History and Mission
Michael Korn founded The Philadelphia Singers in 1972 as the region’s only professional chamber chorus. Michael Korn, who was a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, and chorus master of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, saw a need and an opportunity for the Philadelphia region to support a professional chorus.

For nearly forty years, The Philadelphia Singers has upheld its mission to inspire audiences in the Philadelphia region with compelling concert experiences featuring performances of choral masterpieces and contemporary works. The Singers has a special commitment to preserve and strengthen America’s rich choral heritage through performances, commissions, and music education. The Philadelphia Singers also believes in the power of art to advance individuals and communities. It seeks to enrich the broader community through embodying the highest standards of classical musicianship and by providing a platform for its musicians to serve the community in a wide variety of forms.

The Singers began as a 32-voice chamber ensemble that presented an annual concert series. The ensemble initially focused on a broad range of repertoire from the Renaissance through the contemporary period. As the ensemble entered its second decade, Michael Korn began to focus more on choral works from the baroque era, particularly the works of Bach and Handel. In addition to this focus, the 1980’s included the Philadelphia premieres of works by Poulenc and Gershwin and the world premieres of Romeo Cascarino’s William Penn and Flower Songs by Vincent Persichetti. Under Michael Korn’s leadership, The Philadelphia Singers made three recordings for RCA Red Seal: Handel's Roman Vespers, Gloria! Gloria! and Ceremonies of Carols, featuring soprano Benita Valente.

The early 1990’s brought significant change and artistic growth. In 1991, The Philadelphia Singers established The Philadelphia Singers Chorale, a symphonic ensemble composed of professional singers and talented volunteers. Michael Korn died that same year and in 1992, David Hayes was named Music Director. Under Mr. Hayes’s leadership The Philadelphia Singers artistry has thrived. The Philadelphia Singers has presented several world premieres including David Shpairo’s Metamorphoses, Robert Capanna’s Day, Hayr Arrakogh by Richard Yardumian, Ezra Laderman’s Brotherly Love, and Thomas Whitman’s Babylon. Mr. Hayes has also established a fruitful relationship with Philadelphia composer Jennifer Higdon that has yielded four world premieres including Deep in the Night, O magnum mysterium, Sing, Sing and Southern Grace.

2010-2011 Season

The 2010/2011 Season opened with a program of works inspired by art and literature. The Singers gave its first performance of Randall Thompson’s The Peaceable Kingdom and gave the world premiere of Metamorphoses by David Shapiro. This program also included works by American Abbie Betinis and English composer Gavin Bryars. The annual holiday tradition “Christmas on Logan Square” featured Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols as well as Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria and Gustav Holst’s In the Bleak Mid-Winter. The subscription season will conclude on April 16, 2010 with The Philadelphia Singers first performances of Bach’s Cantata No. 182, “King of Heaven, Be Welcomed” and Sir James MacMillan’s modern masterwrok Seven Last Words on the Cross. In addition to its artistic programs, The Philadelphia Singers will also continue its Education activities for high school and college students.

The Philadelphia Singers also continues its prestigious role as The Resident Chorus of The Philadelphia Orchestra and will join the orchestra for performances of Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Stravinksy’s Oedipus Rex also part of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Recent Seasons

The 2009-2010 Season opened with “Bach and Beyond”, a quintessential Philadelphia Singers concert featuring Bach’s Jesu Meine Freude and Alberto Ginastera’s powerful Lamentations of Jeremiah. “Christmas on Logan Square” included Jennifer Higdon’s ethereal O Magnum Mysterium. In March 2010, The Philadelphia Singers joined forces with new music ensembles Relâche and Orchestra 2001 to present the world premiere of Persephone by Philip Glass, and the Philadelphia premieres of works by Steve Reich and Gavin Bryars. The season concluded with Rachmaninoff’s glorious Vespers (All-Night Vigil).

The Singers concerts annually reach a live audience of over 40,000. The Philadelphia Singers performs regularly with leading national and local performing arts organizations including: the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Kimmel Center Presents and The Mannes Orchestra. Maestro Wolfgang Sawallisch has described the ensemble as, "one of the musical treasures of Philadelphia."

Members of the ensemble have trained at some of the best music schools in the country including The Curtis Institute of Music, Academy of Vocal Arts, Esther Boyer School of Music, Juilliard School, Peabody Conservatory, Westminster Choir College, Eastman School of Music, Indiana University School of Music and Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, as well as vocal institutes in Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Many members of the ensemble perform with leading orchestras and former members now perform with major American and European opera companies including The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the New York City and San Francisco Opera Companies.

The Philadelphia Singers is committed to ensuring that choral music maintains a vibrant present as well as a rich past and has presented an extensive array of Philadelphia, American and World Premieres. The Philadelphia Singers also has a rich history of commissioning new works which have enhanced the choral repertoire.

The Philadelphia Singers Chorale was founded in 1991 as the symphonic chorus of The Philadelphia Singers. The Chorale is composed of professional singers and talented volunteers. In 2001, The Philadelphia Singers Chorale was named Resident Chorus of The Philadelphia Orchestra, the first time in the orchestra’s history that a chorus has received this distinction. The Philadelphia Singers Chorale appears with The Orchestra in all choral subscription concerts as well as annual performances of Handel's Messiah and “The Glorious Sound of Christmas”.

The ensemble has twice performed American premieres with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur at the Lincoln Center Festival: Seltzer's Lament for Yitzchak and Penderecki's Seven Gates of Jerusalem.

On September 16, 2001 The Chorale performed in the national PBS television broadcast of "A Tribute Concert: Music and Reflection on the Tragedies of September 11" with The Philadelphia Orchestra. This program was produced locally by WHYY.

On December 15, 2001, The Philadelphia Singers Chorale appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra in The Kimmel Center Inaugural Gala. This concert was broadcast live via WHYY television and radio and broadcast nationally on the PBS television network.

Past performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra have included Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Das Klangende Lied, Berlioz’s Romeo et Juliette, Damnation de Faust and Requiem, the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Singing Rooms, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and “Choral” Fantasy, Kodaly’s Missa Brevis, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Macmillan’s Quickening, and Schoenberg's Gurrelieder.

The Philadelphia Singers Chorale is also the only chorus that appears on The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Centennial Collection: Historic Broadcasts and Recordings 1917 –1998. The Chorale is also featured on the Orchestra’s Online Music Store and on the 2009 release of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.