah in December 2023 with the NSO in the Kennedy Center, not the Choral Arts Society.

With Choral Arts, their former Chorus Director, Scott Tucker, resigned. Norman had selected him back in 2012 to take over the Choral Arts Society. Historically speaking, Scott didn’t stay that long in that position for some reason. Was it, in part, because of few engagements from the NSO?

When interviewed, Scott said how much he loved the District. Or he may have said Washington. Regardless, the District and Washington are the same thing; that’s why it’s redundant/repetitive to say “Washington DC” because there is no Washington in DC. They mean the same thing; they’re synonymous. District of Columbia is the official name for the nation’s capital — look it up! — not “Washington DC.” As a former District resident, I never say “Washington DC” because I know better! But then Scott contradicted that by saying where he and his family bought a house: in Virginia near (I think) Wolf Trap. I thought: Well, if he truly loves the District, why is he living out in the wilds of Virginia? I think he lives near Wolf Trap. Well, that’s out past the Capital Beltway. So it’s quite a ways out in the suburbs from DC. Or if he said “Washington” maybe he meant that he loves the Washington Metropolitan Area.

The Choral Arts Society wrote this blurb which I found after some searching around for it:

Choral Arts is saddened to announce that Dr. Jace Saplan has decided to resign from their [sic] role as Artistic Director of Choral Arts. We are thankful to have had Dr. Saplan at the helm of Choral Arts. They [sic] brought a wealth of accomplishments and extensive understanding of culturally responsive programming and community building. We wish them [sic] the very best in their [sic] future endeavors.

As I wrote earlier, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra disband their Symphony Chorus years ago. I never heard them, but I read that they weren’t that good and a Symphony Chorus is supposed to be of the same quality caliber as their Orchestra. So, someone in the BSO must have asked, “Why do we have our own Chorus — and they’re not that good? — when we could be inviting one of the best around, the superb and renowned University of Maryland Chorus, to perform with us for symphonic choral works? So, the BSO started inviting The Maryland Chorus to perform with them. They continued to invite the Baltimore Choral Arts Society on occasion. Then, later on, the University of Maryland’s School of Music decided to disband/liquidate the University of Maryland Chorus, and the all-student University of Maryland Concert Choir became the symphonic choral ensemble on campus and they perform every now and then with the National Symphony Orchestra.

The University of Maryland wrote this about the UMD Concert Choir: “they perform frequently with the NSO…” No they don’t. Once a year, if that, in December is “frequently?” Or even if they have two performances a year I wouldn’t call that “frequently,” would you? They should have said “on occasion.” Because “frequently” is exaggerating the situation. Fact is: The superb University of Maryland Chorus — when they were around — did indeed perform frequently with the NSO especially during the Doráti years. As I said earlier, The Maryland Chorus had quite a legacy with the NSO under Doráti.

Well, these days, and repeating myself somewhat: None of these Choruses perform frequently with the NSO or any other orchestra for that matter because symphonic choral works are rarely programmed these days, compared to when I was a chorister in Choral Arts. These days, every Chorus is on the verge of extinction. And when a work is programmed, it’s more often one of The Big Three: Carmina Burana, the Ninth or that over-performed oratorio Messiah.

Why do I repeat myself? Because I’ve learned that there are a lot of thick people out there who need repetition before they eventually “get” things. They’re slow and thick. That’s why I purposefully repeat things. It’s not that I don’t remember what I previously wrote.

But for the 2023-24 season, only one of the Big Three is programmed and that’s Messiah which the UMD Concert Choir snagged again. They seem to be the “Messiah” choral ensemble for the NSO.

So that’s the state of symphonic choral music to some degree in the District.

To be clear, both the Choral Arts Society, the University of Maryland Chorus and the Oratorio Society of Washington were all excellent. Each Chorus has/had a different “sound” so that’s in part why I presume one Chorus was selected for certain repertoire over another. And as I said earlier, during the Antal Doráti years, the University of Maryland Chorus had quite a legacy with the NSO which led to some childish jealousy from the Choral Arts Society over the performance engagements The Maryland Chorus was receiving. Dr Traver accepted the engagements he was offered. So after Doráti left, Maryland had much fewer engagements with the NSO. The season I sang with the UMD Chorus, we only had one engagement — that was a bummer for me — compared to the days of Doráti where the University of Maryland Chorus was practically the Official Chorus of the NSO. In one season under Doráti, the Chorus would have had a Beethoven’s Ninth (three nights in a row), a Verdi Requiem (two to three nights in a row), a Mahler’s Second (the Resurrection, multiple performances) and others. They also had performances at Wolf Trap during the Summer.

So, if the Choral Arts Society of Washington were to disband, that leaves The Washington Chorus, and the University of Maryland Concert Choir as the remaining Orchestra Choruses in the DC Metro area to be invited to perform with the NSO and guest international orchestras on the rare occasion a symphonic choral work is performed these days.

