Louisville Chorus - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Louisville Chorus, established 1939 in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

, is the longest-thriving most frequently performing choral arts agency in Kentuckiana

Kentuckiana

Kentuckiana is a name that is often used to refer to metropolitan areas with counties in both Indiana and Kentucky.* Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, the area most commonly referred to as Kentuckiana...

and neighboring states—also exceeding the longevity of opera, ballet, and theatre in the area. As well, within the realm of major arts agencies, The Louisville Chorus is only two years younger than the Louisville Orchestra

Louisville Orchestra

The Louisville Orchestra is the primary orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky and has been called the cornerstone of the Louisville arts scene. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville...

.

The Louisville Chorus has filmed concerts for international broadcast on EWTN, the largest religious media network in the world and has recorded music for Hollywood in the making of movies. The 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, The Louisville Chorus annually provides the widest variety of music from choral masterworks to pops, children-oriented, holiday, Broadway, and even Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

; releases professional commercial CDs available through CD Baby

CD Baby

CD Baby is an online music store specializing in the sale of CDs and digital music downloads from independent musicians to consumers. The company is also a digital aggregator of independent music recordings, distributing content to several online digital music retailers.CD Baby has achieved recent...

in-store and international digital outlets, and aired on XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...

; performs regularly with other arts agencies; presents annual benefit shows for charitable organizations; offers its own very active season of concerts and events; and performs for arts series and outreach opportunities throughout Kentuckiana.

The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, provides operating support to The Louisville Chorus with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...

History

In 1939, Fr. Joseph Emrich founded The Holy Name Band and Choral Club, which later became: The Holy Name Choral Club (1968), The Choral Club of Louisville (1972), and finally, The Louisville Chorus (1987). Joseph Herde succeeded Father Emrich. Richard Spalding, Conductor Emeritus, devoted 20 years to this choral arts agency and made possible the 1985 European Sister Cities Concert Tour. From 1991-2002, Music Director Daniel Spurlock, a graduate of the Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

and for many years the lead bass player in the Louisville Orchestra

Louisville Orchestra

, ushered this high-calibre ensemble and its audiences into inspirational, poignant, and emotional musical experiences. In Jan., 2003, The Louisville Chorus welcomed Maestro 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. The Louisville Chorus, since the return of Music Director Daniel Spurlock in June 2009, continues to maintain its artistic distinction under his dynamic direction!

Highlights

Ongoing Annual Events: MasterWork performance collaborations with other arts institutions, including the youth • Charity Benefit Shows • Local and Outreach Christmas Concerts • Fanfare for the 4th multimedia 4th/July events • Valentine Dinner Show, Dancing and Silent Auction • Active season of concerts

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

Jewish Community Center

A Jewish Community Center or Jewish Community Centre is a general recreational, social and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities...

Orchestra and YPAS Concert Choir

2003 Appointment of S. Timothy Glasscock as Artistic Director

2002 A 9/11 Memorial Musical Tribute

2000 “60th” Anniversary feature concert - Mozart Requiem + with members of The Louisville Orchestra

1999 “60th” Anniversary season opening performance of the Fauré Requiem with The Louisville Orchestra

1997 Iroquois Amphitheater Diamond Jubilee Season Opener and Kickoff Concerts

1996 Release of first CD Christmas from the Heart

1995 First annual Unforgettable

Unforgettable (song)

"Unforgettable" is a popular song written by Irving Gordon. The song's original working title was "Uncomparable". The music publishing company asked Irving to change it to "Unforgettable". The song was published in 1951....

Valentine Dinner Concert

1994 Host Chorus for Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)

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. Because it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although the work is often performed with fewer than a...

"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

My Old Kentucky Home

"My Old Kentucky Home" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster , probably composed in 1852. It was published as "My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night" in January 1853 by Firth, Pond, & Co. of New York...

, 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)

Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)

The Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony was Mahler's most popular and successful work during his lifetime. It is his first major work that would eventually mark his...

with The Louisville Orchestra

1985 European Sister Cities Concert Tour to Mainz, Germany and Montpellier, France; Carmina Burana with the Louisville Ballet

Louisville Ballet

The Louisville Ballet is a ballet school and company based in Louisville, Kentucky and is the official state ballet of The Commonwealth of Kentucky. More than 100,000 people attend the company's productions annually of which most are accompanied by the Louisville Orchestra...

1984 Official Brown & Williamson

Brown & Williamson

Brown & Williamson was an American tobacco company and subsidiary of the giant British American Tobacco, that produced several popular cigarette brands. It became infamous as the focus of investigations for chemically enhancing the addictiveness of cigarettes...

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 with The Louisville Orchestra

1967 Appointment of Richard Spalding as Music Director

1958 Appointment of Joseph Herde as Music Director

1957 Selected to record for the National Sacred Heart Program and the Hour of the Crucified

1942 Recruitment of Catholic women. Began Iroquois Amphitheater performances with proceeds to the U.S.O.

1940 First performance in Columbia Auditorium (Knights of Columbus - now Spalding Auditorium)

1939 Founding of the Holy Name Band and Choral Club (all male Catholics) by Father Joseph Emrich

External links

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