The Phoenix Chorale is a professional

chamber choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called 'chamber singers'), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting. (This is distinct from e.g. a church choir, which sings in rel ...

based in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The ensemble formed in 1958 as the Bach and Madrigal Society. After years as an amateur ensemble, the group went fully professional (meaning all the singers are compensated) in 1990 and changed its name to the Phoenix Bach Choir under Swedish conductor Anders Öhrwall. From 1992 until 1998, their conductor was Jon Washburn and in 1999,

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 ...

took over as conductor and Artistic Director. In 2004, they signed a recording contract with Chandos Records. Their 2007 recording of works by

Alexander Gretchaninov Alexander Tikhonovich GretchaninovAlso commonly transliterated as ''Aleksandr/Alexandre'' ''Grechaninov/Gretchaninoff/Gretschaninow'' ( rus, Алекса́ндр Ти́хонович Гречани́нов, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲɪtɕɐˈnʲin� ...

, made in collaboration with the

Kansas City Chorale The Kansas City Choralewww.kcchorale.org is a professional 27-voice chorus conducted by Charles Bruffy. They perform a four concert series in Kansas City, tour nationwide, and perform with their sister choir, the Phoenix Chorale, also conducted ...

, was nominated for four

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 ...

Best Classical Album The Grammy Award for Best Classical Album was awarded from 1962 to 2011. The award had several minor name changes: *From 1962 to 1963, 1965 to 1972 and 1974 to 1976 the award was known as Album of the Year – Classical *In 1964 and 1977 it wa ...

, Best Choral Performance, Best Surround Sound Album, and Best Engineered Classical Album--and won in the Engineering category. The group's collaborative recording with the

of works by

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 ...

was nominated for two

s: Best Choral Performance and Best Surround Sound Album. In August 2008, the name of the ensemble was changed from the Phoenix Bach Choir to the Phoenix Chorale, and shortly thereafter, the group released a

SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips, Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows mul ...

on Chandos Records titled ''Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary,'' which received nominations for two

s: Best Classical Album and Best Small Ensemble Performance. At the Grammy pre-telecast awards ceremony on February 8, 2009, the Grammy for Best Small Ensemble Performance was awarded to the chorale and its conductor,

. Their most recent collaborative recording with the

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 ...

All-Night Vigil The All-night vigil is a service of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches consisting of an aggregation of the canonical hours of Compline (in Greek usage only), Vespers (or, on a few occasions, Great Compline), Matins, and the F ...

, was nominated for

s for Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical and won the Grammy for Best Choral Performance. In October of 2017, Bruffy concluded his 18-year tenure with the group and in May 2019, after a nearly two-year search,

Christopher Gabbitas Christopher Alan Gabbitas, is a choral conductor, lawyer and university professor. A former baritone with the King's Singers, he was born on 15 May 1979 in Plymouth, the son of Dr. Brian and Mrs Evelyn Gabbitas. The family moved to Kent after hi ...

, a former member of

The King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...

, was announced as the next Artistic Director of the Chorale.Phoenix Chorale Announces Selection of New Artistic Director
'' Downtown Phoenix Journal'', Accessed May 6, 2019.

Discography

Phoenix Chorale *''A Southwest Christmas'' (Soundset Recordings, 1997) *''Shakespeare in Song'' ( Chandos Records, 2004) *''A Spotless Rose'' ( Chandos Records, 2008) *''Northern Lights: Choral Works by Ola Gjeilo'' ( Chandos Records, 2012) Phoenix Chorale and Kansas City Chorale *''Eternal Rest'' ( Chandos Records, 2006) *''Gretchaninov: Passion Week'' ( Chandos Records, 2007) *''Rheinberger: Sacred Choral Works'' ( Chandos Records, 2007) *''Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil'' ( Chandos Records, 2015)

References

External links

Phoenix Chorale websiteChandos Records website
{{Authority control Chamber choirs American choirs Musical groups established in 1958 1958 establishments in Arizona Bach choirs