Why no performances on YT from the UMD Concert Choir? Other than a .57 second clip of their rehearsal of the Rossini Stabat Mater. Being the symphonic choral ensemble on campus, the University of Maryland Concert Choir could be performing frequently with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra — especially with the tech advances in their relatively new and beautiful Clarice Smith Performing Arts Centre on the campus — but I see no sign that they’re doing that. Why not? Why aren’t they doing that? They could be uploading their symphonic choral performances throughout the semesters to YT the way the New England Conservatory, Temple University, The Juilliard School (they’ve uploaded some of their performances) and other schools do. Why is that not happening with the UMD Concert Choir and UMD Symphony Orchestra? I see none on YT. Being their own performances, I should think that the University of Maryland would own the copyright to their performances. Why didn’t they perform the Rossini Stabat Mater on campus with the UMD Symphony Orchestra and upload that to YT? (They likely wouldn’t be able to perform with the NSO on campus and upload that to YT because of NSO musicians’ union).

The Choral Arts Society had a good run. Looking back, I now realise that I came along at the best of times. For example, the Choral Arts Society was at their height when I sang with them with a rigorous engagement schedule with the NSO during the seasons in those days. We had several performances with the NSO and touring (inter)national Orchestras per season. Then things changed after I left the District and each Chorus was left with doing its own thing — coming up with their own subscription series independently from the NSO — because they were getting fewer invites from the NSO, because symphonic choral opportunities were becoming less and less. So I feel fortunate to have sung with them when I did, although it did ultimately lead to my burn-out when I was in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus a couple years later.

If the Choral Arts Society ends/disbands, I won’t be surprised. To me it’s a sign of the times. Again, most Choruses these days are on the verge of extinction anyway, especially in the US. I think they’re doing better in the EU.

Based on the “sound” of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC) during their Holiday at Pops concerts, they ain’t doing much better. It would seem that they’re having trouble finding the best choristers in the Boston Metropolitan Area to audition, especially — as usual — for the soprano and alto sections. So, Tanglewood may end up going the same way as the Choral Arts Society, should they disband. I don’t think anything will happen with the TFC since they were started by John Oliver for the Tanglewood Music Festival, but you never know. Then they became the Official Chorus for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops. (They’ve never won a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.) Should the TFC get disband, the BSO can try to find a Chorus somewhere to perform with them for symphonic choral performances that sings with perfect intonation in all SATB sections, impeccable diction and the other aspects of the foundation of choral excellence. They should; however, not look down the street to the New England Conservatory Concert Choir. They’re just as bad as Tanglewood as I wrote in this article, or at least their soprano and alto sections are: Lorna Cooke de Varon’s New England Conservatory Chorus sang with perfect intonation. Why doesn’t the NEC Concert Choir? (Answer: because of a lazy and or inept Chorus Director who got the job riding on the coattails of Westminster Choir College. She seems to think that perfect intonation only applies to the tenors and basses. Where she got that idea is beyond me, or is she too damn lazy to work on perfect intonation with the soprano and alto sections?).

For some time as of this writing (this is nearly November 2023, and since February 2023), the Choral Arts Society is now searching for a new “Artistic Director” (translation: Chorus Director). Question: Who wants to step into that “hornet’s nest” at Choral Arts? Something must be going on since it appears that nobody wants the job. Or if they do, the CASW is being extremely selective in their selection of a Chorus Director. They don’t appear to have been that selective when they hired “they/them” when they didn’t know what “they/them” possessed as a vision for the Chorus. And Scott Tucker seems to be done with them in his retirement.

And to anyone who asks, “What’s wrong with a little vibrato?” That’s what some pleb allegedly from the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC) asked me years ago. How did he pass the choral audition for the TFC without knowing “what’s wrong with a little vibrato?” Well the choral standards were lower under TFC Founder and Director, the late John Oliver. Fact: Vibrato prevents the perfect intonation of voices, that’s what’s wrong with a little vibrato! Perfect intonation is one of the foundations of choral excellence as Robert Shaw pointed out at his Carnegie Hall choral workshops. If just one chorister is singing with noticeable vibrato — wobbling, fluttering, cackling, shrill noises — it can contaminate/ruin an entire section. So that’s what is wrong with a little vibrato. The finest Orchestra Choruses sing with perfect intonation in all sections. Just like the finest Orchestras play with perfect intonation in all sections, especially the string section. They have a velvety, smooth blended sound. All of the Orchestra Choruses I feature on this site in the Conservatory, sing with the perfect blending of voices: Perfect intonation.

I wish the Choral Arts Society of Washington all the best in the future.

Related:

Remembering Norman Scribner, Founder and Director Emeritus of the Choral Arts Society of Washington