Cornell University Chorus

The Cornell University Chorus was founded in 1920, initially as the Cornell Women's Glee Club.[1] The Chorus is a sixty-member treble choir, with repertoire including masses, motets, spirituals, classical, folk, 20th-century music, and traditional Cornell songs. Aside from its constantly changing and increasing selection of choral music for treble voices, the Chorus also performs major works with the Cornell University Glee Club such as Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Handel's Messiah, and Bach's Mass in B Minor and St Matthew Passion .

Chorus women performing at a Christmas Open House circa 1950.
Cornell University Chorus at their annual Twilight Concert 2016
Cornell University Chorus
Background information
OriginCornell University in Ithaca, New York
GenresChoral, classical, etc.
Years active1920–present
Associated actsCornell University Glee Club, After Eight
Websitewww.cuchorus.com
MembersDirector
Robert Isaacs

The Chorus performs annually during Convocation, First-Year Parents Weekend, Homecoming, Senior Week, Commencement, and Reunion Weekend. In addition to the concerts on campus, the Chorus also has experience in professional settings, working under the baton of Nadia Boulanger, Eugene Ormandy, Erich Leinsdorf, Michael Tilson Thomas, Julius Rudel, and Karel Husa on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Philadelphia Academy of Music, and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. The Chorus has also been featured on two nationwide broadcasts: a special half hour on CBS radio, and an appearance on PBS's MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour as part of an artistic feature on former director Susan Davenny Wyner. The Chorus has collaborated with world musician Samite of Uganda, participated in a production of Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light with Anonymous 4, and performed several major works with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, including Bach's Mass in B Minor, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, and Lili Boulanger's Du fond de l'abîme with the Cornell Symphony Orchestra.

Commissioning Project

In 2003, the Cornell University Chorus launched a commissioning project known informally as "No Whining, No Flowers."[2] The goal of the project is to expand the contemporary repertoire for treble choirs by commissioning pieces from women composers using text from women writers. Furthermore, these texts are intended to explore topics that differ from the traditional treble repertoire themes of lost love and scenery admiration - hence the title of the project. Commissioning projects to date include:

  • Elizabeth Alexander: Why I Pity the Woman Who Never Spills (2003)
  • Sally Lamb: The Sadness of the Sea (2004)
  • Edie Hill: A Voice (2005)
  • Carol E. Barnett: Song of Perfect Propriety (2006)
  • Augusta Read Thomas: Juggler of Day (2007)
  • Abbie Betinis: Chant for Great Compassion (2008)
  • Libby Larsen: A Book of Spells (2009)
  • David Conte: To Music (2010) (Special commission in honor of Chorus alumna Heather Walters, '81, who died on August 27, 2009)
  • Sally Lamb: Voices of the Hills (2011)
  • Kay Rhie: Kassia's Hymn (2012)
  • Flannery Cunningham: Onion Days (2013)
  • Lisa Bielawa: Songs from Ort (2014)
  • Adrienne Albert: Malala (2015)
  • Mia Makaroff: Jump the Chromosome and Perception Test (2016)
  • Christine Donkin: The Grail Bird (2017)
  • Melissa Dunphy: It Isn't a Dream (2018)
  • Hanne Bæverfjord: It Comes Unadorned (2019)

Domestic and International Tours
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
The Chorus rehearsing for their performance at the Bolivar Amphitheater in Mexico City during the Mexico and Guatemalan tour, January 2016.

In addition to these extended trips, the Chorus also travels to other universities for competitions and festivals. In the past, they have performed at Harvard for the Centennial Celebration of the Radcliffe Choral Society as well as joint concerts with the Toronto Women's Chorus, the Penn State Glee Club, and the Wellesley Chorus.

Directors

  • 1920–1942: Lillian (Mrs.Eric Sydney) Dudley
  • 1942–1945: John Marinus Kuypers
  • 1945–1946: Paul John Weaver
  • 1946-1947: Mrs. Don Price[3]
  • 1947-1951: Mrs. F. Clinton White
  • 1951–1957: Thomas Brodhead Tracy
  • 1957–1958: Thomas Andrew Sokol
  • 1958-1960: James F. Armstrong (When Armstrong left to return to Harvard in 1960, the Women's Glee Club was disbanded, and replaced by the Cornell Chorus, under the direction of Thomas Sokol.)
  • 1960-1963: Thomas Andrew Sokol
  • 1963-1964: William C. Holmes (Acting Director)
  • 1964-1965: Thomas Andrew Sokol
  • 1965-1966: Thomas Andrew Sokol (Fall); William C. Holmes (Acting Director - Spring)
  • 1966-1970: Thomas Andrew Sokol
  • 1970-1971: David Buttolph (Fall): Thomas Andrew Sokol (Spring)
  • 1971-1974: Thomas Andrew Sokol
  • 1974-1975: Donna Bloom
  • 1975-1983: Thomas Andrew Sokol
  • 1983- 1984: Thomas Andrew Sokol (Fall); Byron Adams (Acting Director -Spring)
  • 1984-1985: Thomas Andrew Sokol
  • 1985-1986: Byron Adams (Acting Director)
  • 1986-1987: Thomas Andrew Sokol
  • 1987-1991: Susan Davenny Wyner
  • 1991-1995: Ron Schiller
  • 1995–2012: Scott Arthur Tucker
  • 2012–2013: John Rowehl
  • 2013–present: Robert Isaacs

A Cappella Subsets

After Eight (1991-present)

After Eight, formed in 1991, is the official a cappella subset of the Cornell University Chorus. After Eight regularly performs contemporary repertoire arranged for a cappella by current members and alumnae of the group. They additionally perform selections from the Chorus repertoire on occasion, as well as traditional Cornell songs. After Eight has two major on-campus concerts every semester, one in the Fall (Witching Hour) and one in the Spring (Evening Affair). They also perform around campus at student and alumni events throughout the year.

Earlier subset history

Nothing But Treble (1976-1990) formed as a subset of the Chorus in 1976. In 1990, the group disassociated from the Chorus. They are still an active a cappella group on campus.

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2016-02-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-02-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Musical Clubs Council Resumes". Cornell Alumni News. 49: 229–230. December 1946 – via ecommons.cornell,edu.
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