The Kansas City Chorale
www.kcchorale.org
is a professional 27-voice

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

conducted by

Charles Bruffy Charles Bruffy (born 1958) is an American choral conductor. He is artistic director of the Kansas City Chorale in Kansas City, Missouri, and is Chorus Director of the Kansas City Symphony. He lives in Kansas City. Education and career Charles Bru ...

. They perform a four concert series in Kansas City, tour nationwide, and perform with their sister choir, the Phoenix Chorale, also conducted by Mr. Bruffy. During his tenure as conductor, the chorus has achieved international acclaim. Mr. Bruffy, renowned for his fresh interpretations of both traditional and new music, was noted by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' as a disciple of the late Robert Shaw. The Chorale has premiered works by Maija Einfelde, Jean Belmont Ford,

Libby Larsen Elizabeth Brown Larsen (born December 24, 1950) is a contemporary American classical composer. Along with composer Stephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum. A former holder of the Pa ...

Zhou Long Zhou Long (; born July 8, 1953) is a Chinese American composer. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Biography Zhou Long was born in Beijing, China. Born into an artistic family, he began studying piano from an early age. Due to the artist ...

Stephen Paulus Stephen Paulus (August 24, 1949 – October 19, 2014) was an American Grammy Award winning composer, best known for his operas and choral music. His style is essentially tonal, and melodic and romantic by nature. His best-known piece is his 1 ...

, Steven Stucky,

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. In March2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall ...

, and

Chen Yi Chen Yi may refer to: * Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty * Chen Yi (Kuomintang) Chen Yi (; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); May 3, 1883 – June ...

, among other composers.

History

The Kansas City Chorale was founded in 1982 by conductor Jonathan Griffith as part of his DMA graduate work at the

University of Missouri-Kansas City A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

’s Conservatory of Music. When Mr. Griffith completed his work and moved on, the singers formed a board, hired a new conductor, and continued the choir. Mr. Bruffy began conducting the Chorale in 1988. The choir evolved from its “classy sassy” repertoire and bake sale fundraisers to one of the premiere performing arts organizations in North America.

Nimbus Records Nimbus Records is a British record company based at Wyastone Leys, Ganarew, Herefordshire. They specialise in classical music recordings and were the first company in the UK to produce compact discs. Description Nimbus was founded in 1972 by ...

, based in the United Kingdom, selected the Chorale as its first North American choir. The first album, ''Nativitas'', came out for the holiday season in 1994. Nimbus released four more Chorale recordings over the next four years. The choir performed the world premiere of ''Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine'', a setting of Charles Anthony Silvestri's poetry by composer

at the 2001

American Choral Directors Association The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization with the stated purpose of promoting excellence in the field of choral music. Its membership comprises approximately 22,000 c ...

National Convention. In 2004 the Chorale traveled to Washington, DC to present a concert at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

. The Chorale joined forces with the Phoenix Chorale (then named Phoenix Bach Choir) to make a joint recording, ''Eternal Rest'', released on the Chandos Records label in 2006. The combined choirs released two more albums with Chandos the following year and released a fourth “two choirs” album in March 2015. The two choirs received international attention when their 2007 Chandos release, Alexander Grechaninov’s ''Passion Week'', received four Grammy nominations and won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for Best Engineered Album, Classical. In 2009, the two choirs performed at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

in New York. Later that year, the Chorale sang for the international choir festival at Incheon, South Korea. ''Life and Breath, music of

René Clausen René Clausen (born 1953) is an American composer, conductor emeritus of The Concordia Choir, and professor of music at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. His works are widely performed by high school and church choirs while his more tec ...

'', the Chorale’s 2012 recording on the Chandos label, won two

s. One was for Best Choral Performance, the other, Best Engineered Album, Classical. In 2014 the Chorale travelled to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, to perform at ''Podium'', the Association of Canadian Choral Communities' national conference. They joined with the Phoenix Chorale and recorded the ''

All-Night Vigil (Rachmaninoff) The ''All-Night Vigil'' ( Pre-reform Russian: ''Всенощное бдѣніе'', ''Vsénoshchnoye bdéniye''; Modern Russian: ''Всенощное бдение'') is an a cappella choral composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff, his Op. 37, ...

