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Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
A choral treasure since 1874
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Mendelssohn Club
Photo by G.K. Shipman
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Insider Tip
Great architecture at the renovated West Philadelphia Cathedral Church of Our Savior adds visual drama to choral performances there.
The Experience
Philadelphia’s oldest continuously performing chorus excels in versatility. Sacred music mixes with secular and European masterworks are programmed alongside new and traditional works from Argentina, Korea, Russia and Mexico.
Programs are smartly themed, and collaborations frequently involve the classical chorus in partnerships that are both international and local. Many guest choirs have joined forces with the group, including the Clayton White Singers (gospel), the Philadelphia Korean-American Chorale and the Taiwan Philharmonic Chorus. All this, without ignoring giants of the oratorio repertoire like Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
History
The distinguished American composer and conductor William Wallace Gilchrist started Philadelphia’s Mendelssohn Club in 1874. In 1904, the chorus sang for the first time with the Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom it still performs.
Vaunted performances include the premiere of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (Symphony of a Thousand) and Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, both conducted by Leopold Stokowski, and recordings of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky and Gustav Holst’s The Planets, both conducted by Eugene Ormandy. In 1994, the world premiere of Robert Moran’s Chant du Cygne, was recorded and performed with Orchestra 2001, under Mendelssohn music director Alan Harler.
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