The Philadelphia Singers is a choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, U.S.A. The group was founded by Michael Korn in 1972 and is currently directed by David Hayes

David Hayes (conductor)

David Hayes is an American conductor.Hayes was educated at the University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music and The Curtis Institute of Music where his teacher was Otto-Werner Mueller...

. In 2001, The Philadelphia Singers was named "Resident Chorus of The Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

" and is the only chorus to receive this distinction.

The Philadelphia Singers has twice appeared at the Lincoln Center Festival with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic

New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

, premiering for the first time in the United States works by Krysztof Penderecki and Dov Seltzer

Dov Seltzer

Dov Seltzer, Israeli composer and conductor, born in Romania , began studying music at an early age. He studied theory and harmony with professors Alfred Mendelssohn and Michael Jora. When Seltzer immigrated to Israel at age 15, a musical comedy he had written continued to be played for two more...

. The choir has also appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra, premiering in the United States works by Sir James MacMillan, Luciano Berio

Luciano Berio

Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music.-Biography:Berio was born at Oneglia Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian...

, and Augusta Read Thomas

Augusta Read Thomas

Augusta Read Thomas is an American composer.Augusta Read Thomas was born in Glen Cove, New York. She attended The Green Vale School and later moved on to St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and then studied composition with Jacob Druckman at Yale University and at the Royal Academy of...

 as well as world premieres of works by Daniel Kellogg

Daniel Kellogg

Daniel Kellogg is an American composer.Kellogg is currently Assistant Professor of Music at the College of Music of the University of Colorado at Boulder, teaching music composition, counterpoint and orchestration.-Life:...

 and Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon is an American composer of classical music. Higdon has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto and the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto.-Biography:Higdon was born in Brooklyn,...

.

The Philadelphia Singers maintains its own annual subscription series and is the only Philadelphia ensemble to have a regular national radio broadcast on Public Radio International

Public Radio International

Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...

 called "Christmas with The Philadelphia Singers". This program is a live broadcast

Live radio

Live radio is radio broadcast without delay. Before the days of television, audiences listened to live dramas, comedies, quiz shows, and concerts on the radio much the same way that they now do on TV. Most talk radio is live radio where people can speak about their opinions/lives....

 of its annual concert, "Christmas on Logan Square", at St. Clement's Church

Saint Clement's Church, Philadelphia

Saint Clement's Church is an historic Anglo-Catholic parish located at 2013 Appletree Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States and is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. On November 20, 1970, Saint Clement's Church was listed on the National Register of Historic...

. The ensemble is devoted to presenting choral music from all period

Music history

Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is the highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies the composition, performance, reception, and criticism of music over time...

s with a particular focus on American choral music.