'', which was released in March 2015, and won the

for Best Choral Performance, Classical, and was also nominated for Best Engineered Album, Classical.

Reviews

“''Life and Breath'' is another in a string of great Kansas City Chorale recordings for Chandos. The Kansas City Chorale is a marvelously responsive choir who communicate all the subtle nuances that makes Clausen's music so special. They sing with tonal purity, beautiful blend and plenty of character. Chandos's audio quality is worthy of such fine performances and captures the Chorale with a natural, warm sound.” Craig Zeichner, Ariama.com "Grechaninov's ''Passion Week'' is a companion cycle to his better known, ''All-night Vigil'', and it is wonderful to hear it complete (bits sometime crop up in anthologies here and there, but it's scarcely known outside Russia). The superlatives have already piled up against Charles Bruffy's name, and deservedly so. There can only be one reason for a label to release repertoire they already had in their catalogue, and that is that the new performance is so striking." William Whitehead, BBC Music Magazine – May 2007 Choral/Vocal CD of the Month

Awards

In 2007, their recording of Alexander Grechaninov's ''Passion Week'' (recorded jointly with the Phoenix Chorale) was nominated for four

s, and won for Best Engineered Album, Classical. In 2008, their CD ''Rheinberger: Sacred Choral Works,'' also with the Phoenix Chorale, was nominated for Best Choral Performance and Best Surround Sound Album. In 2012, the Kansas City Chorale's recording ''Life and Breath: Music of Rene Clausen'' won the

for Best Choral Performance. The album also received a Grammy for its engineer (John Newton, Sound Mirror, Boston, MA). Their most recent collaborative recording with the Phoenix Chorale,

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

's All-Night Vigil, won the

for Best Choral Performance, Classical, and was also nominated for Best Engineered Album, Classical.

Recordings

The Chorale has produced 11 recordings total, 7 on its own and 4 together with its sister choir, the Phoenix Chorale (formerly Phoenix Bach Choir). All recordings for Chandos Records were recorded using SACD (super audio compact disc) format, a high definition multi-channel format with greatly improved resolution, surround sound, and clarity far beyond that of traditional compact discs.

Discography

Kansas City Chorale: *1994 Nativitas, American carols (

); *1995 Fern Hill, American choral music (Nimbus); *1996 Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom,

(Nimbus); *1997 Music of

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

(Nimbus); *1998 Alleluia, American hymns (Nimbus); *Words and Music, music of James Mulholland (Colla Voce); *2012 Life and Breath: Music of

(Chandos) (winner for BEST CHORAL PERFORMANCE and BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL

Grammy award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s 2013) *2019 Artifacts: The Music Of

Michael McGlynn Michael McGlynn (born 11 May 1964) is an Irish composer, producer, director, and founder of the vocal ensemble Anúna. Career McGlynn was born in Dublin and attended Coláiste na Rinne and Blackrock College. He was a student of Music and Eng ...

(2Foals) Kansas City Chorale and Phoenix Chorale: *2006 Eternal Rest, Frank Martin: Mass, etc. ( Chandos Records); *2007 Passion Week, Alexander Grechaninov (Chandos); (winner for BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL, nominated for a total of four

s, 2007) *2007 Sacred Choral Works of

Josef Rheinberger Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (17 March 1839 – 25 November 1901) was a Liechtensteiner organist and composer, residing in Bavaria for most of his life. Life Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, whose father was the treasurer for Aloys II, Prince of Liech ...

(Chandos) (nominated for two

s 2008) *2015 All-Night Vigil, Sergei Rachmaninoff (Chandos) (Winner of

for Best Choral Performance, Classical, and also nominated for Best Engineered Album, Classical)

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control American choirs Culture of Kansas City, Missouri Musical groups from Kansas City, Missouri