Louisville Chorus, established 1939 in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, is the longest-thriving most frequently performing choral arts agency in
Kentuckiana and neighboring states—also exceeding the longevity of opera, ballet, and theatre in the area.
Louisville Chorus has filmed concerts for international broadcast on
EWTN
The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initials EWTN, is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It is not only the largest Catholic television network in ...
, the largest religious media network in the world and has recorded music for
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
in the making of movies. Louisville Chorus is also a member of Chorus America and has had music chosen for nationwide broadcast on the first nationally distributed radio series to focus exclusively on the art of choral music performance.
A professional chorus of auditioned singers, Louisville Chorus provides an immense repertoire ranging from choral masterworks with orchestra to pops, family-oriented, Broadway, and celebrations of Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Fourth of July, and more. This chorus offers a very active season of concerts, multimedia events, and outreach programs. It performs with other arts agencies including adult and youth ensembles, and offers concerts for arts series and other events throughout Kentuckiana.
The
Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, provides partial operating support to Louisville Chorus with state tax dollars and federal funding from the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
.
Louisville Chorus is supported by the Louisville Fund for the Arts.
History
In 1939, Father Joseph Emrich founded The Holy Name Choral Club, which later became The Choral Club of Louisville in 1972 and Louisville Chorus in 1987. The late Joseph Herde succeeded Father Emrich. Richard Spalding, Conductor Emeritus, devoted 20 years to this choral arts agency and made possible its 1985 European Sister Cities Concert Tour. From 1991-2002, Music Director Daniel Spurlock ushered this ensemble and its audiences into a wide variety of experiences. In January, 2003, Louisville Chorus was pleased to welcome S. Timothy Glasscock as Artistic Director. Therese Davis, Executive Director and Pianist, has collaborated with the music directors since 1969 to ensure high standards and the successful growth and development of the Chorus. In June 2009 Daniel Spurlock returned as our Louisville Chorus Music Director.
Highlights
Ongoing Annual Events: MasterWorks with orchestra • Performance collaborations with other arts institutions, including the youth • Local and Outreach Concerts • Celebrations of Christmas, Valentine's Day, Fourth of July, and more • Active season of concerts, incorporating widely diversified repertoire and performance venues
2018 Implementation of Apprentice Connection program—for HS singers—To rehearse & perform in a professional choral ensemble environment and to apply & build upon education gained from current HS choral director
2016 Performance of the Dan Forrest (Young/Living/Contemporary composer) Requiem for the Living (His largest work—Published in 2013) joined by Louisville Philharmonia—the Musicians' Orchestra, chorus and soloists
2009 6/09—Return of Daniel Spurlock as Music Director
2009 Filming for perpetual INTERNATIONAL Broadcast on EWTN, largest global religious media network
2006 Collaborative performances of
A German Requiem (Brahms) with
Jewish Community Center Orchestra and YPAS Concert Choir
2003 Appointment of S. Timothy Glasscock as Artistic Director
2002 A
9/11
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
Memorial Musical Tribute
2000 Feature concert -
Mozart Requiem
The Requiem in D minor, K. 626, is a requiem mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Mozart composed part of the Requiem in Vienna in late 1791, but it was unfinished at his death on 5 December the same year. A completed version dat ...
+ with members of The Louisville Orchestra
1999 Season opening performance of the
Fauré Requiem with The Louisville Orchestra
1997 Iroquois Amphitheater Diamond Jubilee Season Opener and subsequent Kickoff Concerts
1996 Release of first CD Christmas from the Heart
1995 First annual
Unforgettable
Unforgettable may refer to:
Film
* ''Unforgettable'' (1996 film), a thriller starring Ray Liotta
* ''Unforgettable'' (2014 film), a Bollywood film
* ''Unforgettable'' (2016 film), a South Korean film
* ''Unforgettable'' (2017 film), an America ...
Valentine Dinner Concert
1994 Host Chorus for
Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major by Gustav Mahler is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire. As it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although th ...
"Symphony of A Thousand" with The Louisville Orchestra; Daniel Spurlock, Chorus Master
1993 Lonesome Pine Special Celebration of Irish Folk Music Concert with Mick Moloney
1992 "
My Old Kentucky Home", sung in Russian, to 300 million former Soviet citizens, during a Kentucky Derby telecast
1992 Host Chorus for the Kentucky Bicentennial Concert
1991 Appointment of Daniel Spurlock as Music Director
1989 Designation of Richard Spalding as Conductor Emeritus
1988 First Super Pops with The Louisville Orchestra; Initial induction into Chorus America, the National Association for Professional Vocal Ensembles
1987 Name change to The Louisville Chorus; "Resurrection"
Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 2 in C minor by Gustav Mahler, known as the ''Resurrection Symphony'', was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. This symphony was one of Mahler's most popular and successful works during his lifetime. It was ...
with The Louisville Orchestra
1985 European Sister Cities Concert Tour to
Mainz, Germany
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
and
Montpellier, France
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people li ...
; Carmina Burana with the
Louisville Ballet
1984 Official
Brown & Williamson
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation was a U.S. tobacco company and a subsidiary of multinational British American Tobacco that produced several popular cigarette brands. It became infamous as the focus of investigations for chemically enhancing ...
sponsored "Light Up Louisville" Entertainment for the next 10 years
1982 Benefit Concert for Hearing Impaired Children
1972 Name change to The Choral Club of Louisville. Chorus becomes non-denominational.
1970
Verdi Requiem
The ''Messa da Requiem'' is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass ( Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi admired. The first performance, at ...
with The Louisville Orchestra
1967 Appointment of Richard Spalding as Music Director (20 year tenure)
1958 Appointment of Joseph Herde as Music Director
1942 Recruitment of Catholic women. Began Iroquois Amphitheater performances with proceeds to the U.S.O.
1940 First performance in
Columbia Auditorium
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
(Knights of Columbus - now Spalding Auditorium)
1939 Founding of the Holy Name Band and Choral Club (all Catholic men) by Father Joseph Emrich
See also
*
External links
Louisville Chorus websiteLouisville Chorus YouTube ChannelLouisville Chorus—The Power of MusicLouisville Chorus ImpressionsListen to Louisville ChorusLouisville Chorus CDsLouisville Chorus Mission/ReviewsLouisville Chorus Begins its Christmas Concert Series in Style on Louisville.comAll Voices: Local to Global News - A review of a Louisville Chorus ConcertKET reviews Daniel Spurlock, Music Director of The Louisville ChorusPerforming Arts Directory listingYELP referenceLouisville Chorus at the Cathedral of the Assumption
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Arts organizations based in Louisville, Kentucky
Choirs in Louisville, Kentucky
Musical groups established in 1939
1939 establishments in Kentucky